More women in leadership roles have never been more important, yet legal, structural, and cultural barriers remain. In 2021, India had 4.7% more women CEOs than in 2018, but fewer women occupied board chairs. Change in the corporate sector is excruciatingly slow.

Bringing a unique perspective to a traditionally male-dominated space is just one of the wayswomen can effect change. Having more women in positions of influence is not only critical to the career advancement of other women, but itcan have a broader societal impact on pay equity, changing workplace policies in ways that benefit both men and women, and helping companies to attract a more diverse workforce.

Gender equality can even have apositive impact on GDP per capita that grows over time. In fact, closing the gender gap in the workforce could add a staggering $28 trillion to the global GDP.

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On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the leaders at Teleperformance India want to call for change in the narrative surrounding representation of women in corporate. The increasingly women-led board wants to advocate not only more women within the business world, but also more women representation in senior roles.

Teleperformance leadership in India offers insights on why we need more women in the workforce and how all of us can overcome these barriers:

Neha Sethi, Head of Marketing at Teleperformance India

“It is well documented that organizations with diverse teams are better performers. Women in the workforce bring a lot to the table: unique people skills,perspective, empathy, and most importantly, the amazing ability to integrate work and life.Businesses need to embrace the values that inclusive and gender-smart teams bring.

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At Teleperformance, we are committed to the principles of fairness, equality, and respect. We focus on cultivating a diverse and inclusive workforceand drive concentrated efforts to becomegender smart. With the TP Women initiative, our aim is to amplify the voice of women, recognizing and addressing the unconscious bias, especially at a time when our career milestones may be in direct conflict with life’s milestones—like marriage or childbirth.For us, it is essential to enable our women colleagues to come back stronger and more confident.”

Puja Bhatia, Head of L&D at Teleperformance India

“We, as women, often take a back seat when it comes to career growth for different reasons, from lacking role models to flexible work plans. Today, Teleperformance understands how essential growth is for women at all levels and across different departments.

In our journey to make senior roles more accessible for women, we have learned that change needs to happen everywhere — from the way we hire, train, and provide mentorship programs. As head of L&D at Teleperformance India, my mission is to harness and unleash the potential of our women and always inspire them to reach new heights.We are dedicated to hiring not only women employees, but also positioning women in the executive committee.”

Rupa Ramamurthy, Global banking SME and service delivery lead at Teleperformance India

“The highest levels of corporate leadership within BFS are still dominated by men and global banking departments have historically been quite homogenous. Representation of women in executive committees in major financial firms globally is less than 20%, in this industry we still have the glass ceiling to shatter.

I have been in the banking and BPO industry for over 28 years, and I believe it is essential to encourage women to speak up about being given equal opportunities for growth – more so in the mainstream operational and core banking realm.

This month’s celebration of International Women’s Day is the perfect time to evaluate gender balance in the workplace. As we celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, we are also starting to take steps to achieve this balance in the BPO industry, including fostering networks for women in this space and encouraging mentorship initiatives.

Now more than ever, customers want to work with diverse teams. A diverse work environment promotes a wider perspective on customer needs and perspectives, which can help companies to recognize new and different market opportunities. As the world reopens, I hope to see more women venturing into the core Banking and BPO industry.”

Preeti Shirke, Head of Recruitment at Teleperformance India

“In the past few years, the Indian IT industry has made significant progress in helping bridge the gender gap, by empowering women to assume leadership roles. We at Teleperformance India feel that the responsibility lies with us to create a diverse workforce and we strongly believe that diversity starts with our HR teams.

Our TP Women initiative seeks to address the challenges faced by women in the workplace and drive positive change. We see profound value in helping to elevate these discussions and become change agents in our industry, and around the world. We live out these values through our commitment to proactively promoting gender awareness, equality, and empowerment, by offering equal opportunities to all.”

Ruchi Gupta, SVP Strategic Account Manager at Teleperformance India

“Diversity starts at the top, and I do believe that companies with a higher representation of women at the most senior levels deliver stronger organizational and financial performance, including better corporate governance.

When entering a male-oriented corporate culture, many of us struggle to find our own voice to reach senior leadership positions. In my journey to finding my voice as a leader, I have felt that empowering, mentoring, and promoting women leaders to C-Suite positions, as well as entrusting them to sit in on boards, needs more thoughtful consideration.

At Teleperformance, over the last couple of years, we have committed ourselves to creating promising, non-gender biased initiatives that not only promote heightened women engagement in the workplace, but also drive positive change across the organization. The increase in women leaders is inspiring other women to pursue growth in their careers confidently. As we move boldly ahead, we need to redefine the numbers and equalize representation of women leaders in senior leadership roles.”

Source: bizdispatch