The Battle for Female Talent in Brazil - Center for Work-Life Policy

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have a late meeting. Indian labor law precludes women working after 8 p.m., but
most states exempt info-tech and outsourcing firms from the restrictions as long
as they follow certain mandated safety measures. For example, if a woman leaves
work alone after 8 p.m., she must be accompanied by a security guard as well as
a driver. If she leaves with other employees, the male employee gets dropped off
last, no matter whether his home is first on the route. “The woman is never alone
in the car with the driver,” says Mohan. In addition, both she and the transport
supervisor have the driver’s identification number and the supervisor knows what
time she plans to leave, so she is always tracked.
The shared cab service extends to Google’s Hyderabad employees using
the company-subsidized childcare facility. The taxi picks up the parent and child
(sometimes there will be more than one pair, depending on the route), waits while
the child is dropped off, then takes the parent to work. The route is reversed with
the same driver at the end of the day.
Almost all IT firms provide after-hours transportation for free, but many have
employees pay a discounted rate for the service during ordinary work hours.
Google, however, subsidizes the entire service. “The employee doesn’t have to pay
at all,” says Mohan.
“It’s so convenient, not to have to drive to work each day,” she adds. “And it’s
fuel efficient, too.”
Pfizer India: Creating a High-Performance Community
India’s rich talent pool of high-performing professional women are a key element
in almost every organization’s plans to succeed in this enormous, dynamic and
rapidly expanding economy. Yet despite their advanced education and soaring
ambitions, many of India’s high-potential women struggle with work-life balance
issues that choke their capabilities, thwart their careers and, in too many cases,
cause them to drop out of the workforce.
With the world’s 12th-largest economy targeted as a top growth market, Pfizer
initiated a special effort to recognize and engage its high-potential female talent
in India. The program has three goals, explained Amy Schulman, Senior Vice
President and General Counsel, and executive sponsor of the company’s Global
Women’s Council:
• Help Pfizer develop and retain top female talent by ensuring that they feel
valued and supported.
• Strengthen the connections among and between Pfizer’s high-performing
women and their women customers, creating a virtuous circle of support and
loyalty.
• Put together a pilot program that can be used in both developed and other
emerging markets.
In a pioneering integration of two sets of needs, Pfizer India identified 10
of its top women in sales and marketing, as well as 10 of their most important
female customers: Physicians in private practices, high-profile hospitals, medical
technology and other fields running the gamut of Pfizer’s markets. Each was
interviewed individually as well as invited to participate in a focus group in which
the women discussed their career goals and the challenges and opportunities they
face in fulfilling them.
There was a common narrative of blazing ambition often blocked by cultural
barriers. In addition to the usual issues of work-life balance, professional Indian
women have to perform a complicated balancing act that pits their career