From wage disparities to social prejudices, traditionally women have been subjected to such challenges. The Indian economy is still marred by gender segregation to a large extent. The country’s female labor-force participation rate is unimpressive as compared to other developed economies, and it has remained stagnant over the last decade. This has been attributed to societal attitudes that favor cultural practices that typically include early marriages over jobs and education, a bewildering stigma that alienates the idea of women working especially the married ones, and a lack of suitable job opportunities for those returning to work after maternity breaks.
With a collective intent of modern society, growing awareness, and with an increased pool of educated population there is a stronger push for women’s participation in different levels of the working environment, both blue and white-collar jobs. Women have started entering the higher pay scale spectrum, and though at this point in time women continue to be under-represented in senior positions, legislature, and management, the ecosystem is shaping progress in the right direction. Therefore, organizations need to modernize their policies to accommodate women’s participation at the senior and management levels through special programs and training activities.
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The industry values the fact that higher female participation in the work environmentresults in higher efficiency. Women employees should also be provided with adequate support to help safeguard their rights. Mandatory training for employees should be conducted from time to time to make everyone aware of the policies that have been introduced by the organization.
Organizations need to modernize their policies to accommodate women’s participation at the senior and management levels through special programs and training activities.
The manufacturing and automotive industry havegenerally beenmale-dominatedsectors, but Continental is continuously making efforts to help women attain senior leadership roles within the organization. The company has rolled out various initiatives not only for women employees of the organization but also for women outside of the organization by giving them proper training. Continental’s WE-LEAD initiative was introduced to groom the women leaders within the organization to groom women for leadership roles across Continental by encouraging them to achieve both, personal and professional objectives. As the gender gap widens more when women go on a maternity break, Continental has recently introduced the Launch–Pad initiative whichhelps to bring back women who went on a career break due to various reasons. Women employees are upskilled on the job and are provided with technical and behavioral training and mentorship.
As a part of Continental’s CSR initiatives, Continental introduced the Women for Manufacturing initiative which targets women from three groups – high school, ITI students, and unemployed women from underprivileged sections of society. Through this initiative, Continental aims to encourage, uplift, and employ women from difficult socio-economic backgrounds while also assisting them in obtaining jobs on the shop floor at various manufacturing facilities and not just Continental.
Through these initiatives, Continental India works to give women the resources they need to be independent and empowered through a variety of programs and activities. By giving women equal opportunities and elevating them to the forefront, the company ensures gender inclusion in all roles across the organization. To alleviate the issue of gender bias, especially in workplaces, systematic changes must be incorporated to help transform the behavior of the employees and culture across the company.
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