Total spends on gender diversity at 32% in India Inc, says new report

The total spends on gender diversity by India Inc has moved from 23 percent in 2016 to 32 percent in 2019, according to a new study.

The 2020 Working Mother & Avtar Best Companies for Women in India companies are also no longer shy of increasing spend on gender diversity hiring which indicates an increase in intent.

As per this study, the top 10 companies for women in 2020 include Accenture, Barclays in India, EY, Genpact India, IBM India, Infosys, KPMG, Novartis Healthcare, Target Corporation India and Tech Mahindra.

The study showed that percentage of women hires increased from 31 percent in 2016 to 37 percent in 2020. During the same timeframe, number of companies having formal programs to identify and recruit second career women (women on career breaks) moved up from 30 percent to 65 percent.

This year’s report showed that 98 percent of companies in India Inc are offering programs to identify women employees with high potential. This has increased by 32 percent as compared to 66 percent of companies in 2016, indicating a steady increase in intent amongst employers.

Also mentoring being a critical enabler of women’s careers, the study revealed that the percentage of companies providing mentoring moved up from 75 percent in 2016 to 96 percent in 2020.

Absence of women in key management positions has been a matter of concern in India. The study said that 99 percent of companies offer leadership training program, which has gone by 43 percent over the last five years.

Apart from focusing on providing enablers for work-life integration (like child-care and flexible work support), companies are increasingly focusing on skill-building for women and creating a more gender balanced talent pipeline. Demonstrating this intent, 97 percent of the 100 Best Companies use a gender lens for succession planning.

This study was conducted by diversity and inclusion firm Avtar Group and US-based gender parity platform Working Mother Media.

Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President, Avtar, said that it is also laudable that these companies are increasingly invested in creating a culture of inclusion and allyship.

As per data from 2020 Working Mother & Avtar Most Inclusive Companies Index (MICI), 33 percent of Diversity & Inclusion spend in organizations is for D&I learning.

In 2020 Most Inclusive Companies Index – MICI (that covered inclusion efforts for gender, culture, people with  disabilities and LGBTQ Community), the top ten companies include Accenture, ANZ Support Services India, Barclays in India, EY, IBM India, Infosys, Midland Credit Management India and US Technology International.

The 2020 BCWI-MICI was launched in February this year, and 321 companies spanning every major industry, geographical location and line of business were amongst the applicants. The application form with close to 300 questions, required applicant companies to provide data of high-order granularity on their practices, programs and policies to ensure gender inclusion at their workplaces.