Women in Corporate Jobs Love Challenging Projects But Face Challenges After Maternity Leave: Aon

Mumbai: According to a survey by Aon India 90 per cent of women in corporate jobs in India were prepared to put in extra time, volunteer for challenging projects and upskill themselves to grow in their careers.

However, 42 per cent of the women surveyed mentioned facing bias or potential bias at work and 37 per cent revealed they’ve experienced insensitive behaviour.

In addition, six percent of the women (more than 1,400 women) in the survey responded that they had faced sexual harassment at least once, yet less than half officially reported the incident to their employer. Working mothers had their own challenges, with 75 per cent responding that they faced a career setback of one-to-two years after maternity leave and close to 40 per cent said going on maternity leave had a negative impact on pay and their role changed to something they did not prefer.

Voice of Women Study, 2024 by Aon, a British-American professional services and management

consulting firm are the first and largest survey of its kind in India, gathering input from nearly 24,000 professional women from over 560 companies, to identify their most pressing workplace challenges and the reality of an inclusive workplace.

Further, 34 per cent of women in senior management and leadership roles indicated facing discrimination compared to 17 per cent of women in entry level roles, demonstrating an increase in bias advances as women progress in their careers.

According to the study, women who faced bias are 3.5 times more likely to perceive aspects of their organisational experience as unfair and 21 per cent indicate leaving in less than a year versus only six per cent of women who have not faced bias.

Nitin Sethi, chief executive officer of Talent Solutions in India for Aon, said, “Bias at work is impeding businesses’ efforts to engage and retain skilled and committed women in the workforce. It is a reality that cannot be brushed aside. Building inclusive work culture has to be a CEO-led priority. Business decision makers must urgently take steps to address systemic bias through inclusive policies and practices for equitable pay, career progression and maternity guardrails. But more importantly, top leaders must role model the right behaviours and drive accountability for an inclusive culture that determines everyday behaviour in teams and within the organisation,” Nitin Sethi, chief executive officer, Talent Solutions in India for Aon, said,

The survey further found that having women in leadership roles has a positive impact on female employees in an organisation. Fifty three per cent of women who have visible female leaders in the organisation reported feeling confident in their career growth, 52 per cent said that it had a positive impact on their culture and 41 per cent saw women leaders as role models. Presence of female leaders also reduced the perception of unfairness for three key people processes including performance review, promotion and compensation.

“Addressing gender issues is critical for businesses in India as they tackle talent

shortage and navigate an uncertain business environment. The data clearly highlights that the higher the

positive experiences women have at the workplace the greater representation of women in the workforce.

Businesses must deepen their DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion) efforts by actively listening to women in the workplace and utilising data-driven insights to ensure they make informed decisions to remove

barriers for progress and reframing policies that support women employees at different life stages.” said

Shilpa Khanna, associate partner for Aon and the study’s leader.