'Just One Or Two Women On Company's Board Will Not Be Worthful'

Alan Richter, the president of QED Consulting, believes that companies alone cannot drive the change by inducting more women at board level, societal change should also come along. Richter, who has consulted corporations for many years in the areas of leadership, values, culture and change has also worked with Indian tech giant Wipro in US and found Indian men much traditional and resistant in their thought process.

Excerpts:

Which Indian company did you get chance to work with and how was the experience?
I have worked with Wipro in US and it was a big challenge… The males running the company were very resistant in the approach and had traditional thought process. However, you should not be surprised as it’s not unique to Indian men. There is a lot of sexism in US and other European countries. Men are almost, always guilt free whereas the burden of personal and professional balance always falls on the shoulder of women.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in year 2015 imposed a quota of at least one female director on the board of every listed firm. Do you think such measures will boost diversity at workplace?
Several countries have set targets, for instance, to bring 40 per cent of the women in corporate boardrooms. But just one women on board will be ignored, two will also be ignored. You need critical mass on the board if you want them to be worthful. Otherwise, they will feel intimidated in the board room.

Are we going in right direction when it is about inducting women at board level?
United Nation’s very ambitious target is to reach gender equality by 2030. UN itself had an election last year where six women applied for the post but no one was selected. Again it was a male candidate who won whereas women were equally capable. That’s not walking the talk internationally.

Where India stands today when we talk about diversity at workplace?
As a country, India is very diverse country with almost 22 official languages. But on issues such as gender equality, country is somewhat lagging behind. According to Global Gender Gap Index, India ranks 89th, which is not appreciable at all. Equal education opportunity, equal wages and education opportunities along with many other gaps need attention.