Fostering Inclusion
Simi Choudhury (She/ Her)
HR leader with deep experience in Talent Management, OD, DEI, Employee Experience. Ex Capgemini, Bosch, Wipro
I remember seven years ago, when I wanted to buy a new car, the enthusiastic car salesperson launched into a spiel about the car's horsepower, fuel efficiency, and the wonders of the latest model. The salesperson found it befitting to make the presentation solely to my husband even though I was the one buying the car! Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when the husband and I went shopping for a vacuum cleaner. No prizes for guessing. The salesperson made a compelling argument holding a strong eye gaze. With whom? Yes, yours truly. Because vacuum cleaners are such a woman's decision!!
These are simple instances where gender stereotyping creeps into every walk of life. The narrative is changing but unfortunately at a snail’s pace. No wonder as per, World Economic Forum, at the current rate of progress, it would take 131 years to achieve full gender parity. By the way, both the car and the vacuum cleaner salespersons received a crash course in inclusive selling from me.
As someone deeply invested in DEI, it gives me great pride being part of an organization that has almost a 50% women participation in the workforce. The true task is now to improve the gender balance in Leadership roles. At Sutherland, the endeavor is to cultivate a rich tapestry of perspectives and ideas. Ongoing education and investments in building psychological safety, emotional intelligence and cultural competence is what will get us there.
On this Women’s Day, my urge is for:
(a) Everyone to recognize gender stereotyping and micro aggressions at work and call it out.
(b) Everyone to reflect on how others perceive us. Are we really as inclusive as we think we are?
(c) Everyone (especially women) to focus on coaching and being coached. I am proudly steering a bespoke Women in Leadership Coaching program for 100 Sutherland women leaders. Coaching is a powerful tool!
(d) Women to find their balance and engage in giving their best at work yet finding time for themselves. I find my meditative moments when I immerse myself in painting. Cultivating and nurturing hobbies & interests plays a pivotal role in keeping one creative and helps in overall wellbeing. At Sutherland we call this #BeYourself.
Happy Women's (Every)Day!
Leadership Coach | Communications Coach I Career Coach I Psychotherapist |Facilitator I NLP Practitioner I Stress & Burnout Specialist I Journaling Coach
5moAbsolutely! Let's continue to champion these messages beyond International Women's Day and work towards a more inclusive and equitable future for all.
Streamlining Operations & Delivering Results
7moThis is truly insightful and for everyone to consciously look and act on… Few years back I would not be bothered by such stereotyping, I don’t what has gotten into me, but I calmly lash out on any such things happening around me. The other day an aunt had come home, and was comparing how my female dog sleeps and how the male dog sleeps. She went on to saying, girls (my German shepherd and Pomeranian) shouldn’t sleep like this and “it’s okay” for the boys (my golden retriever) to sleep like this. That’s it, and I lectured for over an hour as to how this mentality is carried forward and so on!!! #celebratinghumansdayeveryday
Technical Architecture | Solution Architecture | Project Management | Transformation | Systems Integration | Telecom B/OSS | Telecom Billing | Oracle BRM
8moI completely resonate with Simi's insights. I believe change must begin at home. While most of the current generation opts for only one child, our parents' generation often had multiple children, which sometimes led to biases. As a society, we need to adapt quickly and address these issues. Thank you once again, Simi, for bringing up this important topic.
Vice President Finance at Capgemini
8moIt is an excellently written article, and the more we expose these biases, the more we will be able to eliminate them 👏👏