Cognizant DEI leader Catch Thenmozhi Radhakrishnan said organizations must move beyond simple representation to create sustained career momentum for women employees.
This shift is critical because token representation does not guarantee that women can thrive or advance into senior roles over time. Without intentional ecosystems, women may enter the workforce in high numbers but fail to reach the highest levels of leadership.
Radhakrishnan, who serves as vice president of HR and India DEI leader at Cognizant, discussed these strategies on CNBC TV18. She said that companies should focus on building environments that provide continuous growth and meaning for women throughout their professional journeys.
According to Radhakrishnan, the goal is to ensure women continue to grow and lead at every stage of their careers [1]. This approach moves the focus from hiring quotas to the creation of long-term leadership pathways.
At Cognizant, women comprise nearly 40% of the workforce [1]. Despite this presence, Radhakrishnan said that genuine inclusion requires more than just a percentage of the population, it requires a system that supports advancement.
Such an ecosystem involves identifying the specific barriers that stall women's progress and implementing structural changes to remove them. By doing so, organizations can transition from a model of mere presence to one of active leadership development.
Radhakrishnan said that the objective is for women to find meaning and sustained growth within their roles, ensuring they are not just present in the office but are positioned to lead the organization.
“Organizations should move beyond mere representation of women”
The emphasis on 'career momentum' suggests a growing recognition in the corporate sector that diversity hiring is only the first step. By focusing on the ecosystem rather than the headcount, companies are attempting to solve the 'broken rung' problem where women enter the pipeline but stall at middle management.
