Empowering Women – Challenges And Tools
On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the achievements of women around the world. On this day, we also seek to shine a light on the challenges faced by women. Days like IWD are dedicated to reflecting on the progress that we have made and also to considering the measures that we need to take for women empowerment.
EVERYDAY CHALLENGES
On such special days, we ponder the leading problems that women battle against. But, what about those challenges that we as women face in our everyday-ordinary lives within the context of family and friends? Such challenges may seem trivial but they end up shaping our thoughts, ideas and personalities.
Such challenges involve work-life balance or juggling through multifarious roles. This quandary may be the shadow consequence of the household and societal expectations associated with our gender. As women, we often find ourselves being forced to make a decisive call on whether to prioritize our work over family or family over our work. We tend to forget that we also need to have “me time” for our own peace of mind.
Apart from this, we also have a hard time managing difficult emotions. There are days when we feel the need to be understood by the people we care about. The absence of consideration and support from our extended family makes it more difficult to retain our peace of mind.
Have you been in such difficult situations? What was your move? Could you have handled it better with the right tools?
HACKS TO HACK YOUR CHALLENGES
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Rainmaker conducted a workshop where its female employees were given a platform to candidly share their wide-ranging experiences. Along with the celebration of womanhood and the talk of women empowerment, the women also vocalized their dilemmas and no-win situations in their day-to-day lives.
In this interactive session, the facilitator Sumali Nagarajan shared some effective and practical tools with the attendees. The discussion started with the identification and enlistment of different traits that different kinds of individuals manifest in their daily interactions. It elucidated how different people react under different circumstances and this subtly highlighted the ideal way of conducting oneself in testing times. It is indeed a skill that can be acquired through the usage of tools that I am about to reveal.
The activities led the attendees to realize the importance of being assertive and what it takes to be an assertive individual. The qualities attributed to an assertive woman were surfaced with a few riveting anecdotes followed by a thought-provoking discussion. One can imbibe such qualities by recognizing and observing assertive people around oneself.
With the exchange of experiences and ideas, the attendees also discovered that women take pleasure in being there for their kith and kin. Women choose to make such difficult choices. In addition to the external elements, the actions of women stem from feminine instincts. However, we must remember that we cannot allow others to manipulate our will, because our self-worth and femininity go hand in hand.
REFLECTING ON THE TOOLS DISCUSSED IN THE WORKSHOP
Neelima Maniar, AVP – Key Account Manager
“Well, my takeaway from the insightful discussion was that I should and I will be the most important person for myself. I am in no way less than my male counterparts. I shouldn’t make compromises in the role I choose to play at a given moment. The tools also helped me realize that being firm and having a positive outlook could help me solve a majority of my problems.”
Ritika Thadhani, VP – Marketing
“The workshop was indeed very helpful as it put a lot of things into perspective. The tools are definitely beneficial to ensure work-life balance. The tools gave me new ideas on how to manage my time in a better way. I also learned that it is important to say NO! at the right time.
With the kind of experience and exposure I have had over the years, the tools and the discussions were more like a necessary reminder for me on how important it is to be an assertive individual and to have the right attitude in handling tricky situations.”
DOES RAINMAKER PRACTISE WHAT IT PREACHES?
Rainmaker has been helping several organizations to create a safe, inclusive and ethical workplace. Rainmaker provides its services to multiple organizations to ensure the requisites of an ideal workplace for women to thrive. But is Rainmaker an amiable place for its own women employees? What has been the experience of the female employees at Rainmaker? Here is what some of the female employees had to say.
Neelima
“I have been working with Rainmaker for about 6 months. I find the working environment to be very accommodating. My colleagues and the stakeholders of the organization are patient and flexible. They understand and acknowledge the fact that I have a family life too, where I play an important role. I have a sense of liberty to plan my day in such a manner that I am able to give my best to both my work life and my personal life.
As any other woman, I too sometimes find myself in situations where on a given day, I have to prioritize one work over the other. Under such circumstances, time management comes to my rescue. I have been a working woman for a long time now, and I have realized that I don’t need to be a superhero and be present everywhere all the time. The house or the office will not come crashing down because of my absence; things eventually work out even with me not being there. Therefore, I believe that having clarity about what I should do and what I should not do is important to make the right call.”
Priya Gidwani, CFO
“As far as my personal experience goes, women tend to prioritize their family over career. I know a lot of women who have made similar choices, taking long breaks from their careers to look after children, elderly parents, or choosing work-life balance over promotions and so on. In the bargain, they are slow to progress in their career as compared to their men counterparts.
In a way it is a double-edged sword as while many times the corporates are blamed for having more men in the leadership or management, it is as likely that women perhaps cannot commit as much time to their careers as men, and therefore unlikely to get the promotions or management roles.
Rainmaker has been a very employee-friendly company and ensures flexibility, work-life balance and a harassment-free environment.”
Ritika Thadhani
“What a journey! I’m happy working at Rainmaker. I wanted to say a massive thank you for the support each one has given me over weeks since I joined the business. I love that I have had a chance to communicate and connect with everyone individually. Antony (CEO- Founder), thank you for always being on hand to offer help and ideas. The quantum of good causes you promote and the knowledge you share with everyone is nothing short of inspirational! Kudos!”
WHERE ARE WE AT?
This International Women’s Day people around the world are pledging to break the biases. But, before doing that, we need to free ourselves from the shackles of the biases that we hold against ourselves. It is high time that we realize our self-worth, and claim our rights without allowing “guilt” to make room in our minds. Overcoming challenges is not difficult if your efforts are backed by appropriate attitude and right skill set. One may wonder what is the “right attitude or right skills?” How can one acquire or know them? Well, getting your hands on our tools would definitely answer these questions. Empowering each other is the key to achieving the goal of gender equality. Women empowerment is no longer an option; it is a way of life. Act today for a better tomorrow!
Author: Nidhi Dalvi Editor: Sumali Nagarajan
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