Havas Group kicks off gender diversity initiative

Havas Group India has announced the launch of ‘Women who Inspire’ – an initiative to foster gender diversity and women leadership.  The objective is to bring about a cultural transformation and mindset shift towards a diverse, strong and futuristic workforce comprising more women leaders.

A core group has been formed consisting of members in senior roles, across all six agencies, who are in a position to influence, inspire, and mentor the next rung of leadership.

This core team meets every alternate month to discuss key issues, opportunities, and changes relevant for the group as a whole and works towards recognizing and celebrating the great work that women leaders do across the group.

There are four key objectives that the group will drive:

• Encouragement and mentorship to high-potential women leaders
• Promotion of exchange of ideas and networking opportunities
• Growth of women staffers as leaders and decision-makers
• Conducive environment for development and growth opportunities

Speaking about the initiative, Rana Barua, Chief Executive Officer, Havas Group India, said, “Being diverse is all about enabling a culture that is conducive to freely expressing, sharing thoughts & perspectives. As we embark on this journey, we are excited about the potential cultural and mindset change that it can bring to the lives of women employees within Havas Group India. We see this as a step to bring about a huge transformation and one that will help us move in the direction of building a versatile workforce that is futuristic and aligned to the changing global world order and economy.”

Vandana Tilwani, CHRO, Havas Group who is leading this initiative adds, “As we gear up for our next phase of (post-covid) growth at Havas, we have to adapt to a different way of working which involves merging of work and life, remote working and adapting to agile and flexible team structures. Becoming a gender-diverse organization, breaking of many fixed rules and taboos and thus encouraging more women leaders is not only important in creating a futuristic workplace, but is also now a necessity in order to have a competitive advantage.”

Members of the core committee include:

• Rana Barua, Chief Executive Officer, Havas Group India
• Vandana Tilwani, Chief HR Officer, Havas Group India
• Mohit Joshi, Chief Executive Officer, Havas Media Group India
• Susan Josi, Managing Partner, Havas Life Sorento
• Deepali Saini, Co-founder and Design Director, Think Design
• Priyanka Mehra, Director Marketing and Communications, Havas Group India
• Toral Shah, General Manager HR, Havas Group India
• Sanchita Roy, Head – West, Havas Media
• Geetika Thakur, Senior Vice President – Client Servicing, Havas Creative
• Dr. Rasika Bhat, Sr. Manager Scientific Communications, Havas Life Sorento
• Sreyashi Datta, Creative Director, Shobiz
• Pavithra Eshwar, Head HR, Langoor Havas