The wonder women of the automotive components industry continue to make their presence felt with exemplary commitment and will to deliver against the odds. Our own, Deepti Thore looks at their growing stature across the board.
Breaking all stereotypes, women today no longer just occupy desk jobs. They are managing seemingly complex jobs akin to their male counterparts, be it a desk or a field job, managerial level or laborious blue-collar jobs. While working in the automotive industry was earlier considered to be a male suited profile, the landscape continues to change at a steady pace. Albeit it leaves a lot desired. According to a McKinsey Global Institute report only 25.per cent of India’s labour force is accounted for by women. This is no different in the automobile industry. Gender diversity has certainly improved over the years across roles however the gap remains quite substantial and needs to be addressed to make work places more inclusive offering an equal opportunity for all genders. Many automotive component and ancillary makers, ancillary providers, tyre manufacturers among others are looking at changing this grim picture as it looks to come off age. These include the likes of Schaeffler, Fleeca, Bridgestone India, Continental, Sundaram-Clayton, BorgWarner, Anand Group to name only a few.
Women clearly bring a lot of value on several parameters including a great eye for quality and detail orientation, skill-sets to work on shop floors, discipline and decision-making ability. Neeru Ahuja, Chairperson, CII Core Group on BEPS Partner, Deloitte says good people will continue to grow irrespective. She advised that the need of the hour is to be ambitious for yourself- the sky is the limit – and never be afraid of hard work. Talk about the work you are doing, take ownership and initiative to out forward your ideas. I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to communicate! Speaking about women empowerment, Tikam Jain, CEO and Founder at Fleeca India said, “We wanted to integrate women power in the sector of tyre management, tyre service, and tyre maintenance. Though it continued crawling into my thoughts, I always wanted to make Fleeca India more inclusive because of the nature of this job role, which is a rigorous and challenging field job, but that fear dissipated after I learned about the growing number of women working in the logistics and transportation industry.”
Adopting Diversity
Taking a lead on placing the women in shopfloor, Anand Group, is said to have aced gender diversity at workplace. The company was also acknowledged as ‘India’s Best Workplace for Women in 2019’ by Great Place to Work Institute in the past. The company under the leadership of Anjali Singh, Executive Chairperson, ANAND Group and Gabriel India is claimed to have constantly challenged this statement and have acted unconventionally. For instance, at the Anchemco Anand Plant, women run 100 per cent of the shopfloor. Addressing the need for a diverse and inclusive workforce, Rainer Hetzer, Head of Human Relations Autonomous Mobility and Safety, and HR sponsor for Continental India said, “At Continental, we are persistently working to ensure gender parity at the workplace, especially in areas underrepresented by women talent. Focused measures and topics including learning initiatives, sensitising programs, mentorship, leadership development programs, and equal pay scales are in place for women across different levels.” The industry needs to acknowledge the change and create an atmosphere to nurture diversity. It will not only help create opportunities but will also bring forth the key skill sets and perspectives that women bring to the workplace in greater numbers.
A senior once told me : a good person is like vine – nobody can stop it from growing! In my 30 odd years of experience, I have learnt that the key to success is doing what you enjoy the most. Be ambitious for yourself- the sky is the limit – and never be afraid of hard work. Talk about the work you are doing, take ownership and initiative to out forward your ideas. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to communicate!
Bridgestone Group, on the other hand, has been encouraging active participation and advancement of women in the workplace at each strategic business unit. As of December 31, 2020, the percentage of women workforce across the group was approximately 11.5 per cent. Focused on gender diversity, Schaeffler India has been hiring women from campus since 2015. With the world transitioning towards digitisation, electric, connected and autonomous future, the automotive components industry is looking at recruiting and encouraging talented women which have a lot to offer in the field. While the change is slowly seeping in the industry, it was quite challenging to penetrate the male dominance in the field of core production, primary functions and the ability of nurturing, building and leading strong teams. Tier suppliers across the board have since then adopted a more inclusive approach and backed the intent with many initiatives to drive the change. It comes as no surprise then that apex body ACMA supports these drivers of change. Notably, Shradha Suri Marwah leads as the Vice President with an over two decade of automotive experience having joined Subros Ltd., leading the company as Chairperson and MD.
Latha Chembrakalam,
Head of Technical Centre India (TCI)
Anjali Singh, Executive Chairperson, ANAND Group and Gabriel India
Shradha Suri Marwah, Vice President, ACMA and Chairperson and MD, Subros Ltd.
Initiatives to promote women
As per the recent announcement made by the Ministry of MSME, under the Samarth initiative of the Ministry, 20 per cent of MSME Business Delegations sent to domestic and international exhibitions under the schemes for Marketing Assistance implemented by Ministry will be dedicated to women owned MSMEs. Continental aims to nurture and inspire girls and women to better understand the industry through access to resources and learning. It’s ‘Women for Manufacturing’ initiative is aimed at empowering and supporting women to take up a career in manufacturing through various skill development programs. “Women for manufacturing program is Continental’s commitment to prepare and mobilise untapped women talent, towards achieving a more gender-balanced manufacturing society,” commented Prashanth Doreswamy, Head of Continental India, and Managing Director Continental Automotive.
Prashanth Doreswamy,
President and CEO, Continental India
Rainer Hetzer, Head of Human Relations Autonomous Mobility and Safety, and HR sponsor for Continental India
At Continental, we are persistently working to ensure gender parity at the workplace, especially in areas under represented by women talent. Focused measures and topics including learning initiatives, sensitising programs, mentorship, leadership development programs, and equal pay scales are in place for women across different levels. Rainer Hetzer, Head of Human Relations Autonomous Mobility and Safety, and HR sponsor for Continental India
Schaeffler India has a special Employee referral campaign in place, designed specially to increase the number of female hires in our organisation. The automobile industry has long been perceived as unsuited for women, resulting in a significant under representation of women in this profession. Lack of understanding, the diversity of manufacturing across industries, and restricted access to skill development programmes are to be blamed to an extent. To address this issue, Fleeca is working to bridge the gender gap. It is working towards empowering and inspiring girls and women to get a greater understanding of the tyre industry, gain access to tools and training, and consider a career in tyre management, for example. Women at all levels have access to targeted measures and themes such as learning initiatives, sensitization workshops, and mentoring. As per the company, “We are seeing a significant shift in the industry as a result of the presence of women in this area, as individuals are more organised, producing a clean and sustainable ecosystem, and being efficient and disciplined.”
With the ongoing technological evolution driving Industry 4.0, it is expected that women representation in manufacturing companies will continue to grow. Supporting this cause, Bridgestone India through its Samaan Social Development Society, Indore is attempting at changing the society’s beliefs and thinking.
It’s women mechanic project received a special recognition award. The project aims to change gender norms by promoting livelihood skills among girls and young women. The goal of this project is to connect women with technical and mobility-based jobs.
Achievements
Continental Automotive has women leading verticals, from the front. Latha Chembrakalam, Head of Technical Centre India (TCI) is responsible for leading TCI to the next level of growth and innovation, including objectives like infrastructure expansion, head count growth and expansion of engineering competence for both the global and local markets.
Mahua Acharya, Convergence Energy Services Limited of Government of India, is fiercely driving green transportation in India. Rashmi Urdhwareshe, Former Director of the Automotive Research Association India (ARAI) has long proved her mettle and continues to serve as President – SAEINDIA and in senior advisory roles. The National Commission for Women, Government of India felicitated extraordinary women from different fields and celebrated their achievements. The ‘Women Extraordinaire’ included Dr Tessy Thomas, the “Missile Woman of India”, and Director General (Aeronautical Systems), DRDO and Dr Kalpana Saroj, Padma recipient and Chairperson, Kamani Tubes. ACI
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