She-change in frontline sales

Coca-Cola, Cadbury's, Sun Pharma, Cadila open sales to women.

Corporate India is increasingly opening up to the idea of hiring women for what's considered to be an all-male bastion "" frontline sales. Leading the fray are companies like Coca-Cola India that have actually put in place a process to institutionalise the presence of women within the corporate system.

But that's not the only one. Even pharma companies, that have traditionally recruited only male medical representatives, are beginning to consider women for the job as they prove to be no easy pushovers.

Typically, front-end sales, particularly where FMCG companies are concerned, involve field jobs that include interaction with small shops, pan wallahs, institutional sales partners and travelling in company trucks to distribution points.

Companies such as Colgate, Cadbury's, Sun Pharmaceutical and Cadila (the pharma division) have started opening up to women. Many companies that Business Standard have spoken to say they are toying with the idea of recruiting women for front-end sales jobs.

"We have started hiring women for frontline sales in a small way, and that's because we find them coming forward only in certain areas such as in the south and in the west. However, we are absolutely open to their presence, wherever they choose to be present," confirms Manu Anand, MD, Frito Lays India.

Also, many companies claim that there are cases where women are posted in what is considered to be safe territories or deployed to institutional sales.

Most companies aver that women themselves have refrained from entering a fray that involves not just the rough and tumble of travel, but also interaction with parties that traditionally have presence in what is considered to be "not-so-polished".

"It is true that jobs often involve heavy-duty travel and interfaces with a rough environment, especially the kind that sales people in FMCG companies have to deal with, says Sanjeev Duggal, MD, NIS Sparta, an organisation, which imparts sales training for companies.

"Women tend to opt for a more open environment. However, we notice that companies in general are beginning to hire women, as they prove to be far more committed," added Duggal.

Interestingly enough, Coca-Cola India has put in place an HR initiative called WOTES or Women Operations Training Programme, which has already hired three batches of women.

"This means that we already have over 70 women recruited from colleges and also non-premier business schools. We train them for handling different sales functions and put them on the job at various locations," says Adil Malia, vice-president, human resources, Coca Cola.

It claims to be the only FMCG company currently that has sought to train women for roles considered to be the male preserve. This, Malia claims, is a systematic way of not just increasing their presence within the system, but also grooming them for higher sales-related functions in the future.