Making it Work for Women

(For representation purpose, only)

Many years ago, when I led the ITDP India Programme, one of my colleagues gave birth to her second child. Previously, when she worked elsewhere, she took a career break for her first child. She joined me after that, first in a part-time role, then full-time. This time around, after a three-month paid break, she felt ready to return to work but was unsure how to manage her child as well as work.

We were a small organisation with a small office but a large heart. We converted one of our meeting rooms into a makeshift creche. She would take regular breaks from work to be with her kid, feed him, then get back to work.

A few years later, another colleague of mine gave birth to a child. By this time, we offered six months’ paid leave. But she wanted an extended break. I encouraged her to take time off without fear of losing her job.

A year later, she felt ready to join but desired a role that didn’t require travel and meetings and allowed her to work part-time during predefined hours to spend more time with her baby. We made it work for her to work. She took on a new role and thrived in it. She even started giving freelance assignments to mothers who had taken a career break but wanted to be meaningfully engaged.

I’ve also had female colleagues who preferred hiring men because “they don’t leave after getting married.” I differed.

Women’s labour force participation rate in India is at an all-time low. In the Periodic Labour Force Survey before the pandemic (2018–19), it was just 18.6% compared to 55.6% for men. For urban women, labour force participation has been stagnant at around 16% for the past three decades.

Many women leave their jobs after marriage. Most end their careers after childbirth. If we want women to be productive members of the workforce—and achieve personal freedom through financial freedom—we have to understand their needs and help them thrive. Small things can make a big difference.

Here are ten tips to make the workplace work for women:

1. Encourage women to speak up in internal as well as external meetings. Often, there aren’t any women at the table. Even when they are, they are invisible to the rest. Embolden them to voice their opinion and be noticed.
2. Ensure that the office is in a safe place with convenient access to transport even at odd hours. We were once shown a good office space, but there was a wine (alcohol) shop at the street corner. We said no immediately. The same idea applies to intercity travel and stay.
3. Have clean toilets. I recommend single-stall unassigned toilets rather than male and female ones. They are more inviting for trans and non-binary folks. (This brings me to the point of making the workplace queer-friendly. It’s the right thing to do. Period.)
4. Support new mothers. This goes beyond maternity leave. Working mothers need a lot of support in managing their new life with their baby and work. Create a calm space where they can be with their babies, pump for breastfeeding later, or just rest. Partner with a good daycare in the vicinity if possible. Most importantly, give them the flexibility they need to manage their work and life.
5. Take complaints about sexual misdemeanour very seriously, investigate thoroughly, and act.
6. Keep biases at bay. It could be in the selection of candidates, assignment of projects and responsibilities, assessing work impact, or making salary decisions. Transparency is the way to go to expose biases.
7. Consider making salaries transparent. Women often get paid less than men but don’t even know about it. Making salaries transparent throws light on such biases. Transparent salaries might sound impossible, or even reckless, but they are worth trying.
8. Help them understand personal finance. Even well-educated women are often financially illiterate. Assist them in achieving financial freedom through better money management and prudent investments.
9. Help them work for as long as possible, even if it means they have to leave after marriage or childbirth. Try to make it work even if they have to shift to a different city. Or recommend them to someone you know.
10. Stop being patronising. Listen and act rather than deciding on your own what is good for your female colleagues.