To Learn the Unlearnt: Vital for Whisking the Women Empowerment

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Bhavana Bindra
Bhavana Bindra

Are Indian companies really welcoming to women in the manufacturing workforce? Or are women are still perceived as supporting roles on the shop floor. The disparity between the women engineering graduates every year and the women workforce on the manufacturing or engineering shop floor speaks volumes. Bhavana Bindra, a dynamic woman business leader par excellence who has successfully handled leadership roles in the manufacturing sector delves deep into the subject. 

“It is not just about hiring women in an organization to manage gender equality, but making sure that they are felt included in the organization to achieve the best out of her,” shares Bhavana Bindra, Managing Director of Rehau South Asia in an exclusive interaction with Machine Maker, opened her thoughts about women in Indian manufacturing. 

“If there is a right intent, there is a possibility of making both men and women work equally, thus overcoming gender inclusiveness and bringing more women into the manufacturing sector,” says Bhavana. Recalling her days at Cummins, when a CEO of an automotive OEM told Bhavana that she was the first woman to sell him engines, Bhavana finds that she has paved the path for other women to believe in their potential to excel in the manufacturing sector. 

Bhavana admits that India, for years, remained patriarchal and it is deep-rooted in our DNA to think that women are only fit for support tasks and not for leadership. She adds, “The most important thing is the more people realise the deep-rooted patriarchy in our DNA, the easier it will become to drive the engine of women empowerment.”

Assuring no stone unturned: Women in manufacturing 

An inspiration for Indian women who are aspiring to join the Indian manufacturing sector, Bhavana Bindra is leading Rehau in South Asia, a global leader based out of Germany in polymer business, offering innovative solutions for the Automotive, Construction, Medical, Furniture, Building Materials, General Industries, etc. At Rehau, Bhavana has taken up the responsibility to inculcate sustainable growth and developing new businesses corresponding to regional strategies. Rehau is vibrantly active across 54 countries through constructive, automotive and industrial business divisions. 

She is also the Woman Independent Director on the Board of Kennametal India Limited, and was featured by Economic Times in 2015 as 25 Rising Women Leaders in India Inc, and lately ET 40 Under 40. With her sheer grit and determination, Bhavana defied her non-metro city obstacles and defined herself as an exemplary women business leader. 

The roots of the distribution business, which she took up at Cummins, were 50 years old, and she was completely new to manufacturing. Taking this as a challenge, Bhavana got the business double CAGR for almost four years and set exceptional global benchmarks like outclassing the NPS metric. Looking back to this achievement, Bhavana finds it astonishing from the perspective of the age of the business in the country. Getting comments – “we haven’t seen such a growth in any business as in Cummins,” from several board members adds another charm to Bhavana’s journey as a ‘women leader.’

Empowering “HER” with equal opportunity

Addressing one of the instances during her journey, Bhavana concedes there may be a case like a woman is being offered a lower payout than the person, whom she is going to replace. When justifications are to be given, excuses are made. Aggression is not expected from a woman in offering her a low payout and that is what discourages them more states Bhavana.

In India, there are plenty of girls who opt for mechanical and electrical streams but still, they do not find many opportunities in the manufacturing sector instead, they go for call centre jobs or some other professions. Bhavana cites that Cummins, the first manufacturing company she worked with, transformed over years when it comes to bringing inclusiveness at the workplace. 

There was only 7% women in Cummins in 2003 when Bhavana joined Cummins. She had a wonderful opportunity to work with the management team to build inclusiveness in the organization, which was one of the biggest challenges in her career. When she was leaving Cummins after a journey for 16 years, women representation was more than 30% in the company. “Cummins runs an exclusive engineering college for women, and these are ways of encouraging women to pursue their roles in the manufacturing sector”, she adds citing an example of an industry's role in women empowerment.

“Diversity does not just mean gender diversity which is the most visible form of diversity. There are more things to be focused on as like diversity of thoughts, which is the most indispensable to a company,” opines Bhavana. “We worked on Work-Life Integration Policy to provide a more diverse environment, not from a gender perspective but from a perspective of assisting people coming from different sectors,” she adds.

Bhavana who believes it's her roots, and the family which played a critical role in her success story, started her career with Boston Consulting Group, assisting financial services and pharma verticals followed by almost 13 years of experience in Cummins in two stints, which played a crucial role in manufacturing and women empowerment. Before joining Rehau South Asia, she worked with a startup to lead in Data analytics and also, playing the role as the Managing Director in a Dutch Company, DSM explains her ability to set new milestones in ‘Womanufacturing.’ Denying to be ‘stagnant water,’ altering many roles as a leader, which is in her ‘calendar,’ she is now finally, heading realms of Rehau in South Asia.

Acknowledging that the manufacturing sector is open for women in terms of tremendous opportunities, Bhavana believes that the more the organization is aware and committed, the better will be formulation and execution of their conviction. Women empowerment in manufacturing is not intended only to help women in the material gain but also to assure their active participation in the development processes with an equity approach. 

“Industries have to play an active role in empowering women in the manufacturing sector. Along with hiring women in a proper ratio, industries have to assure that they are investing at the bottom. And, that will bear us to the top”, Bhavana Bindra remarks optimistically.

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