Best practices for Banking, Financial services, and Insurance (BFSI) industry to improve gender equity

BFSI companies can roll out 13 interventions to hire and retain more women in field roles

BFSI industry has high potential for employing more women in entry-level field roles:

Field roles comprise 70-75% of entry-level workforce but have <10% gender diversity, whereas desk roles have 30-50% women, indicating a large, untapped opportunity in field roles
Most entry-level field roles require only a 12th pass qualification, making them accessible to non-graduate women

Improve customer experience (e.g., higher relatability and comfort for women customers) and brand reputation
Improve work quality (e.g., fewer errors in documents handled by women)
Improve work culture (e.g., lower absenteeism amongst women)

BFSI companies have low gender equity in field operations today because of company and ecosystem-level challenges:

Managers have safety and performance concerns (e.g., women may not be able to negotiate with customers)
Job descriptions lack clarity on eligibility, requirements, and details on pay structure (e.g., fixed vs. variable pay break-up)
Companies provide limited mentorship and onboarding support for specific skills (e.g., pitching skills for field sales roles)
Companies lack safety and grievance redressal mechanisms (e.g., emergency support during field travel)

Staffing vendors are unable to hire women for field roles quickly
Cities/ towns lack affordable and safe transport facilities, especially in suburbs or during late hours
Cities/ towns lack safe/ clean washrooms for women to use during travel
Families make limited investments in assets (e.g., two-wheelers) and skills (e.g., digital literacy) for women

BFSI companies can follow a 3-phased approach to make their operations more gender equitable:

Build the organisation’s capability (1-6 months): Lay the foundation by setting up safety provisions, building inclusive hiring practices, and training managers to tackle gender biases
Enable and support (6-12 months): Ensure sustained focus by training managers on women-friendly hiring and retention practices, and strengthening support for women workers via custom zone allocation, buddy mapping, and mobility support
Formalize and sustain (12-18 months): Institutionalize gender diversity by offering incentives for staffing companies, setting up grievance redressal systems, and embedding accountability via diversity KPIs

Context