Girl power, Indian style

Bajaj Allianz General has opened an all-women branch in Pune, Maharashtra and is hoping to attract more customers, particularly women, with the move

India’s men have long enjoyed the best of the money, power and jobs. Few women in India reach the upper echelons of the corporate world with many interrupting their careers to devote time to the responsibilities of family life. Once they leave the workforce, there is little way back, largely because even well-educated Indians cling to traditional views of women’s roles.

A paper called India’s Economy: The Other Half, published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, points out that the number of senior-level female employees sits at 5% compared with a global average of about 20%. Yet this can be to the detriment of a nation’s productivity and economic growth. Empowering women is a more efficient use of a nation’s talent pool, a report by the World Economic Forum (Global Gender Gap Report) points out.

Realizing the large, untapped potential Indian women offer, some companies are beginning to offer opportunities for professional women to return to work later in life. One such company is Bajaj Allianz General. Tapan Singhel, managing director and CEO of the company, is keen to see women restart their careers after quitting the workforce for children or other family reasons. “In India, there are a lot of women who are very talented and well educated but once they get married, give up their career.”

Singhel says “this great professional talent pool is under-represented” in a country where women’s empowerment is lagging as a whole. In an industry first in India, he has set up an all-women insurance branch at the company’s headquarters in Pune, which will recruit and train only female agents and intermediaries.

HAMSTRUNG ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Lakshmi Puri, deputy executive director of UN Women, argued in, that India’s economic growth rate could make a “quantum jump” of 4.2% if women were given greater opportunity in core sectors of the economy. Given the current state of gender equality, the observation suggests one reason why India’s economic development has stalled.

The Pune office started with a team of five employees in January; it has now recruited 10 women agents and plans to recruit “at least” 60 agents in the fiscal year. “Six months from now, we hope to open 20 more branches, with about 100 women agents each, meaning a total of about 2,000 female agents. In about five years’ time, if all goes well, we are looking at 10,000 agents,” says Singhel.

If the pilot project in Pune is successful Singhel has ambitious targets of recruiting 15,000 agents across 30 cities. He expects the introduction of an all-female workforce to result in 30 million rupees ($480,000) in turnover in the first year but doesn’t anticipate an increase in business until seven or ten years’ time.

WHERE THE EMPLOYER DOES THE LAUNDRY

To make this possible, Singhel is setting up a support system for female staff and agents, which includes crèches, day care facilities for children after school and flexible working hours. The “admin section,” meanwhile, will take care of daily household chores, such as shopping for groceries and doing the laundry. Employees who reach certain targets receive these benefits for free. Others will have to pay.

From Singhel’s perspective, the initiative also makes good business sense. He is well aware that women clients will welcome dealing with women agents. Clients signing household insurance policies are likely to be the women of the household, who have a much higher attachment to issues such as health and home, according to Singhel.

The move also complements the company’s focus on the personal line of general insurance products, namely health, home and motor, where penetration is low. Currently only about 2% of Indians purchase household insurance and only 10% buy health insurance. Singhel’s all-female crew and their “stronger communication powers” are expected to increase sales and “take customer service to a different level.”

So far, reaction has been positive among both the public and employees. “The female members of our steering committee considered the move a good idea and many women working in the company were very happy about it,” the CEO says.

Further programs empowering female employees and clients at Bajaj Allianz include a program called WILL (Women Initiative for Leadership Learning), which addresses professional challenges for women workers and free 24/7 roadside assistance to all women motor insurance policyholders.

Girl power, Indian style

Bajaj Allianz General has opened an all-women branch in Pune, Maharashtra and is hoping to attract more customers, particularly women, with the move

Girl power, Indian style

Bajaj Allianz General has opened an all-women branch in Pune, Maharashtra and is hoping to attract more customers, particularly women, with the move

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