A Glimpse into L&D Programs that are Shaping Women Leadership Across All Levels

Women-specific learning and development (L&D) programs — to enable aspiring women leaders to ascend the corporate ladder — are gaining momentum. 

Organisations have realised that L&D modules designed for women managers help block leaky talent pipelines and encourage more women to take up leadership roles. 

“Organisations need the best leaders possible to succeed and grow, which cannot happen when women are constantly overlooked or choose out of leadership positions. Women-specific L&D programs provide opportunities for female employees…”, says Neha Bagaria, Founder and CEO, JobsForHer.

Representatives from EY, Ericsson, Mastercard, Accenture, with other top players, got together at AccelHERate on March 5, 2021, to join us in our mission to build a diverse and inclusive workforce. 

Company representatives shared their most innovative practices in women L&D programs that nurture female talent and enable women to grow within the organisation. This includes inter-functional training, work-life balance training and mentorship programs.

At the table were:

• Amanda Alphonso, Manager, EY
• Vandana Bhatnagar, Head of Talent Management - EGI, Ericsson India Global Services Pvt Ltd
• Debadarshi Sengupta, Director L&D, Mastercard Incorporated
• Harsha Almad, Managing Director – Talent and Organization, Accenture India, Accenture Solutions Pvt Ltd

The Diversity & Inclusion programs presented at #AccelHERate2021 showcased the best innovative practices in women L&D programs of India Inc.

Some of the highlights: 

• Amanda Alphonso showcased different women-specific L&D programs that EY runs at different levels of a woman’s career trajectory. ‘The intentional career path’ - a program specially designed for women entry and mid-level positions. ‘Accelerate’ a high potential program for women at the mid-career level and for senior roles, EY has a ‘Career Watch’ program that helps women in leadership roles to rise above in their career. 

• Debadarshi Sengupta talked about the host of interventions that Mastercard follows to enable more women to reach leadership roles within their organisation and about ‘The Mastercard Way’ program which includes Mastercard culture, strategies and amendments.

• Harsha Almad talked about how Accenture in India is enabling change when it comes to inclusion and diversity. She highlighted that Accenture’s commitment to equality starts at the top with 36% of female representatives on the board of directors and 24% of women on the global management committee. 

• Vandana Bhatnagar talked about the special L&D program Ericsson runs under the name ‘ALTitude career management program’. The program focuses on personal, societal and organisational barriers faced when making a transition into senior roles. 

A detailed video on all the presentations: Watch Here

How are companies advancing women in the workforce? Looking at implementing women-specific L&D programs at work? Get in touch with us at simran@jobsforher.com.