FIXING THE BROKEN MIDDLE RUNG

Almost 30-40% of women in middle management roles exit the workforce and few actually make it to the top. What are companies doing to address the problem?

- AJITA SHASHIDHAR

WHEN FORMER Hindustan Unilever (HUL) MD, Sanjiv Mehta (currently executive chairman, L. Catterton), took over the FMCG company in 2013, its diversity percentage was around 18%. Parent Unilever had already set a global mandate of a diverse workforce, and Mehta needed to do his bit to make sure the Indian subsidiary had a fair representation of women. He asked his team to approach every woman employee the company had lost post maternity leave to check whether they were unemployed. “Surprisingly, 80% had gone back to work, but with a different organisation. They were asked why they didn’t return to the FMCG major. Most said post their maternity leaves they were given soft jobs, which they were not interested in. We came up with a policy that we wouldn’t lose a single mother. We followed them through the natal so that they don’t have a change of heart and made sure they have an exciting career with us,” says Mehta.

The company fixed the problem by offering ‘returning mothers’ core roles in sales, marketing and market research. It even offered them P&L roles. Those who opted to work from external locations were allowed to travel to their base stations once or twice a week, and work from places of their choice for the rest of the days. In case a woman leader was chosen for an international posting and she wasn’t ready since her children were young, the company asked her to try out the role for six months and then decide.

The flexible policies worked. A decade later when Mehta retired, HUL’s market cap quadrupled, and representation of women in its workforce went up from 18% to 46%.