September 19, 2024 saw the launch of Women@Cint, a powerful step towards fostering diversity, inclusivity, and leadership within our organization. This program is designed to celebrate and empower the women of Cint.
Taking place at Cint’s Gurgaon office in India, the launch event was a celebration of women in the workplace.
The event was opened by Jay Shankavaram, General Manager India, who sits as an advisor for Women@Cint. Chief People Officer, Bee Meuwissen, and EVP Customer Experience, Michelle Darcy Clarke were also on (virtual) hand to share their vision and experiences, inspiring everyone at Cint to embrace the values of diversity and inclusion within our organization and beyond.
What is Women@Cint?
The aim of the initiative is simple. We want to expand the presence, growth and engagement of our Cint women community across Team India — and beyond.
As Anu Mehr, Associate Director, People, put it during the launch event, “Women@Cint is about fostering an environment that advances our commitment to diversity and inclusivity. I’d encourage our male colleagues to extend a helping hand to our female colleagues when it comes to their professional journey. Encourage conversations that are more diverse and inclusive in team meetings; make it a better place for all the women who work here.”
Mehr discussed the current gender imbalance in Cint’s workforce. “At a global level, 30% of our permanent workforce is female. As we go up the ladder, it is just 5% at executive level. We need to proactively fill this gap and build a platform where women can thrive and become more professionally robust, and we also need to offer an environment where women can be more personally and professionally successful.”
Talking to the group over video call, Bee Meuwissen said that the idea behind the campaign came together when she was last in India and had conversations with the leaders in the office. “We decided that this would be a fantastic initiative for us as a company.”
She went on to say, “It’s a really important subject — not just from a diversity and fairness perspective but also from a growth and innovation perspective.”
Meuwissen cited research conducted by McKinsey that found that companies who really think through gender diversity when it comes to hiring are 21% more likely to grow and innovate.
Following on from Meuwissen’s remarks, Michelle Darcy Clarke added that:
“All our leaders are super committed to increasing the percentages of women in leadership. We look forward to celebrating and empowering the women at Cint in India and throughout the rest of the organization, both in general as well as in leadership roles. It’s always something we’ve taken seriously and we will continue to do so, and support this team wherever we can.”
How will Women@Cint work?
October sees Cint’s India team working hard on ensuring our recruitment processes are more diverse than ever. We’ve set ourselves a target of increasing the proportion of women in the interview pool to 35%.
To get us to that target, we will hold training sessions for managers that focus on inclusive recruitment practices, and collaborate with our HR teams to amplify diversity and inclusion (D&I) commitment during Cint’s onboarding process.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Cint will be working with healthcare professionals to lead on awareness sessions around breast cancer prevention and early detection.
In November, the campaign looks to delve deeper into professional development. We’ll be rolling out a mentorship program, pairing up women managers with senior leaders across the company, alongside hosting regular check-ins and development workshops.
When December rolls around the focus turns to recognising the amazing achievements of women at Cint in India and beyond.
More events, workshops, and initiatives will follow in 2025.
Why now?
There’s never been a better time to champion the role women play in shaping our organization. With Women@Cint we’re demonstrating our ongoing commitment to ensuring that as a company we’re as diverse and inclusive as the audiences we survey.
As Malala said, in a line quoted by Bee Meuwissen during the opening ceremony, “We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”
