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    Ira Gupta's success mantra: Always 'be-present', find role models from everyday life

    Synopsis

    Microsoft India's Head HR also believes that an individual's best work shows at a place that empowers him/her.

    ET Online
    Ira Gupta is the Head HR of the most popular multinational technology company Microsoft India.

    After repeatedly trying and failing to dedicate 'work-time' and 'personal-time', this top boss has realised the mantra for working women: 'be-present'. Being present (for that moment) at work or family helps her manage both, personal and professional, lives efficiently.

    ET spoke to Gupta to find out what inspires and gives her the drive to succeed.

    Excerpts from the interview:


    Q. Worldwide, there has been a lot of chatter about the dismal representation of women in Technology. How do you think that can be addressed?

    IG:
    The chatter is a step in the right direction. The Global Gender Gap Index 2017 ranks India at 108 across 144 countries. Hence, it is particularly relevant that we are talking about the representation of women in the workplace in our country. It helps bring attention and frame the opportunity. Building a common understanding of where we are is an early and necessary step in the right direction.

    But discussing about it is not enough. Women need continued leadership attention and action to move forward. With only 27% of India’s workforce being women (based on a study by World Bank in 2017), we are very early in our journey. There's a lot more to be done to reach the 50% mark. #PressForProgress, International Women's Day 2018 campaign theme, has a list of things we can all do to move the agenda forward. Whether it be in one’s own small business or in corporate India, or in the role of an educator, we can all do a little bit of each of these five things:
    1. Maintain a gender parity mindset
    2. Challenge stereotypes and bias
    3. Forge positive visibility for women
    4. Influence others’ beliefs and actions
    5. Celebrate women’s achievements

    Q. What has given you the drive to carry on, and succeed?

    IG:
    My family is probably the single biggest enabler and staunchest support. I was blessed to be born into a family where my career aspirations were always encouraged, married into one where there was always encouragement and respect for what I do, and to have friends who remind me of my capabilities every time I second-guessed my choices. I’ve also had great mentors, and that is something I encourage every working woman to look for. I’ve also chosen to work for organizations whose purpose brings me deep meaning, and the ability to leverage my role to impact as many as possible to achieve their full potential. This is what makes me look forward to coming to work each day.

    Q. How can we get more women into traditional male domains, like finance, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, automotive and technology?

    IG:
    Corporate India has started to take notice of the research showing the correlation between gender diversity and performance of a company. Many large and medium sized companies across technology, manufacturing and engineering have their talent acquisition efforts focused on improving their gender diversity representation. In recent years, companies are also actively looking at ways to make their workplaces, culture and policies more inclusive so that they retain women who are looking to build a career with them.

    Q. How can India Inc improve its gender diversity score? How do we get more women to the boardroom?

    IG:
    Regulation has been a significant contributor to the increase in gender diversity on Indian boards in the recent years. A study by KPMG showed that in NSE listed companies board representation grew from 4.9% in 2013 to 13.7% in 2016. That said, this figure lags global averages and signals to us that there is much work to be done.

    Companies can do a number of things that improve the representation of women on their boards:
    - Recognise, articulate and champion the case for women in the boardroom. Ensure that everyone on your board truly understands the value of having a diverse perspective beyond the regulatory requirement.
    - Hold the Board to similar diversity targets like it holds the organisation to. Make these visible commitments that are time bound.
    - Actively expand your talent pool of candidates for board positions and create systems that encourage the board to think about diversity (eg: Having diverse slates for board positions, being open to picking members of the board from non-traditional backgrounds, etc.)

    Q. Many women drop out after marriage to concentrate on starting a family. Some don’t come back. What can be done to encourage to make women stay on in the workforce?

    IG:
    Focusing on family is a natural life-stage choice that most married professionals make. While more men are starting to make this choice, this remains (at least in the Indian context) predominantly in the domain of the woman. At Microsoft, we were ahead of the regulation in offering maternity leave of 6 months to new mothers. We also offer flexible work arrangements to help employees better balance their work and life priorities.

    There will still be a number of employees who choose to take a career break for a few years. There are natural hesitations and apprehensions that women returning to the workplace have around being able to manage work in the context of their life commitments.

    Q. Tell us about your work-life balance, how do you manage to strike it?

    IG:
    We live in an 'always-on' world. My ability to clearly block 'work-time' vs 'personal-time' does not always work. So I live by the 'be-present' mantra. In whatever I do, I make it a point to be present, whether it is for work or family. It allows me to be my best self in the role that I am playing at that point in time. Some days, I am better at it than others.

    Q. What keeps you going away from the corporate madness?

    IG:
    Outside of work, I am a proud mum of two fabulous children. I love a good book, swimming pool and new place to visit.

    Q. Any role models that you have?

    IG:
    My role models come from everyday life. Women I see around me and admire for different things: from friends who work with women weavers to young team members who get better at balancing work and personal commitments to colleagues who spend their free time mentoring the underprivileged. Role models are all around us.

    Q. What is your message for women wanting to join the workforce?

    IG:
    To woman entering the workforce, I would share one of the biggest learnings that I have had over the years. I’ve learnt that I do my best work at a place that empowers me. There have been many situations where I was the only woman in the room, it took me time to find a way to be myself in those situations. But once I did, I realised that it was more effective both for me personally as well as for the company I worked at.

    Q. What’s your favorite attire?

    IG:
    To me, there is nothing nicer than the trusty Indian Sari.
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