Tell it like it is

Today’s episode is the third in our series on women’s participation in the workforce in India. Every year, class XII grades show girls outperforming boys in science subjects. A McKinsey study, shows that in India women make up 43% of those graduating but only 25% of those in entry level jobs. That is a huge drop. There are many explanations including marriage, childbirth, care for elders, being the trailing spouse, safety, and all of this compounds as you go higher in the career ladder. The burden of childcare and elder care almost entirely falls on women. The effect shows on the labor participation rate. At an effective 11% participation in manufacturing and services, we trail many mature and emerging countries. 

For some time now, I’ve brought you individual stories of guests with outsized abilities and wisdom. So, in a break from tradition, today, I bring you a panel discussion with 3 leaders, who have the unique distinction of being able to shape the participation of women at work in India and with a different perspective and background. Joining me are Hema Hattangady, former CEO of Conzerv, an Indian family-owned enterprise acquired by Schneider Electric, who sits on the board of multiple companies and an alumnus of IIM Calcutta, Dr. Murali Padmanabhan, Senior VP for Global Talent & OD at Virtusa, leadership coach and a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Hyderabad and Shonalie Gupta, Senior Director Organization Development at Indegene, diversity and inclusion coach and an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur.  

In this episode, we discuss awareness of India’s dismal female participation, societal stereotypes, and challenges. But that is not all. We go further and give you practical, tested, tips and ideas on how to have the conversation around increasing female labor participation, beginning with small changes at an individual level to large scale organization impact. To cap it off, each of the panelists include their wish list of how they see corporate India 20 years from now. Go on, grab a cuppa joe, a note pad and tune in. 

One of the reasons women drop out of the workforce is childbirth. Troubling as that is, even today, many women lose their lives during pregnancy and childbirth. A key indicator of maternal mortality is the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR). Recently, the Government of India published MMR for 2016-18 which stood at 113. To put this into context, the target 3.1 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by United Nations aims at reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births. So, what can be done? Countries like Canada, Sri Lanka and the UK have combated MMR by introducing trained midwives into the process, vital to the care and delivery of low-risk pregnant women. It is important to mention here that about 75% of all pregnant women fall in the low-risk category and it is the 25% cases that are complicated and require an obstetrician’s attention. With over 25 million children born every year in India, and only 86,000 professionally trained midwives, there is a huge gap. 

This episode focuses on maternal mortality and helping women enjoy motherhood without the inherent risks of childbirth through a simple, effective, and forgotten method. My guest is Dr. Evita Fernandez, Chairperson-Fernandez Foundation, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She is the recipient of The Lifetime Achievement in Healthcare Award by FICCI, Hyderabad, besides other awards. In 2017, the Government of Telangana felicitated her for rendering exemplary services in the Field of Medicine. In 2011, she introduced a Professional Midwifery Education and Training Programme, committed to creating a national cadre of professional midwives. I caught up with her to understand how midwifery could be the solution to helping millions of women enjoy childbirth and have agency over their own bodies.

India ranks pretty low in female labor participation. In 2019, female labor participation stood at a meagre 27% in comparison to China’s female labor participation at 60%. In India, over 60% of those who are employed are in agriculture, resulting effectively, in 11% female labor participation in services and manufacturing. It is well understood that if we are to go grow as a nation, then we need more women at the workplace. Prima facie, this should be easy, given our female to male ratio. Per the United Nations, women make up 48.04% of the population. However, in reality, getting women to participate in the formal workforce is far from easy. Especially since a large section of women are ill equipped with the basic skills and do not possess a high school degree. Why is that? This is so because a large number of girls simply drop out of school when they hit puberty, acerbated by unique socio-cultural stereotypes.

My guest today is Anusha Bharadwaj, Executive Director of Voice4Girls, a social enterprise working with marginalized adolescent girls in rural Telangana and  Andhra with a vision to educate and empower girls against violence and inequality. In our free-wheeling conversation, we touch upon many topics and taboos that are entrenched in our society, gender inequality, stereotypes, violence, early marriage and how keeping adolescent girls in school through high school might just be the way to increasing their participation in the workforce of the future.

In a low cost, labour intensive market like India, autonomous vehicles seem counter intuitive. What is the story here? Join me, Manisha Kadagathur, as I chat with Saurabh Chandra, co-founder of Ati Motors, one of the coolest startups in India that makes autonomous cargo vehicles based in Bangalore. Cool for many reasons, not the least for an unusual team of co-founders, the youngest of whom was barely a teen when he joined. Club that with using tech like AI/ML, power electronics, control systems, mechanical engineering, system software and electronic hardware, and it makes the whole enterprise unique. As you will see over our conversation, a strong purpose, and relentless focus on solving for problems aka performance in the Indian context are two key themes that emerge. With COVID-19 lockdowns putting the focus on safety, and the lack of domestic help, the use of home robots and dishwashers has gone up multi-fold in Indian cities. So, I began right there before we branched off into discussing the tech, backstory, role of serendipity, use cases and unique Indian challenges.

If you are mid-career and reflecting on the first half of your career, you have probably asked yourself – What impact have the actions of the past years had on my life (personally and professionally) and what have I contributed to the community around me. How many leaps of faith have I taken and how many have taken those leaps with me? 

With me today is Biren Bhuta, who has made taking leaps of faith an art form, beginning with a traditional job in banking to business journalism with NDTV and corporate social responsibility in Tata Steel. Currently, Biren is engaged in his exciting new venture, Disom, a leadership school for political aspirants. During our conversation, we spoke of taking a journey inwards, slowing down and listening to one’s conscience and inner voice to find the next path, holding paradoxes, learning from nature and native tribes and most importantly redefining reward question as what have I contributed as opposed to what’s in it for me . So, have you ever taken a leap of faith?

Join me, Manisha Kadagathur, as I chat with Ayon Banerjee, author of “As you Life it - Work as usual, Life as unusual”. We talk about overlapping boundaries of work and life, of successes and failure, of time, of youth, of dreams and relationships – all of it captured as a Work-Life tool kit.

Today’s conversation is peppered with advice and life lessons for anyone navigating work and life. There is no narrative and arc here, just a freewheeling catch-up with someone who has been through many experiences and has been thoughtful enough to capture it in a book for others. Think of it as many conversations rolled into one episode. Exactly the way, Ayon intended his book to be read.

This episode is a Masterclass in entrepreneurship. At the same time, it is a fantastic story of a husband-wife team who were partners in business and are partners for life. I am delighted to share the inspiring story of Hema & Ashok Hattangady who turned a small family owned energy metering company into one of India’s finest energy management companies, leading to its eventual sale to Schneider Electric in 2009. Hema is a management graduate from IIM Calcutta  and Ashok has a master's degree from UT, Austin but their story is about so much more. It includes family politics, the role of a strategic investor and mentor, navigating through the regulatory, social and business environment and how the design philosophy percolated into the culture of the company they built. Hema Hattangady and Conzerv is a case taught at Harvard, London Business School, University of California, San Francisco, and Babson’s College. If you are an entrepreneur, a spouse, or a co-founder, grab your favourite brew, a note pad and pen and plug in your headphones. Trust me, you will be taking a lot of notes.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” In India, all of us have been asked this question by assorted aunts and uncles. Most common responses include - Doctor, Engineer, Lawyer, Chartered Accountant, sometimes vet and nowadays, YouTuber. Growing up, did you ever want to be a politician? You think I’m crazy. My guest today is a 3rd generation politician in Uttar Pradesh. Rahul Kaushik, a design consultant with a master’s degree from IIT Bombay, chucked it all to carry forward the legacy of his father. Today, he is the Pradesh Karyakarini Sadasya, Samajwadi Party. 

In a profession where the chances of being elected are less than 1% and where there is constant public scrutiny; a different kind of weapon is at play – a soft power. Rahul says, being clear about the purpose, knowing your goals, building consensus, developing keen observation, and really listening to people’s needs are the ingredients to success as a politician. Come to think of it, these apply to any profession minus 24x7 surveillance and constant judgment.

What is Indian-ness? Is it jugaad? What are the facets of the Indian boss? Who is a DESI LEADER? 

I am joined by Steve Correa, author of The Indian Boss at Work: Thinking Global, Acting Indian.

In this two part series, we explore how well leaders understand ‘Indian-ness’ and the contextual cultural codes.  In this episode, we cover the concepts of Indian-ness, the role of Kaal, Desh and Patra in our worklives, contrast management philosophies prevalent in the East and the West, the 4 varnas of life as described in ancient texts,  the role of Dharma or duty and Karta or the head in work context. 

What no one tells you is that leadership is an art and a craft, but between the two lies ‘business’. I am convinced the ABC of leadership must be learnt. 

Featured in this episode are Utkarsh Biradar and Ganesh Balakrishnan, co-founders of Flatheads, an all-day work sneaker brand for men. Not new to entrepreneurship, having had a successful exit from their previous venture, they were poised to creating a digital first consumer brand in India. But the wily virus had other plans. Launched in Nov 2019, just a few months before Covid-19 struck and wiped out the demand for footwear, the episode covers their early journey and choices. We discuss scale, value of a co-founder in the entrepreneurial journey, designing products through a user centric approach, building solid foundations with experience, expertise and leveraging networks. Along the way, we shatter a few popular notions about ageism, for good measure. 

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