Today is the 10th of March, 2022. All over the world women’s day was celebrated on the 8th of March. Women were honored, pampered, and appreciated. They felt good, So far, nothing wrong with this approach.
But what came the next day on the 9th? Or what was there on 7th March? History is replete with tales of women’s exploitation, whether physically, mentally, financially, or emotionally. Whether it is war or peacetime, their conditions don’t change much. Any organization, any sector – everywhere the story is the same. Once in a while, protests come - #Metoo and all similar things, but there is no permanent shift in their treatment.
Every organization, large or small, has HR guidelines for the safety of women at work. In India, periodic returns are submitted to the government. All on paper. Ask any woman across the world, incl USA and Europe, if they were exploited or not and the answer will be YES.
Somewhere, something is wrong. Or may I say everywhere, everything is wrong. Society has become a bunch of hypocrites, with no congruence of thought, speech, and action. We talk about something, do something and think something else.
The organizations having a culture of safety for women will continue to see women exploited. Senior management will try to hide it if someone from top management is involved. Cases have been seen in India even 30 years back when a DGP touched inappropriately an IAS lady officer at an official party. The media enjoyed it a lot, the lady, I am sure, did not.
The values and ethos written in HR manuals of even the largest corporations have failed to put an effective stop to this disease in our society. Where is the culture gone? Why do we plan to respect women in the workplace, but don’t do that? And why the management fails to take prohibitive action?
Pay disparity, professional respect, challenging openings, and several other issues continue to haunt the women executives.
Is it time for a complete whitewash of the existing culture ethos prevalent in the industries and bring a new one, subscribed and approved by womenfolk? Is the male world ready for that? Do they feel that women will try to ask for a larger share than what is justified? Who will decide that?
Someone has to bell the cat. I have brought the cat. Someone bring the bell. Let us get going……
As a former business owner and now an organizational culture coach, I would like to offer 9 free consultancy calls for women entrepreneurs and senior leaders who are having trouble with various workplace-related issues. I am committed to helping 100,000 SMEs across India to grow their business using culture as a tool.
If this is of interest to you, you can contact me via DM or simply book a call with me here -https://calendly.com/rajeeva-ranjan/30min.
Feel free to share this with women who might find this offer useful.