Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets: Why Women Are the Solution

Description

The war for talent is heating up in emerging markets. Without enough "brain power," multinationals can't succeed in these markets. Yet they're approaching the war in the wrong way-bringing in expats and engaging in bidding wars for hotshot local "male" managers. The solution is hiding in plain sight: the millions of highly educated women surging into the labor markets of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and the United Arab Emirates. Increasingly, these women boast better credentials, higher ambitions, and greater loyalty than their male peers. But there's a catch: Attracting and retaining talented women in emerging economies requires different strategies than those used in mature markets. Complex cultural forces - family-related "pulls," such as daughterly duties to parents and in-laws, and work-related "pushes," such as extreme hours and dangerous commutes - force women to settle for dead-end jobs, switch to the public sector, or leave the workforce entirely. In Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets, Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Ripa Rashid analyze these forces and present strategies for countering them, including: * Sustaining ambition through stretch opportunities and international assignments * Combating cultural bias by building an infrastructure for female leadership (networks, mentors, sponsors) * Introducing flexible work arrangements to accommodate family obligations * Providing safe transportation, such as employer-subsidized taxi services Drawing on groundbreaking research, amplified with on-the-ground examples from companies as diverse as Google, Infosys, Goldman Sachs, and Siemens, this book is required reading for all companies seeking to strengthen their talent pipeline in these rich and expanding markets.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett, economist and author of 10 high-profile books, is the founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy and the chair of the Hidden Brain Drain Task Force a group of 60 global companies and organizations committed to fully realizing female and multicultural potential. Ripa Rashid is a senior vice president of the Center for Work-Life Policy and has over 15 years' experience as a management consultant in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

"Hewlett and Rashid make a powerful case that companies keen to recruit and develop these women should help them manage specific challenges they face, such as safety when travelling or responsibility for the care of ageing relatives... the book offers useful lessons in how big business can do better." -- BusinessDay "In Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets, [Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Ripa Rashid ] debunk the stereotypes of the oppressed Arab woman, the bikini-clad Brazilian, the Bollywood heroine, and the adoring Asian wife, and focus instead on well-educated women determined to achieve in their careers." -- Global Business and Organizational Excellence "...this book is a fascinating examination of the lives of women in these very complex and fast-changing societies, and should appeal to anyone interested in attracting and keeping women employees who have different cultural and personal pulls than their male counterparts in every society." -- Jack Covert, 800 CEO READ "I highly recommend the thought provoking and well researched book...to any business leaders who are actively recruiting and hiring talented employees in the developing world. This book demonstrates the competitive advantage that any company will discover by hiring and retaining the highly educated and ambitious women of the emerging economies." -- Wayne Hurlbert, Blog Business World