 "Cognizant gears up to advance women in leadership with new programme")
Cognizant Technology Solutions is gearing up to accelerate the careers of women and expand their presence in leadership roles with the launch of a unified framework of women-centric programmes and policies known as ‘Shakti’. Additionally, Cognizant has partnered with Nasscom to establish and prioritise best practices with a shared goal of making diversity and inclusion (D&I) a key differentiator of India's tech sector.
“In keeping with our priority to become an employer of choice in our industry, Cognizant is committed to weaving diversity and inclusion into everything we do—how we recruit and hire, develop, promote, engage, and retain our talent,” said Ravi Kumar S, chief executive officer, Cognizant. “Shakti will catalyse our efforts to enable more women to advance their careers and reach their full potential. Growth, innovation, and client-centricity all require a diverse and inclusive workforce, doubly so as generative artificial intelligence permeates the workplace. We will see the most essential human skill shift from problem-solving to problem-finding, putting a premium on cognitive diversity.”
In India, nearly 40 per cent of Cognizant’s associates are women, compared to the IT industry gender diversity average of 36 per cent. More than half of the 13 Cognizant centres in the country have crossed over 40 per cent in their women workforce, with two of the largest centres being currently led by women leaders, Cognizant said.
In comparison, the number of women employees at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) stood at 35.7 per cent, while at Wipro, it stood at 36.4 per cent as of the financial year 2023. Infosys was the closest, where the number of women employees stood at 39.4 per cent.
“The technology industry in India today has on average 36 per cent women representation in its workforce. Partnerships are key towards our shared goal as an industry of creating a more empathetic, inclusive, and diverse tech industry. At Nasscom, we believe prioritising best practices and measuring consistently is a critical component to ensure organisations can accelerate their diversity, equity, and inclusion journeys,” Debjani Ghosh, president, Nasscom, said at the launch of Shakti.
Through Shakti, Cognizant aims to reframe current programmes and policies and bring all women-centric initiatives under one umbrella. Shakti will include the recently introduced - RISE - a leadership development programme for mid-level women associates in India; ‘Propel’, a global leadership development programme focused on empowering women at senior levels to accelerate their careers through coaching and mentoring; ‘Returnship’, a 12-week paid programme focused on upskilling to return to work after a career break; and ‘Be Gritty’, which trains fresh campus hires to develop a growth mindset.
Additionally, Cognizant has launched a company-wide ‘allyship’ programme. “By understanding the challenges women face at work and helping address the biases they encounter, male allies make a significant difference in creating a more inclusive workplace,” Cognizant said.
The company is also empowering its associates with inclusive leadership training through dedicated affinity groups. The Women Empowered Affinity Group, with around 50,000 members and allies based in India, aims to improve the work experience for women and create impact for the business. Cognizant also unveiled a year-long campaign to highlight the company’s long-term dedication to fostering an inclusive workplace for women.