Big Blue, led by power woman, Ginni Rometty, is on a drive to hire more women in leadership positions and across all positions in its India operations.
The multinational software giant has launched several programs targeted at employing more women, including those who want to get back to a career after a break, women only walk-in interviews and a program to enable female alumni to continue to contribute to projects in IBM.
One such campaign e-mailed to employees in several business units in IBM’s India operations this month is titled, ‘We are more than an IT company, We are an opportunity Company!!!’ and asks staff to specifically refer women graduates and post-graduates for careers in its global business services.
These referrals, promoting more diversity in the firm, earn employees a higher referral bonus or fee compared to normal referral programs.
Another e-mail to employees is about a special walk-in program for women IT professionals. “At IBM India, diversity is a key ingredient that unlocks the potential for excellence,” the mail says.
The ‘Bring her Back’ campaign launched last year to re-employ women to want to get back to a career is segmented into several sub-groups targeted at young mothers, those who have taken a study break or sabbatical, and those who have taken a few years off to take care of family.
“We believe it is a business imperative to have diversity. The marketplace is made of clients that are diverse — if we mirror the marketplace, we get diverse viewpoints, which gives rise to innovation,” said Jyothsna Hirode, senior manager, India diversity. Over 26% of IBM’s India workforce is women as compared to over 28% in IBM globally, Hirode said.
Diversity is said to have a played a key role in IBM’s growth as a global corporation, which is aiming to earn around 30% of revenues from markets outside North America, Western Europe and Japan in the next four years.
“IBM expanded minority markets dramatically by promoting diversity in its workforce. The result: a virtuous circle of growth and progress,” the Harvard Business Review wrote about the firm’s turnaround in the mid 1990s and early part of the 2000.