Women still don’t have level-playing field at work, says pan-IIM survey

A staggering 49 per cent of the respondents said they did not have equal opportunities for career growth as the men in their organisations.

Bridging gaps

The findings of what is being called the first-ever pan-IIM survey titled Women in the Workplace pose some questions to India Inc’s claims of reducing the gender gap over the years. It reveals that women still do not have a level-playing field is a view held by many respondents, women alumni and students from across 20 IIMs. A staggering 49 per cent of the respondents said they did not have equal opportunities for career growth as the men in their organisations. The survey received over 400 responses from alumni and current students across the 20 IIMs, with the majority of respondents working at mid- to senior-management levels across industries.“The survey results demonstrate that…organisations need a renewed focus on eliminating unconscious bias, strengthening mentoring and sponsorship initiatives and creating a level-playing field for women,” says Uma Kasoji, co-founder of The Star in me. The report was released last week, ahead of the International Women’s Day 2020.

Saving up

A new report reveals that while customers a expect a hyper-personalised, effortless, brand experience, only 12 per cent of organisations globally say that its customers are fully satisfied with their experience or CX. Additionally, only 8 per cent currently deliver a fully functioning experience. The report Global Customer Experience (CX) Benchmarking Report 2020 suggests that while CX remains a top boardroom indicator of strategic performance, only 10 per cent say customers rate their experiences at promoter level. A high number, 86.4 per cent, agree that CX gives a competitive edge and 74.6 per cent believe that CX is the primary differentiator. However, from a data standpoint, 55.5 per cent of the organisations operate without enterprise wide CX analytics and 37.9 per cent aren’t aligning data capture needs with outcomes. Lastly, the report also highlights the perceived benefits of having a successful CX strategy — such as an improvement in customer engagement, brand engagement and commercial performance.