Women in Tech- Importance of having women in leadership

Having women in leadership roles inspires other women to pursue and grow in their careers and also it will give them encouragement to study about technology and women's participation in the workforce has been adding immense value to the economic world.

In a recent chat with Vanitha Ponnarasi, Senior Director of Engineering, Build A Sign (a cimpress business) shares her insights about women in leadership. She talks about how women being in tech sector changes the dynamic of work. What role do women play at Cimpress and the set of challenges a woman faces while working in the tech sector.

Read below to know more about it:

Why is it important to have women leadership?

If asked whether women provide value to the workplace, I am confident that most people will respond with a strong affirmative.  People will also agree that right now, women do not have equal representation in most companies. The good news is that many women - and men are working diligently to solve this. While there are numerous noteworthy efforts underway to provide more opportunities for women to enter the workforce, our progress is slow.  It is clear that the magnitude of the problem calls for strong measures.

One possible solution - and one which I think will have maximum impact - is by increasing the representation of women in leadership roles. Having more women in leadership roles will not only help towards proving the benefit of the unique perspective and skills that women bring to the table, but it will have other far-reaching effects like organically increasing the number of women hires as well as encouraging career growth for women in the organization.

How companies can play an important role in bringing women to the forefront?

Companies can play a critical role in bringing women to the forefront. They can invest in mentorship and sponsorship initiatives that can train deserving women to develop their potential. They can show their support by consciously taking efforts toward gender equity. They can review the current state of the Company with regard to gender representation in terms of people count as well as compensation and take fair steps to reduce if not totally eliminate the gap. Not only will these initiatives help reduce the gender gap, but they will play a critical role in empowering women and bringing them to the forefront.

Some initiatives at Cimpress that make it a great place to work for women?

Cimpress has championed gender equity and launched many programs including the Back to Work program, special interest groups for women, and increased focus on Diversity & Inclusion during hiring, to name a few. Our Back to Work program is especially exciting and designed to help women who may have taken a sabbatical for any reason but now want to re-ignite their career life.

Can you Elaborate on Cimpress’ back-to-work policy?

India loses a huge pool of women's talent owing to our cultural context and personal responsibilities. This only worsened during the Pandemic. Our “Back to Work” program aims to help such women (not limited to women though now), encouraging them to re-enter the workforce by providing training options to help them build on their existing skills as well as gain new expertise.  This combined with the flexible work hours, remote work options, and programs designed to improve the work-life balance that Cimpress provides all of its employees have made a significant impact on women who had previously struggled when trying to get back to active employment. 

What are the changes that Cimpress is doing to make it a future-ready company?

We learned valuable lessons during the Pandemic. We learned that we could function effectively even when our teams were distributed across our country or even across the globe.  We learned the importance of relationships and the efforts needed to improve our team’s well-being. Cimpress has heavily invested in technology and processes to benefit from these lessons. By embracing the rapid change and uncertainty that we faced in those early days, Cimpress came out much stronger, building on our culture, and proving that we are able to weather difficult situations just by working together as a team. We believe in our people, and we continue to focus on our people first.  The future is not easy to predict but our investment in our people makes us confident that we will be successful - whatever direction it may take us.

How do you think having more women in leadership positions will help in improving the whole landscape of diversity and inclusion of an organization?

In India, schools and colleges have equal representation from both men and women, and in competitive education, I personally think women have the edge.  But as you go up levels, especially for senior leadership roles you see women drop off more and more.  Often this is due to our difficulty navigating through landscapes that have been designed by our social environment. The best way to bring about change is by increasing our representation in these roles. This will allow us to influence the currently male-dominated work environment and make it more inclusive. The results of this change will not stop here but effectively benefit all levels. By bringing in women leaders who are aware of the struggles and the problems women face, we will be able to understand and mitigate the challenges faced by women at all levels. The future is in our hands, and I know we are eager to and capable of taking on this challenge and making the world a more equitable place for our children and generations to come.

Authored By Vanitha Ponnarasi, Senior Director of Engineering, Build A Sign (a Cimpress Business)