Respected business personality Gowri Rajan, the Director of Sun Match Company, lit up the recent Women’s day celebrations at the Lanka Indian Oil Company( LIOC), when she showcased how women came to the forefront to give leadership at a time when the Pandemic had pushed the world to it’s brink .
Mr.Rajan who was also the 1st Sri Lankan Female Rotary Governor in Sri Lanka and Maldives and a World Bank / WIM awardee, recollected when the pandemic stuck Sri Lanka how many companies struggled with not having the skillset to handle the situation.
“All that companies could do was to give confidence to their people and assure, advise and empathize with them on how to take the necessary precautions whilst reporting to work to keep the companies functioning, whilst if one contracted Covid to offer support in handling the situation. It was during this time that women leaders displayed a greater ability than their male counterparts in ensuring manageable workloads for their teams, providing emotional support and checking in on overall well-being of staff. “This is how a new relevance came to women in the workplace in Sri Lanka. Suddenly, qualities traditionally associated with women, such as empathy and compassion, were seen as something to leverage, not suppress. Finally, working “like a woman” was an asset. The pandemic was an accelerator, where women demonstrated the value we offered in encouraging vulnerability, authenticity and humanity in our leaders. Let us now utilize these talents to support and take our companies to the next level”, analysed Ms Rajan who has nearly thousand employees at Sun Match in Kundasale of which 63 % are women.
She further observed that the women were seen being very successful in managing both work and the home during the pandemic, that for the first time saw the 24 hour challenge that a housewife was up against on a daily basis, from cooking to house work, to handing children to purchasing groceries, whilst still managing work, bringing to light the multi-disciplinary skills of a woman.
Ms Rajan also voiced “we see gender equality at the lower and middle management levels but when it comes to Senior Management and Board Level the imbalance starts emerging. Out of 51% of the female population in Sri Lanka only 33% are working and this showcases the kind of potential that is underutilized. Therefore the time is right to correct this and to break down the biasness of the so called ‘glass ceiling’.”
Endorsing the views presented by Ms.Rajan, Managing Director of Lanka IOC Mr.Manoj Gupta commented “ we have the highest regard and respect for our female employees to whom we owe so much for their contribution and devotion during the hard times we faced in the past year due to the pandemic. Organizations need to empower female employees to reach their full potential; because when women are empowered in the workplace it has been shown to benefit the bottom line, as well as offer the advantage of different perspectives. This is something we strongly believe in at LIOC”.
Ms.Rajan appreciated, Mr.Gupta’s efforts for creating a better work place for women employees and congratulated him for organizing such an inspiring function. LIOC provides excellent platforms in generating equal opportunities, behaviours, aspirations and needs of all employees, where gender plays no role and attitude, performance and talent are valued.