Mahindra Group launches ‘Women Leaders Program’

Mumbai, Sep 7 (PTI) Mahindra Group has launched itsfirst Women Leaders Program (WLP) in order to bridge thegender gap in the workforce and build mid-level womenleadership pipeline. "Only when we create an inclusive ecosystem that brings inpeople with wide-ranging backgrounds and perspectives into allparts of the organisation, can we drive holistic, positivechange. "WLP will help talented women in the organisation transcend perceived limitations and achieve their fullpotential," Mahindra and Mahindra EVP, Group Human Capital andLeadership Development, Prince Augustin, told reporters here. In the first batch, 30 women will be enrolled. The companyis expecting around 100 women to participate in WLP in nextone and a half years, he added. The WLP is focused on advancement of women in theworkforce and will look to encourage and support womenemployees in the middle management cadre, he added.  It proposes a unique professional development journey spanning 18 months specially designed to help participantsdevelop competencies needed to advance into future leadershippositions. The program is aimed at women between 30-40 years with 5-7years work experience and two years in any Mahindra Groupcompany, he said. One per cent of the Group’s profit will be spent on thisprogram, Augustin added. At present, Mahindra Group has 7 per cent gender diversityin mid-level and 17 per cent overall. A USD 17.8 billion multinational group based in Mumbai,Mahindra employs over 2,00,000 people in over 100 countries.PTI SM DKABMRDS