Wonder Women in the Workplace
VIEW EVENT DETAILSExtraordinary economic value can be witnessed and an unparalleled economic boom will follow, if women get the opportunity to receive the same educational and economic opportunities as men. Gender diversity is getting increasing attention from India Inc., and this attention is well deserved. A growing body of research highlights the business case for more women in the workforce. This points to a link between women’s employment and business benefits, such as increased productivity, retention, and firm performance. The economic case for gender parity also becoming ever clearer. India can increase its 2025 gross domestic product (GDP), estimated at $4.83 trillion, by between 16% and 60% simply by enabling women to participate in the economy on par with men, according to a study. India is the world's fastest growing major economy, but has one of the lowest rates of female employment, and the numbers have declined over the decade. While there is increasing agreement about why we need to move towards gender parity, attention has turned to how best to do so. Within India Inc, companies are increasingly adopting diversity and inclusion strategies, changing HR policies and competing for diversity awards. In order and accelerate this momentum, we need to encourage debate about what works, and why. ‘Since in most nations, men largely occupy the seats of power, relying exclusively on women to lead change on gender equality is illogical. We need responsible men to step up beside women to create a more gender equal world.’
Join Anjali Bansal, Former global Partner and MD with TPG Private Equity, BP Biddappa, Executive Director-HR for HUL and Elizabeth Broderick, Australia’s longest serving Sex Discrimination Commissioner, as they offer insights on bridging the gender gap in India and the role men can play in the movement.
Anjali Bansal is a former global Partner and MD with TPG Private Equity and a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company in New York and Mumbai. She founded and ran Spencer Stuart's India practice successfully growing it to a highly reputed pan-India platform. She was also a global partner and co-led their Asia Pacific Board & CEO practice as part of the Asia Pacific leadership team. She started her career as an engineer. She serves as an independent non executive director on the public boards of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pharmaceuticals India, Bata India Limited, Tata Power and Voltas--a Tata Enterprise. Previously, she chaired the India board of Women's World Banking, a leading global livelihood-promoting institution.
BP Biddappa is Executive Director-HR for HUL and Vice President, HR for Unilever South Asia. Biddappa joined Hindustan Unilever Limited in 1992 after working as a consultant with AF Ferguson & Co (now part of Deloitte) for 2 years. In a career spanning almost 25 years in HUL and Unilever in Human Resource Management, he has worked in a variety of roles starting in India and then in leadership positions across markets and global roles in Unilever. In early 2013, Biddappa returned to India and in his present role leads the HR function for HUL and Unilever Businesses in South Asia.
Elizabeth Broderick, has brought together captains of industry, governments and Defence Force chiefs to address gender inequality in Australia and beyond. As Australia’s longest serving Sex Discrimination Commissioner (2007-2015), Elizabeth worked tirelessly to break down structural and social barriers faced by women and men, and to promote gender equality. A key advocate for Australia’s paid parental leave scheme, Elizabeth influenced changes to regulations to increase the numbers of women at decision-making level, and to elevate the voices of women in marginalised communities. She also established and convenes the globally recognised ‘Male Champions of Change’ strategy, enlisting a ‘who’s who’ of powerful male leaders to tackle workplace gender inequality. Her review into the treatment of women in the Australian Defence Force led to sweeping cultural reforms. In 2016 Elizabeth was Senior Adviser to the Australian Federal Police Commissioner on cultural change and assisted with implementing a significant cultural change project across the organisation.
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