Anshita is an Empathetic & Grounded Product Leader with more than 15 years of experience in the Healthcare, Automotive, Food & Beverages industries. She loves to solve problems, create innovative designs, improve experiences and connect with people. She is also an ardent follower of “Vision to Values” and “OKRs,”
An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage – Jack Welch.
As they say, learning is a continuous journey, not the destination. The more we focus on learning and individual development, the more it would boost our productivity and transform efforts into meaningful work. In this ever-changing and demanding world, women need to embrace change and prioritize new skills. If we really want to break the glass-ceiling – we need to transform, enrich, and accelerate our minds in powering a better tomorrow.
A study done by Anitab.org in 2020, depicted that women make up 28.8% of tech force which has risen from 25.9% in 2018 and 26.2% in 2019 thereby showing the need to provide coaching and organize focused programs for women. Currently, there are various initiatives and programs run by organizations to enhance skills and harness talent. These unique programs have immensely helped women to lead, thrive and advance in their careers.
When we look at successful women and their inspiring journeys, we know the contribution of their organizations that have invested significant time and resources in enabling them to learn, imbibe, demonstrate and visualize a career path. Therefore, organizations are primarily focused on internal knowledge sharing, that brings various avenues for women to explore and pursue the areas of their interest. They emphasize on guiding and mentoring women to set objective measures to become more competent and proficient. Organizations recognize that in this fast-paced world with changing technologies, as women work towards work-life integration, the workforce technology gaps should be filled on an ongoing basis.
There are various e-learning platforms like Udemy, LinkedIn learning, Coursera etc with self-paced trainings, curated courses and learning paths for women to stay relevant on new areas. This helps them work with greater potential to further the advancement and positive impact of women at the workplace. There are various programs on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, AR/VR, Dev Ops etc that have been extremely beneficial available on these platforms. In addition to these programs, organizations are hugely investing in industry-recognized trainings and certifications for its women employees.
Many organizations are continuously seeking feedback from women to increase awareness of the required competencies and help stratify them. I believe every day brings new opportunities allowing oneself to evolve, hence it is extremely important to continuously equip and educate ourselves with the right information. One should consciously make time to learn, absorb, innovate, and grow.
At CDK, our Inclusion & Diversity program “Spectrum – All In”, regularly seeks inputs on inclusive learning from women employees. This framework helps to create equal opportunities and extend exclusive mentorship programs to provide guidance from our leaders. TechDrive, our tech community learning platform runs various interesting programs on Product Management, AI/ML, Quality Management, Lean Six Sigma, Agile, Hackathons, Dev Days, Industry Meetups which help women in tech stay ahead of the curve. When organizations are providing various avenues and learning opportunities, it is our responsibility to utilize them to the best of our abilities.
Women, especially at leadership positions should offer support, celebrate each other’s wins and look for opportunities to promote other women. Let us create and share the plethora of learning & upskilling opportunities and engage with each other to foster the learning culture. Let us lead the way to see more women in Tech, RISE and SHINE.