Tackling ingrained gender standards & stereotypes is important: Pragya Bijalwan

Celebrating the journey and accomplishments of women leaders, exchange4media is running a women's day series to mark their grit and resilience. The special series recognizes the efforts and inspiring journeys of women leaders in building a sustainable future. In today’s edition of e4m women’s day series, Pragya Bijalwan, CMO of Crompton Greaves Consumers Electricals Ltd, talks about her thoughts on gender equality and how gender-just workplaces can help women excel.

A marketing leader with over 15 years of experience, she has earlier shared her expertise with brands like Castrol, AkzoNobel, and HPCL. In today’s edition of e4m women’s day series, she talks about her thoughts on gender equality and how gender-just workplaces can help women excel.

Edited excerpts follow:

What are your thoughts on this year’s International Women’s Day theme, ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’? According to you, how can women leaders and workers in the formal space create a sustainable future?

For ages, women are referred to as the ambassadors of CARE be it for family or society or the planet, however, their role has been centred around managing household chores until recently. The impact of this change is visible in the increasing demand for sustainable products across categories. A study by Kantar has revealed that while 77% of consumers are willing to support companies that are trying to do good for a sustainable future, 84% of them quoted that ‘they would prioritize saving money over saving the planet’. Unpaid care work is the main impediment stopping women from getting into, persisting and proceeding in the workforce and bridge the Value-Action gap towards a sustainable future. Hence, if women have an equal say in decision making, they could play a significant role in wiser savings on all fronts including energy consumption leading to a sustainable future. Another evidence for this scenario is the high correlation between countries ranking across Global Gender Gap report by WEF and World Happiness Report, India's ranking is ~140 while Iceland leads the ranking across both the studies. Improvement in gender equality will have a positive impact on happiness resulting in a sustainable future. Individually, many women have defeated the stumbling blocks with greater significance and benefited society at large. But for women as a whole, tackling ingrained gender standards and stereotypes is the paramount move to end all forms of gender inequality.

What is your idea of a gender-just workplace? Please draw from your own experiences to share how a supportive work environment helped you attain your goals?

A gender-just workplace is the one that allows for a more inclusive range of gender expression. An environment that secures the needs of diverse employees. I have been fortunate to work for organisations that have been very inclusive. At an early stage of my career, I got wide work exposure and was as empowered as my fellow male colleagues to make a positive impact. Always felt my opinion mattered. People have treated me with respect and dignity and the value of courage was deeply imbibed in the work culture. I was allowed to voice my opinion sometimes even challenging conventional wisdom, irrespective of my rank in the hierarchy and any gender bias. It helped me gain confidence and take up new initiatives breaking the stereotype thought process. I was unafraid to make mistakes provided I had the right rationale in place. This helped me in learning ahead of time in my career.

Which women have been your strongest supporters and role models (both personally and professionally)?

My personal favourite role model has been my mother. She has taught me the power of staying resilient. She always backed my choice since she could see the passion in what I wanted to do. She stood up strong with me all through those struggling years when things didn’t go right. She always told me “nothing succeeds like success” so move on and focus on what I had to do and what I had to be…

Today, while I stand up, I look back and smile at every pitfall, I thank my mom for being the strong woman she has been in my life. Nothing has been easy and honestly will never be. It’s just how strong you stand during your tough times to come out even stronger. As Mr. Nelson Mandela said, “Don’t judge me by my success but by how many times I fell down and got up again”. The sheer strength of resilience takes us to places we never thought we could ever reach. So, move on & stay strong!

From the world outside, I admire Indra Nooyi. She is an Indian homegrown talent and the first woman of colour and an immigrant to run a Fortune 500 company. In her book “My life in full” she does talk about her journey where she pushed herself to work harder in a new country to prove her self-worth each time. She does mention the plight women have to undergo taking a break in their career. She says some people call it a leaky pipeline in the labour force, but she says calling it “leaky” downplays the impact. The pipeline is indeed broken…Corporates must do a lot to enable many talented young women to achieve their full potential else it won’t be a loss for the corporate but a loss for the overall economy.

How are women in the marketing world reshaping the course of the industry? How do you see women's representation in Indian advertising (both on and off-screen)?

Women in marketing have changed the way we perceive developing our products and communicate with the consumers. Since a large part of buying behaviour is influenced by women they understand the TG needs better. Women form a dominant part of our TG in the Crompton appliances therefore whether we think of a water heater or an induction top or a mixer we have to consider the women consumer and likewise the marketing team is as inclusive of the female team members.

In the world outside, women in advertising have seen a role change in terms of roles. Where we use to see “Lalitaji” of Surf fame long back talking about making wise choices for her family to now “ShareTheLoad” campaign by Ariel where the brand is urging men to play an equally important role in the household chores. The same, Cadburys reversed the role of man and a woman in between 1994 and 2021 breaking the stereotypes and staying contemporary with the evolution of times. The role of women in the house is changing and we are glad brands are mirroring the same in their communication accordingly.

In Crompton too we show the couple as equals in our fans' advertisement. The man and the woman in the house are playing the role of an equal while evaluating their fans. In fact, in our Energion fans advertisement, the woman is shown as a wiser half going for a no-compromise fan which delivers speed and savings

What is your advice to the young women who are either working in or planning to join your industry?

Find your passion and stay focused on it and demonstrate resilience. In your journey, there will be ebbs and flows along the way but it’s important to stay resilient. And most importantly enjoy the journey as much as you work towards the end goal.