MUMBAI: In an attempt to encourage women to reach top positions inside corporate India and to create an environment where they can flourish, Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has established the DAN Women’s Council. This is for the first time that a council of such stature has been envisaged and crafted by any marketing communications agency in India.
Chaired by Carat India EVP Rajni Menon, the advisory committee will have WATConsult COO Nipun Kapur, Dentsu Media CEO Divya Karani, Dentsu Marcom SVP Sunita Prakash, Dentsu Aegis Network VP - finance Neha Mayekar, Dentsu Media director – HR Dimple Maheshwari, Dentsu Aegis Network EVP - group trading Harsha Joshi, Fountainhead-MKTG AVP - human resources & administration Komal Verma and Dentsu Communications CEO Simi Sabhaney as its key members.
The DAN Women’s Council will primarily focus on helping women reach their highest potential based on merit, facilitate a path for more women occupying leadership positions in the organization, provide an avenue for a structured mentoring process and create an environment which is safe and equal.
“Though at an overall level the DAN numbers are significantly healthier than the industry average, we felt it was time to take a proactive step as leaders of the marketing communications industry to ensure that in a growing network, the environment and policies are conducive to grow the women numbers at all levels,” says Menon.
With a compelling number of woman choose to move out post marriage/child birth due to various circumstantial pressures, the woman workforce at senior positions witness a significant decline when compared to their counterparts in other Asian countries.
If they do choose to join back the workforce post their maternity gap, they tend to lose their seniority. Of course, reasons such as harassment at workplace, lower compensation than their male counterparts and lack of flexibility at workplace also add to the pressure.
“Our women leaders and managers will continue to play a very crucial role in taking us forward as we move ahead to become the No. 2 marketing communications agency group in India by the end of 2017. Today, we are already the leading network when it comes to creating a balanced and uniform work-environment for our women workforce in India. Now, our ambition is to surpass global standards and make DAN the gold standard for encouraging the women talent force. I believe our women managers are second to none,” said Dentsu Aegis Network chairman & CEO South Asia and Posterscope & MKTG - Asia Pacific chairman Ashish Bhasin.
The agency also plans to expand the council to include more women leaders in the future. The council will also work on getting the male perspective through representation within the council. It will conduct gender sensitisation workshops and create options for delivering additional flexibility.
