Women are born with the ability to handle multiple responsibilities
Published on : Tuesday 08-03-2022
Swati Jain, Vice President, Analytics at EXL.
What was the inspiration that prompted you to pursue this career path?
I was always inclined towards doing something, which has a combination of art and science. So, I zeroed in with economics as my subject of choice. After graduating, I pursued Master’s in Business Economics from Delhi University. I was just really passionate about economics and it felt like a logical mix of science and art. We use scientific and statistical tools, but it’s an art to understand how metrics and numbers impact an organisation. My career path evolved naturally; from doing market research in the initial years, to analytics and AI with the proliferation of data. In a nutshell, my love for making sense and leveraging the power of data along with my passion for business and technology prompted me to choose and pursue this career path.
Can you recall your early days – say the first few days at work – and anything you would like to mention about that?
I was lucky to start my career at Manupatra, a legal and business policy portal which has now grown to be one of the largest Indian databases for online legal research. Those were memorable times; and I had rich experience conducting research and analysis on economic, business and policy aspects. Very early in my career, within the first few months of my first job, I got the exposure of interacting with senior professionals and experts from Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), ASSOCHAM, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, etc., as part of my work. Another significant moment that I recall is when in the first six months of my first job, the founder of my company appreciated my work saying that it seems Swati has done a PhD on the project. His words proved to be an inspiration to me to enrol for a PhD with IIT Delhi and pursue it along with my career and family responsibilities.
For a woman, it is a matter of finding the right balance between the jobs and managing the home – how do you manage this?
The key factors in ensuring work life balance in my case, is setting up of a robust infrastructure, as well as personal attributes including self-discipline, robust planning, prioritisation, and having a keen focus on where time is spent. Having family support and maintaining good relationships on personal and professional front comes handy and gives a lot of peace of mind. A supportive husband and flexibility from office front is icing on the cake. Having said this, the most important factor is the belief that balance can be maintained; hard work and robust planning to ensure there is some time off when one can do so, post important deliverables or milestones…helps maintain the balance. In early part of my career, extreme hard work and proactive planning enabled me wear multiple hats. Alongside rigorous official responsibilities, I worked through my PhD while relocating to the US owing to family reasons and being pregnant with my first child. Setting up the right infrastructure and flexibility from office when needed, helped me maintain a balance while raising my children alongside growing in my career.
What challenges (or privileges) do women stereotypically face, based on their gender?
Challenges exist primarily due to unconscious bias which is now being actively addressed across organisations. Some instances of challenges include, e.g., women are not given enough opportunities as it is felt that they have to manage home as well. They sometimes face challenges of non-inclusion, not being included in meetings; promotion is delayed at times and there is often inequality in pay, the logic being women will tend to stick around as they are now comfortable on the job. Women in general have to work harder to get a seat at the table. As a woman, while I had my share of challenges, I have felt privileged and grateful for the benefits like paid maternity leave, the support and flexibility rendered by my organisations post child-birth and while rearing both my kids; I was allowed work from home when needed; also, a lot of trainings specifically for women development and women leadership development also help women grow up the ladder.
Have you ever missed a career opportunity or promotion due to the gender?
Women sometimes miss a promotion or career opportunity, particularly around special life situations of child birth or otherwise; however, if they remain focused and vigilant, such a situation can be handled well. Yes, I feel, my promotion was delayed post birth of my first child; but when I spoke up with conviction and asked the reasons, my then organisation gave due attention, my performance was closely evaluated for the next 3 months and was then given an out of cycle promotion based on my performance. During my second child, I did not face any such issue. In a nutshell, my message to fellow women is that situations may arise where they may temporarily miss an opportunity, but if they remain vigilant, it does not generally impact in the long run.
Are workplaces today more sensitive to gender issues than say, a decade ago?
Yes, absolutely, the workplaces have become a lot more sensitive to gender issues. The world at large has understood the importance of wholeheartedly involving 50% of the population and leveraging what they bring to the table. There is a conscious effort to increase the number of women on boards and in leadership positions, create opportunities for women mentoring and leadership trainings, create women forums, organise webinars and other sessions specifically targeted at women. Companies are also organising diversity and unconscious bias trainings on a large scale for all employees so that any kind of bias across the employee lifecycle is proactively spotted and addressed. Finally, women are being heard and now their voices are being taken far more seriously, which will help create more equitable workplaces.
Which women's 'cause' needs to be challenged and changed, first?
The women’s cause that needs to be challenged and changed first is the underlying bias among both men and women of women not being able to do how much a man can do, in terms of taking up targets or willingness to venture into a new area. Woman herself has to take accountability of her growth and education. Women generally don’t ask, they don’t raise their hand. There needs to be mind-set change and a shift in the belief that her working will compromise the family; organisations are a lot more flexible today enabling women to balance work and home. If women perform well, organisations are willing to go out of their way to support during their life situations for mutual benefit. Also, women have to get over traits which pull them back, e.g., women not helping out other women, etc.
Are there areas at work that still restrict women when it comes to leadership role?
There are different patterns to women’s growth depending on the organisations they are a part of. In organisations, focusing on diversity in a big way, women’s development and progress is given due attention. In others, women have often to prove more to get to the top.
Women’s own ability to visualise themselves in leadership positions is the biggest deterrent. Women must dream big; and work with dedication, commitment and passion towards that. No dream is bigger than YOU, woman; you have the ability to achieve what you set your mind at. While women are generally good in people skills, empathy, etc,, they must constantly focus on excelling at subject matter, so as to be able to make a mark. Strong hold over subject matter and deep diving in content, will enable them to be respected even more and pave way for the truly equal participation of women at leadership levels.
What women-related myths or taboos need to be broken?
Most harmful stereotype about women in the workplace is that married working women, especially moms, will not be able to contribute to the job as much as fellow men do. If given an opportunity, women often do as well or even better due to their highly disciplined and holistic approach as well as overall experience (women hone their communication, training, collaboration, team and stakeholder management skills even while shouldering their personal responsibilities). To break the stereotype, it is imperative, that women’s growth is not delayed due to small breaks during her special life situations (such as maternity), unless her performance warrants the same. Men and women should strive to give equal opportunities to women both in terms of career progression and pay.
Women are born with the ability to handle multiple responsibilities. Women's patience, perseverance, collaboration and natural giving attitude helps make any environment potentially better; they are also instrumental in providing sustained growth to the organisation in the long run.
Women have leadership and execution capability; but the way they lead and work may look different to how men lead. Men are therefore not easily relate to and understand women’s approach, hence are not able to appreciate their contribution as much. There is a need to embrace these differences in behaviour and leverage these differences to organisation’s advantage.
Finally, there is a need to change the way the society thinks and talks about women. Each of us has the power to make a difference and we should leverage women’s strengths to make a better workplace and a better world.
Do you have a mentor or a role model? If yes, you may state briefly how it inspired you?
Yes, mentors play a significant role by showing you what lies ahead and guiding based on their experience. I was lucky to have mentors whom I could fully trust upon and who stood by me in good and bad times, guiding me to take right decisions. My mentor/s helped me identify areas that I should focus on; navigating and establishing connections in organisation; what I should and what I should not do. My mentors showed me the mirror, and constantly guided me regarding creating and developing my brand.
What would be your message to the youth who are just starting their career?
Begin with self-reflection. What you really want to do? Once you are comfortable with the selected career path, take your first step forward. If your mind can conceive it, your heart can believe it, you can achieve it.
Thereafter, focus on self-discipline and creating the right network based on your aspirations. These are two mantras that create wonders and lead to professional success.
My specific advice to women is ‘Be confident’ and ‘Speak with conviction’. ‘Raise your hand’ if you truly believe, you are a good fit for the job and have the requisite passion.
Describe yourself or your aspirations, dreams in 3 words.
Visionary. Focused. Persistent.
Swati Jain has 20+ years of rich experience in Research, Analytics and Consulting in financial services, retail, healthcare, pharma and logistics domains across customer, marketing, risk and operations analytics. She has worked with EXL (Gurgaon), Cognizant, Pipal Research (CRISIL), Ernst & Young and Polyplex Corporation. A PhD (Economics) from Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi) and Masters in Business Economics (MBE) from Delhi University, Swati is India Analytics leader for Retail Vertical and Select Banking Accounts for EXL. She has led delivery of customer, risk and operations analytics projects across strategy, modelling and reporting. Led EXL’s award-winning submission for NASSCOM AI Gamechangers awards 2021 in Logistics category.
Team management, Business Development and Relationship Management: Experienced in leading large analytics/data science teams and winning several new clients/projects in financial services and retail domains.
Thought leadership: Co-authored multiple white papers and conducted several webinars on data science/analytics. Speaker/Panelist in NASSCOM, TieCon and other industry events. Featured in industry articles, and received thought leader and mentor award by 3AI association.
Recognised among “21 women in 21” for exemplary contribution in the field of artificial intelligence, by IndiaAI (national AI portal of India). Recognized among “Top 11 Women AI leaders in India” in 2020 and “50 Most Influential AI Leaders in India” in 2021 by Analytics India Magazine.
Received multiple leadership awards at EXL for Retail and Financial Services. Also received several client and organization awards for leading healthcare and pharma projects in Cognizant.
Rich experience in various facets of market/business research and associated databases.
Global Leader, worked with clients and teams across US, Europe and India; Worked out of New York (2005-06).
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