Leaders
In today's fast-paced and complex world, while businesses and industries have undergone significant changes, we still don’t see enough women in the workforce, especially at leadership levels. Data shows that gender equality will not be a reality anytime soon and hence the need to accelerate efforts in the area. For various reasons, women at the workplace still face a range of challenges such as their efforts not being adequately acknowledged, comparisons with their male counterparts, being overlooked for key positions and difficulty in returning to work after breaks for childbirth etc. Over time, stereotypes about working women have developed that include assumptions about competence, leadership and balancing work and family. It is essential to recognize and challenge these stereotypes.
Gayatri Varma (Co-Founder & Mentor, MENTORW) joined hands with a former colleague to contribute her bit towards helping women succeed at the workplace. MENTORW aims to help women discover their strengths and make these a cornerstone of their professional brand. Using an experiential learning format, the team focusses on motivating and empowering women so that they can be prepared to lead the workforce of the future.
Gayatri’s career spanning three decades including global roles across industries has focussed on transforming Human Capital & People Capability. Below is an excerpt of Gayatri’s exclusive interaction with Women Entrepreneur magazine.
Give us a brief account of your education, and professional journey. Also, what led you to foray into the field of Human Resources?
My academic background was in the sciences until the undergraduate level. At B School, I discovered my affinity with people and their professional development, leading to my specializing in HR. After a STEM degree from BITS Pilani, I started out writing software code but realized soon that it wasn’t all that exciting! So, I used my admission into the MBA program as my ‘great escape’.
This was often the story for many of us in the early ‘90s unlike nowadays, when everyone seems to know their chosen path in school itself! In hindsight, I believe this variety in my academic background definitely made me a more rounded professional.
Success also requires you to be ultra disciplined & carve out time for everything, be it your work, your family, your self-development including your health & wellness
Post B School, HR consulting beckoned and I joined Hewitt (now Aon Hewitt) as a Consultant where I got to handle a variety of projects. My next role was with Max India followed by CitiFinancial where I was their HR head. Subsequently, I had long tenures as CHRO at American Express India and Optum Global Solutions, with a short stint at Bharti Airtel in between. While it was gratifying to be acknowledged and awarded many times, I will say that I was also fortunate in having great leaders, mentors, and a super supportive ecosystem that supported me along the way.
MENTORW started in 2021 where I am Co-founder. Our mission of assisting women succeed at the workplace has just begun but is proving to be enjoyable and equally enriching.
Also, tell us about the role your Alma Mater, BITS Pilani played in shaping you as an individual and as a professional.
BITS was my sandpit for becoming an adult. It was a big world with decisions around classes, teachers, credits & semester planning to be taken by yourself in a very competitive environment. I will acknowledge that I was initially lost, but this was also my first lesson in making choices and being decisive. Real life lessons were learnt there and it turned me into a better (and definitely more resilient) human.
What led you to co-found MENTORW. Tell us about the underlying idea behind it, delineating the key expertise.
I have always been passionate about women succeeding in the workplace. Fortunately, I have had the privilege of working for organizations that actively supported the careers of women and also having fantastic leaders and mentors who contributed to my professional journey.
In 2021, I decided to pursue my passion differently and find a way to pay it forward! What is extremely rewarding is that while MENTORW works with corporates, we also use this platform to offer help to women who work for smaller organizations and may not have the access to organizational resources for learning.
Tell us about the various responsibilities you shoulder as MENTORW’s co-founder. What are your focus areas in terms of driving growth for the company?
As MENTORW, our efforts are towards empowering the next generation of women professionals; to motivate and prepare them to lead the workforce of the future. Our panel of mentors collectively bring over 350 years of diverse and fulfilling corporate experience to provide experiential learning. We work across different groups - with academic institutions for early-stage career professionals, with corporates for customized offerings and also offer open programs for young women professionals looking to take up leadership roles. Our programs also include offerings for career professionals aiming for big jobs, women looking to return to the workplace, and executive mentoring for senior women executives.
What are some of the most critical challenges you encounter as an HR leader in today’s business climate? Also, how do you mitigate those?
Regardless of industry, organization size, or its life stage, myriads of people challenges will crop up. I’ll touch upon a few that I see as important. Transformation is inevitable in every business today, hence being able to harness the art & science of effective change management is key. I have seen the journey from employee satisfaction to employee engagement and to support a high performing organization, we will need to keep the focus on the talent agenda, digital dexterity, ESG and inclusion to name a few.
What has your success mantra been over the years?
I’d like to share some learnings - listen to your gut, stretch yourself. Get comfortable with the fact that you will need to make choices & then own & live with them. Be bold with your vision, take calculated risks & get yourself noted. Success also requires you to be disciplined and carve out time for everything, be it your work, your family, your self-development and or your health & wellness.
Gayatri Varma, Co-Founder & Mentor, MENTORW
Gayatri Varma, Co-Founder & Mentor at MENTORW, leverages her three-decade career in global human capital transformation to help address the gender gap in leadership. She has a STEM degree from BITS Pilani and an MBA specializing in HR. MENTORW was started in 2021 with a mission for women to excel in the workplace and achieve their full potential. Through experiential learning, the team at MENTORW help prepare women to lead in today's dynamic business environment, tackling challenges such as stereotypes and career reentry barriers.
