Corporate women need to focus on herself: Forum on Leadership

Mumbai, Nov 3 (UNI) The modern woman needs to focus on herself and will have to depend on merit alone to get ahead in the corporate world, KPMG Human Resource Executive Director, Sangeeta Singh said today.

Speaking at the two-day ''Forum for Women in Leadership'' here, Ms Singh said there will be always be some bias in a workplace and the corporate playing field was not level enough for women to make their mark.

Speaking on the issue of maternity leave for women, Sangeeta Talwar, Executive Director, Marketing, Tata Tea said corporates need to come up with a more flexible model to take into account the contribution of women employees. ''Women also need to play the role of an equal employee''.

She said depending on a woman employee's contribution to the company, the issue of her being bypassed for promotion due to maternity leave can be taken up. ''The bigger issue is the raising of the child, and its not easy for women who often have to juggle conflicting priorities even if their children have grown up.'' She also spoke to mediapersons on why many women failed to reach the top of the corporate ladder. ''India has 12-14 percent women at the top in the corporate world, while a country like the US has 15-16 percent. We need to study why women fail to reach the top level. A woman working in the corporate world needs good understanding and support from her family. For companies, there is a need to address the issue of how to fit the talent and skills of the woman with company goals and to think long term'', She said.

Other issues discussed included need for changes in performance matrix, profiling mindsets, re-defining best employers and mentoring.

The forum saw participation of corporate leaders from different industries including KPMG, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Tea, Infosys and Pamasia.

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