What are the factors that decide women's progress at workplaces in India?

If you are racking your brain over the enabling factors that would help women get ahead in the workplace, the answer is simple: It is sheer hard work. That's a key finding of Ipsos' global survey "World Questions: What helps or hinders women’s equality". The next two factors in order of priority are intelligence and qualification — the same as most men. The survey shatters myths and provides insights that could help marketers put out the right communication targeted at women. Interestingly, the factors that work best for Indian women are different from those that work best for women globally — it is qualification and confidence at No 1 and No 2 spots for Indian women. And what hinders their progress? Employers not addressing the issue of gender pay gaps and not helping them balance their work and care responsibilities, they said. In this, the views of Indian women participating in the survey coincided with her global counterparts.

Cutting risk 

With the US-China trade war showing no signs of easing and new conflicts reported from other regions threatening further geopolitical stability, the global offshore services market needs an urgent review, believe experts at Gartner, Inc. They say that from sourcing, procurement and vendor management, executives need to review their options across the board to mitigate risk. "Political and economic stability is an important factor in offshore outsourcing arrangements," says Jim Longwood, research vice president at Gartner. "Gartner has started fielding more questions from clients about how to address these scenarios. This includes whether to stop sourcing services from a particular country, move services to another country or bring them back onshore. Each option is quite costly and can disrupt service delivery in the short-to-medium term." Undertaking proactive risk management to address geopolitical events, splitting risks across multiple countries and creating contingency plans are some of the suggestions that the advisory partner has for the market.