Women in Workforce – Dutch Uncles

PlaySimple The Gaming Development Startup

Vaishali Das — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 08:44:31 +0000

PlaySimple is a Bengaluru-based mobile gaming development startup, founded in 2014. With an aim to create a web of social word games, it has developed games like WordJam, WordTrek, WordTrip, solitaire and daily-themed crosswords. This is a rapidly growing and a highly profitable game studio which has established its position in the market as a leading global developer of free-to-play games.

The startup has a portfolio of nine casual games covering over 75 million downloads with 7 million active users on a monthly basis. The platform is ruled by mostly the women players covering around 80% of its total player base. It also has 1.9 million active users on a daily basis.

Swedish Gaming Firm MTG Acquires India’s PlaySimple

Sweden-based Modern Times Group (MTG) acquired PlaySimple for $360 million. This acquisition is based on the startup’s exponential growth in the fast-growing mobile words game genre in the global market. This free-to-play word games platform is an exciting new genre for MTG.

MTG, in their 100% acquisition of the startup PlaySimple, will be providing them 77% of the acquisition amount in cash and the rest of the amount will be paid in the form of MTG class B shares. Apart from the acquisition amount, there will also be performance based earn-outs of around $150 million for this Indian gaming firm.

This acquisition is one of the largest cash exits for an Indian startup after Byju’s who bought WhiteHatJr for $300 million. This acquisition is profitable for both the companies:

For PlaySimple, this will give them creative freedom and new opportunities from the GamingCo.
PlaySimple is also lined up to produce four more new games, two of which will be card games, bringing a new genre for the company.
For MTG, this acquisition will provide them to build a diversified gaming vertical with new gaming genres.
Another benefit for MTG is that PlaySimple’s impressive user base will bring more female gamers to MTG’s platform.

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Gaming startups can look for simpler ways of developing games and as PlaySimple did with their user base being highly covered with 80% of females this is indeed a great strategy to work with.

The State of Gaming Industry In India as well as In Global Market

India’s mobile gaming market is still at nascent stage, estimated to be at $40-$50 million but it has been growing rapidly at a CAGR of 50%. This is due to the rise in digital infrastructure quality and engaging gaming content.

Moreover, because of increase in the number of smartphone users, gaming developers are looking further to explore the gaming sector more. At a global level, the worth of gaming market is over $100 billion which is more than the movie and the music business combined.

What’s in it for Gaming Startups?

The major takeaway from PlaySimple gaming development firm is that they use a data-driven operating model which allows them to develop multiple games especially popular with a growing global audience of female gamers.

This acquisition of PlaySimple by MTG, marks an important step in building a diversifying gaming vertical with the top-notch companies and in return will provide a more stable business for the Swedish firm.

Gaming startups can look for simpler ways of developing games and as PlaySimple did with their user base being highly covered with 80% of females this is indeed a great strategy to work with.

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Sairee Chahal Helping Women Get More from Life

Tanisha Achrekar — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 06:35:04 +0000

Startups run by women in India have a sense of empowerment and uniqueness. Sairee Chahal is one such womenpreneur, who observed the existing problems of the society and worked towards solving them. She founded SHEROES, an online community for women offering them support, resources, opportunities and interactions. Her community has now expanded to millions of women through SHEROES’s website and app.

Sairee’s journey begins

Sairee belonged to a small town in Uttar Pradesh. She was only 17 when she moved to New Delhi as she got into Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to pursue a course in the Russian language. When she completed her five years in JNU, she already had a work experience of four years in her hand. She has an M.Phil from JNU and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM) from the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad.

Sairee was only 19 when she started her first company, Newslink Services. Her company was focused on catering to seafarers as she had realized how much they miss being in touch with the outside world. After devoting four years to Newslink, she further worked with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Heidrick & Struggles. Later, in 2006, she set up SAITA Consulting. The firm helped startups to build systems and processes.

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My passion keeps me going. This is all I want to do and I’m glad that I am doing it.

- Sairee Chahal

The foundation of SHEROES

Being an entrepreneur since college, Sairee always had the drive to solve problems that existed around her. She launched Fleximoms when she gave birth to her daughter. She realised how after being a mother, how many women find it difficult to continue their strenuous jobs. Fleximoms offered flexible job opportunities for mothers who want to work while nurturing their children.

After empowering women through Fleximoms, she felt the need to create something much bigger. That’s when she realised that with so many platforms on the Internet, there’s nothing that constructively caters to women. Witnessing the prevailing gender disparity in India and the lack of women in the workforce, she established SHEROES. In its initial days, SHEROES was a career-oriented website offering working opportunities and support to women. Eventually, Sairee felt the need for expansion and wanted to offer more. This is when she focused on crafting SHEROES, an ecosystem for women where more than a million of them discuss career, health, relationships, safety, along with sharing life stories. On what keeps her motivated, she states on her website, “My passion keeps me going. This is all I want to do and I’m glad that I am doing it.”

What can we learn from Sairee’s success?

Sairee had started her own business since she was a teenager. Her passion and zest are derived from her excellent problem-solving skills. She pays close attention to what is going on around her and how things can get better. She always ensured that her business caters to what society needs the most. As an entrepreneur, one must focus on solving problems that are faced by the target market. Sairee exemplifies that when a business solves a societal challenge, it thrives.

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Sheetal Ramkumar Leading the Language Service Provider Industry

Anju Nambiar — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 00:35:03 +0000

Sheetal Ramkumar is a woman entrepreneur with exceptional insight and hunger for setting herself and her company WhiteGlobe apart. As she has already demonstrated with her success, Sheetal is a unique entrepreneur who managed to learn all the rules of her Industry and break them, only to carve a niche for herself in Language Services.

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Sheetal Ramkumar, Founder & CEO of WhiteGlobe broke through the highly fragmented language industry in India leaving small-time language service providers scrambling for life.

Who is Sheetal Ramkumar and why is WhiteGlobe relevant?

Sheetal Ramkumar, Founder & CEO of WhiteGlobe broke through the highly fragmented language industry in India leaving small-time language service providers scrambling for life.

WhiteGlobe is part of a rapidly evolving industry expected to touch 5 trillion USD by 2025.

Here’s how WhiteGlobe scaled to what it is today

A force to reckon with, Sheetal Ramkumar first developed a ‘multi-dimensional competency assessment’ tool which she used to evaluate the competency of other LSP’s before taking them on board.

Sheetal Ramkumar and WhiteGlobe are a reassurance for the seriously undermined linguists of India who up until now were looked down upon and not even considered as Professionals.

The main challenge which Sheetal and WhiteGlobe faced was to convince enterprises to redirect their language service requests to homegrown LSP’s instead of outsourcing.

The key differentiator between WhiteGlobe and smaller players in the market was that WhiteGlobe was addressing requests that everyone else would turn down for its sheer size and magnitude.

These projects mostly pertained to translation of brochures, manuals, legal documents, voiceovers, and subtitling in regional Indian languages.

WhiteGlobe’s start-up journey

When WhiteGlobe was all but a start-up, it was attempting to make it big in a market which wasn’t fully there. They first offered translation and localisation services to organisations. Their expertise in the subtleties of multiple local languages established them as an authority figure in the uber-niche market.

WhiteGlobe started off as a concept rather than as a product/service, and in terms of uniqueness of the brand, Sheetal Ramkumar outdid herself.

WhiteGlobe currently has more than 500 enterprises in its kitty and Sheetal Ramkumar refuses to budge from her position as an industry leader.

What next? Linguistic tools and the threats they pose.

While the Indian Language Industry only just emerged from the shadows, a big challenge already threatens their growth. Companies like WhiteGlobe need to watch out for Machine Translation (MT) tools which are beginning to look like a more attractive choice over LSPs. The only way to survive this threat is if companies like WhiteGlobe manage to incorporate MT into their portfolio of services at Indian friendly prices.

What’s in it for me?

Sheetal Ramkumar herself has shared several pointers for budding entrepreneurs, and start-up owners about what’s in it for you to venture into Language services:

She has advised aspiring entrepreneurs to go for what they want to do with an open mind. She also warns them about the possibility of failure and the opportunity to learn that comes along with failure. She also expressed her views on standing out in entrepreneurship saying that a fixed formula for success didn’t exist, neither does a perfect setting present itself if they aspire to start their own business.

What newbie business owners can learn from Sheetal Ramk’umar’s inspirational story is to master the art of communication, inside out. It is a weapon in itself which will help you to convey your brand’s mission and vision to stakeholders. Especially in an uncertain market like Language, and especially for women, who are interested in setting themselves apart in business.

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Global Gender Pay Gap: Where Does India Stand?

Tanisha Achrekar — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 12:35:04 +0000

We live in a world where opportunities for women have unleashed more than ever. Women are realizing their true potential, grabbing opportunities and opening doors of financial independence themselves. The situation may not be the best and there is definitely room for improvement. The current times being way better compared to when Indra Nooyi started her career or when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. A key component of being independent is handling your finances. The gender pay gap measures the overall earnings of men and women. It shows an organization, or the country, or the world on where they truly stand. It is different from unequal pay as it takes the earnings of all men and women into consideration irrespective of their designation and specialization.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2020

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 of the World Economic Forum, there is still a 31.4% average gender gap that remains to be closed globally. On a slightly positive note, globally the gender pay gap is lower than before. Compared to last year, 101 out of the 149 countries that are a part of both the report have shown a lesser gender gap.

We are improving globally but is this pace good enough? According to the same report, the slow speed at which the gender pay gap is reducing over the period 2006–2020, it will take 257 years to close this gap.

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According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 of the World Economic Forum, there is still a 31.4% average gender gap that remains to be closed globally.

Where does India stand?

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020, out of the 153 countries studied, India ranks 112 for the overall gender pay gap. Unfortunately, the gender gap has gotten deep and is running significantly wider.

When it comes to the gender pay gap, India faces complex challenges and hurdles. Most of them being associated with socio-economic conditions. It starts from when girl children are dropped out of school early or kept out completely. Many women who manage to complete their education are not allowed to work by their families. Many women also are unable to join the workforce back after maternity leave. Many females opt-out of jobs that require long working hours or night shifts due to pressure from their families or safety concerns. These factors hold women back to perform to their fullest, causing the overall gender pay gap to widen.

What can we do about gender pay?

India’s stigma against women working is what is holding it back. Below are some practices that may help your organization to eliminate the gender pay gap –

Conduct analysis within your organization to ensure wage parity amongst all employees.
Keep a check on your unconscious biases that are associated with women.
Have a diversified workforce from the top level of management to the bottom one. Ensuring there is an adequate representation of women in every tier of your organization.

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Are Men and Women Treated Differently at Work?

Tanisha Achrekar — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 06:35:05 +0000

Women are in a position of power everywhere around the world. Be it running a country, flying a jet, or running a business, we are doing it all! As much as we adore financial independence and having our own identity, some struggles seem inevitable. Often a topic discussed among co-workers is the difference between men and women at work. While definitely, not all workplaces are the same, in most, women are treated differently than men intentionally or unintentionally.

Gender bias: What experts say about men and women at work?

A study was conducted in 2017 on a multinational firm to find out whether men and women are treated differently at work. The first thing that came to notice while collecting the data was that fewer women are employed in upper management. In the entry levels, there were 30% to 40% of women employed, the upper two-tier of the company had only 20% of women employed.

During the investigation, the research experts gave all employees sociometric badges so they could track in-person behaviour. Along with that they also collected the email communication and meeting schedules of the employees. After analyzing the data, they found that men and women portrayed the same behaviour in the office. Still, the difference in lack of senior-level opportunities and difference between the promotion rate between men and women existed.

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Gender inequality prevails because of bias.

If both genders behaved in the same manner, why the difference? The difference was observed in the way men and women were treated. Gender inequality prevails because of bias. Bias is when two people are behaving in the same manner yet being treated differently. The problem is not in the action, but how those actions are perceived. There are several reasons why this gender bias exists. In the company, where the research was conducted, women tended to leave the company in the middle of their seniority, between four to ten years. The reasons are presumed to start a family or raise a kid. Michelle J. Budig, a professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, in his paper on ‘The Fatherhood Bonus and The Motherhood Penalty,’ concluded how men are perceived as responsible after becoming fathers, while women are deemed as being less committed to work.

What can we do?

While several companies run leadership programmes to uplift women and encourage them, the problem remains unsolved. Instead, companies should pay more attention to consciously reducing the gender bias amongst employees. A company should conduct research and treat gender bias as any other business problem. They should collect the data to uncover gender bias in their organization. After getting the data, they need to work on where exactly the women are facing bias and brainstorm steps to overcome it. Just how a woman’s marriage and pregnancy are celebrated, let’s celebrate their promotions and graduations too.

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Gender Diversity Percentage: Women at Entry Level Vs Higher up the Ladder

Aakash Sharma — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 02:35:03 +0000

Indian corporate ecosystem needs diversity in a multitude of experiences, skills, nationality, but above all, it requires gender-specific diversity. Diversity in all its aspects should be a fundamental goal for an organisation to work effectively. It helps expand the approach to decision making, avoids biased policies, and helps companies better understand and connect with their stakeholders. The equality of the sexes and a workplace’s different design with equal representation of women is one of the “essential” elements of almost all business strategies today. And it is good that the corporate sector has a clear intention of working to create a business world with gender equality.

The proportion of women in entry level posts is at par.

In India’s open economy and market space, many multinationals have large numbers of women in their workforce. These companies have adopted various policies for a gender-balanced workforce. However, most management positions in Indian companies continue to be dominated by men. Although multiple laws have narrowed the education gap between men and women, and there are many qualified women in India, they are still rare to be found in conference halls and executive positions in the Indian corporate world.

What is holding women back?

One of the reasons for women’s absence in senior leadership positions is that gender stereotypes act as a significant hindrance to granting authority to women. While research has shown that companies with women in top leadership positions tend to appoint more women on the board, globally, women hold just 4.4% of CEO positions and only 12.7% of CFO roles.

Why is there only 9-10 per cent representation of women in senior management roles in India?

As a first high-level problem, it is not very difficult to answer this question. In India, many women between the ages of 25 and 32 quit their jobs due to engagements, like marriage and motherhood. This is mainly due to society’s gender-specific expectations, which tend to force women into marriage and maternity, and ultimately impact their career goals. This issue needs to be addressed and tactfully redefined.

After getting involved in the typical roles expected of a woman, female professionals often cannot rejoin the workforce and executive positions. There are very few cases where programmes like ‘Back to Work’ are thriving in helping female employees rejuvenate their careers after a matrimonial or motherhood engagement.

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The concept of paternity leave instead of just maternity leave can reduce discrimination against women when hiring as everyone in the organisation will need to take a break during their childbirth.

Lack of initiative on companies’ part

Due to this sullen record, companies become hesitant in taking the valuable time and resources to take the initiative, with failure rates exceeding 80% (i.e., 80% of working women cannot return to work once they are engaged in personal affairs). At this point, we need to look into the reasons for such a high failure rate.

At the organisational level, initiatives such as “Back to Work” are part of a commitment to human resources diversity. If such activity is to be built based on an annual business strategy, it is a more critical initiative. But, most leaders and managers do not invest the time, effort, and resources to identify the right resources for the right task. This makes the attempts at equalisation go in vain, and companies end up not playing a critical role in this “experiment”.

Workplaces need to remodel for engaging more women in the corporate hierarchy

The economics of most workers in the workplace can be read in any McKinsey & Company report published in Women Matter over the past ten years. These reports indicate that highly skilled and highly experienced women in specific verticals of their fields face immense difficulty in entering the professional realm again.

Organisations often miss out on essential opportunities to retain and develop these women professionals’ talents, which leads to their shrinking share in the workforce. At an individual level, women who wish to return to work are often not prepared adequately to have an effortless restart of their careers.

A sound support system is necessary

Socio-economic pressures force women to drop out at all the stages of their careers. There is little that organisations are doing to enable employees – both females and males – to equally manage their personal and family responsibilities. But mostly, due to the societal formation based on gender bias, working women face the brunt of the lack of a sound support system in 95 per cent of cases.

But, to reduce, if not eradicate, this problem, good policies like paternity leave can be implemented on a large scale. These policies can have government interference as well for ensuring compliance. Many European and Scandinavian countries already have a work policy that balances the work regulations to ensure that both, the female and male, workforce have equal opportunities and even similar challenges. In fact, Germany introduced a mandatory reservation for women executives on all major German companies’ boards last year.

The concept of paternity leave instead of just maternity leave can reduce discrimination against women when hiring as everyone in the organisation will need to take a break during their childbirth. Moreover, crèche facilities should not be initiated only thinking about women at the workplace, but organisations should build such facilities for the use of working fathers as well.

Nevertheless, despite increased publicity and discussions surrounding the inequalities women face in the workplace, there remains a tremendous amount of work to close the gender gap.

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