NEW DELHI | MUMBAI: What price diversity? In some cases, companies are paying headhunters 30% more for women hires, than they would for men. Microsoft, Alcatel-Lucent, Genpact, IBM, Schneider Electric, Cadbury-Kraft Foods... it's a long list.
Some like IBM and Microsoft provide incentives for hiring at multiple levels, while Genpact does it only at levels above assistant VP. At Genpact, there has been a conscious effort to look for women at leadership levels for the past six months. "So, we have started to provide incentives for hiring at the levels of assistant VP and above," says Urvashi Singh, VP-HR, at Genpact. "We provide incentives of up to 30% for diversity hiring."
Energy management company Schneider Electric is also incentivising headhunters to look for women talent. "We pay an additional fee when headhunters find us women talent. It is a business imperative. Our customers are from diverse backgrounds, and our talent should be so too," says VP-HR Shalini Sarin. The company tells headhunters that a third of the line-up for any job interview should be women.
At IBM India, women comprise 26% of the workforce as against 29% globally. There is an effort across businesses to recruit women candidates to maintain a healthy ratio between men and women. External placement consultancies and partners are given additional incentives (10%-30%) for women candidates at IBM. Reasons Rangarajan: "Focused efforts are still needed to ensure a healthy ratio of male and female employees at the workplace." However, there is no quota for women. All selections are based on merit, he says. "One way is to elevate talent inside the organisation to leadership roles. We also hire from outside.
And at the level of a senior position such as a direct reportee to the CEO, we look at incentivising the consultants," says Supria Dhanda, organisation development and diversity manager, APAC, for Alcatel Lucent. One of the reasons for this is, the industry -- telecom engineering -- does not give the company a talent pool. "So, we have to incentivise more," she adds.
At Microsoft, the focus of the incentivised hiring is at entry and senior levels. Says Microsoft India HR director Joji Gill: "Diversity is a source of strategic business advantage. It enables us to cater a diverse customer base." Microsoft also does specialised events focused on hiring diverse talent.
Do these incentives mean there are more opportunities for women employees? "That's unlikely. The incentive is meant to encourage agencies to locate and get more qualified candidates to the company.
Skills and educational qualification are a given," says VA Rangarajan, recruitment head IBM India/South Asia. Adds Genpact's Singh: "Women are not getting more opportunities. Organisations are getting more proactive to get their share in the small talent pool, especially at senior levels."
Do incentives help in getting more women on board? "There aren't many women available in the talent pool. To get these profiles is a struggle," Sarin says. Diversity is a global initiative for the company. Diversity percentage in the company is 20%, up from 9% in 2009 and 17% last year.
Genpact does get a healthier list. "Incentives help in more focused effort from the search firm," says Singh. The company has, in the past six months, hired women both at assistant VP and VP levels.
Headhunters, however, say CEO searches have no carrots attached; diversity is a given there. "Diversity hiring is typically happening at entry and middle levels. When large companies are working with search firms, there are no incentive linkages.
But there is a lot of pressure for hiring women at the top," says Navnit Singh, regional practice mananging partner for Apac at search firm Heidrick and Struggles.
Some like IBM and Microsoft provide incentives for hiring at multiple levels, while Genpact does it only at levels above assistant VP. At Genpact, there has been a conscious effort to look for women at leadership levels for the past six months. "So, we have started to provide incentives for hiring at the levels of assistant VP and above," says Urvashi Singh, VP-HR, at Genpact. "We provide incentives of up to 30% for diversity hiring."
Energy management company Schneider Electric is also incentivising headhunters to look for women talent. "We pay an additional fee when headhunters find us women talent. It is a business imperative. Our customers are from diverse backgrounds, and our talent should be so too," says VP-HR Shalini Sarin. The company tells headhunters that a third of the line-up for any job interview should be women.
At IBM India, women comprise 26% of the workforce as against 29% globally. There is an effort across businesses to recruit women candidates to maintain a healthy ratio between men and women. External placement consultancies and partners are given additional incentives (10%-30%) for women candidates at IBM. Reasons Rangarajan: "Focused efforts are still needed to ensure a healthy ratio of male and female employees at the workplace." However, there is no quota for women. All selections are based on merit, he says. "One way is to elevate talent inside the organisation to leadership roles. We also hire from outside.
And at the level of a senior position such as a direct reportee to the CEO, we look at incentivising the consultants," says Supria Dhanda, organisation development and diversity manager, APAC, for Alcatel Lucent. One of the reasons for this is, the industry -- telecom engineering -- does not give the company a talent pool. "So, we have to incentivise more," she adds.
At Microsoft, the focus of the incentivised hiring is at entry and senior levels. Says Microsoft India HR director Joji Gill: "Diversity is a source of strategic business advantage. It enables us to cater a diverse customer base." Microsoft also does specialised events focused on hiring diverse talent.
Do these incentives mean there are more opportunities for women employees? "That's unlikely. The incentive is meant to encourage agencies to locate and get more qualified candidates to the company.
Skills and educational qualification are a given," says VA Rangarajan, recruitment head IBM India/South Asia. Adds Genpact's Singh: "Women are not getting more opportunities. Organisations are getting more proactive to get their share in the small talent pool, especially at senior levels."
Do incentives help in getting more women on board? "There aren't many women available in the talent pool. To get these profiles is a struggle," Sarin says. Diversity is a global initiative for the company. Diversity percentage in the company is 20%, up from 9% in 2009 and 17% last year.
Genpact does get a healthier list. "Incentives help in more focused effort from the search firm," says Singh. The company has, in the past six months, hired women both at assistant VP and VP levels.
Headhunters, however, say CEO searches have no carrots attached; diversity is a given there. "Diversity hiring is typically happening at entry and middle levels. When large companies are working with search firms, there are no incentive linkages.
But there is a lot of pressure for hiring women at the top," says Navnit Singh, regional practice mananging partner for Apac at search firm Heidrick and Struggles.
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