Paternity leaves are equally important; a win-win for all: Prabha Narasimhan of Colgate

After centuries of suppression, women truly broke the glass ceiling in the late 20th century. With nearly a quarter of the 21st century now downstream, the trend has surely gained strength and newer challenges are now being decimated by women than humanity could ever dare to.

Thus, it is no wonder that when the talented Indian management leader Prabha Narasimhan took the stage at the Business Today Most Powerful Women Awards 2024, the focus remained on the incredible achievements that women leaders have accomplished in recent times by breaking strong barriers. One of these achievements is the socio-cultural lessons that have been instilled in women since childhood.

Taking to Business Today TV Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi, Narasimhan, Managing Director & CEO of Colgate-Palmolive (India) stresses the importance of some of the basic features that need to be ingrained in women. “I think ‘Grit, Gumption & Guts’ is something that you need regardless of your gender [to be successful]. But what makes it interesting for women is we tend to undersell ourselves a bit. And therefore, just having the guts to put yourself out there, take on the challenges, be able to say, are perhaps the differences I see,” she says during the panel discussion.

However, it is equally important to remain impartial while making business choices. At an age, when social media campaigns often ignore the important role men play, directly or indirectly, in lives of his family members, it is refreshing that Narasimhan stresses on a different approach to reduce the load on women professionals. 

“I have been fortunate to work for two companies Hindustan Unilever and Colgate, both of which actually have a very progressive view towards having women across the organization. They built policies that drive equity. Increasingly, the issue is pinning down to the equity factors, instead of favoring women for certain job roles. Because if you favor women then you start looking at meritocracy ahead of you. But when you focus on equity, hone it ensures that the best person getting the job and women have a fair chance,” she explains.

According to Narasimhan, unlike earlier companies are now increasingly encouraging women to have offsprings by not penalizing them for the maternity leaves, which earlier used to impact their career growth. However, it is equally important to offer new fathers some benefits in the form of paternity leaves, for instance. Apart from allowing them the joy of fatherhood, such measures also ease the burden on new mothers, she says.