How InsuranceDekho is empowering women who are re-entering the corporate world

One of the leaders in the Insurtech space in India, InsuranceDekho has launched SWRA, an initiative on the occasion of International Women’s Day this year. SWRA: She Will Rise Again is dedicated to women who have had to take a break of a minimum of one year owing to personal, health or family reasons. In 2021, women have represented around 19% of the workforce in India, witnessing a reduction from more than 40% in the early part of the 90’s. In 2024, women’s participation in the organized sector saw an increase of 33% in 2023 to 36%. However, a gender gap is still prevalent.

It is observed that women take a career break for a year or more because of various reasons be it surrounding family, health, or societal ones and sometimes they hesitate to get back into the workforce again. SWRA by InsuranceDekho aims to empower these women, helping, training them and boosting their confidence to re-enter the corporate world, further contributing to the vision of India for women empowerment, to become a developed nation, and taking the steps towards a more equitable world.

InsuranceDekho, established in the year 2017 by Ankit Agrawal, has helped to empower several women in the country to gain viable means of livelihood and build their own identity. At Bharat Fintech Summit 2023, InsuranceDekho has been recognised as ‘Best Insurtech Company and fintech leader of the year’.

In conversation with Adgully, Divya Mohan, CHRO, InsuranceDekho, speaks about the objective of SWRA and what it aims to fulfil. On the Women’s Day theme this year, which is ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate progress’, with the campaign theme being ‘Inspire Inclusion’ addressing the problem of economic disempowerment. Divya Mohan also speaks about how SWRA revolves around inclusion equating to appreciation of people coming from differing walks of life. She further shares, “When we work on a sizeable section of India's population, helping them to come back and find their purpose again in life, get back into employment in a renewed way, I think then we are contributing to creating a more inclusive workspace.”

Could you elaborate in brief on the initiative -  SWRA by InsuranceDekho? What is its objective and who are its target group?

SWRA is for all women who have taken a break in their careers lasting for a minimum of one year owing to personal reasons, family reasons, health reasons, maternity, or any other compulsion that they may have faced.There are situations that are beyond their control. When we were internally debating as to what can we do about bringing back women and fostering the spirit of inclusivity where women who come from different backgrounds, battling different problems, varied mindsets,feel more welcomed, not just at InsuranceDekho but in general in the corporate setup,  the idea of SWRA – She Will Rise Again, came up. Because what we have seen is that these women are capable, they are educated, and they want to come back, but somehow they may lack the confidence, or they may lack the opportunities or they maybe full of self- doubt, because of which they are holding themselves back.

So through this program, we plan to work with these women by way of webinars,  learning sessions, so that we can prep them to come back and join the workforce again. We are not just opening up  job opportunities as employees at InsuranceDekho but also to join the larger partner community that we interact with. The biggest advantage is our deep presence in not just the metros but also tier 2 , tier 3 towns and the interiors of Bharat which is where a lot of women are wanting to get back to workforce but need support and encouragement. Thus the idea is to equip them, train them, and help them with whatever they need to be more confident and more prepared to come back and work.

What are the means and mediums that SWRA will adopt to fulfill this objective?

There will be workshops on various themes for all women who register and for women who make it to InsuranceDekho, there is a carefully planned assimilation program that includes classroom and on the job training  that will help them understand insurance, and our company and then help them deliver on the job responsibilities. But for those who don't join us or who don't make it over here, even for them, we have workshops that focus on building their confidence, handling emotions , rebuilding their candidature , effectively facing interviews and helping them represent themselves fearlessly and without regrets.

Is SWRA specifically designed for those women who have been out of the workforce for more than a year or also for those who are actively looking for jobs?

We focus a lot on diversity hiring and I think like us multiple companies focus on that. So, women who are looking for jobs, anyway can apply. But as far as this program is concerned, I would say that this is addressing the problem of women taking breaks but not coming back or they want to come back, however they  have those feelings of fear, low confidence, they are not too sure whether they will be able to crack interviews, they have low self-worth and they feel that they won’t be able to regain the spot they held before taking the break .So it's only for that subsection of women who, because of reasons other than career, have had to take a backseat, and the focus is on how to get them prepared for their next stint.

How is InsuranceDekho leveraging digital media for this initiative?

Right from conducting sessions to inviting applications, to interviewing, it is going to be through social media and our channels, starting from traditional channels for sending the job links, posting the job descriptions, inviting applications, conducting webinars and then coming to selections and  absorption.

How do you think that the mission of SWRA aligns with the Women’s Day theme this year?

Inspiring Inclusion is all about appreciating people coming from different walks of life and doing everything possible to make them feel comfortable in their skin, make them feel confident about themselves, and reinforce their sense of self-worth. When we work on this large section of India’s population, and help them come back and find their purpose in life, and get back into employment again, I think we are contributing to creating a more inclusive workspace where people with different challenges, different walks of life, different thought processes are coming in together with one sense of purpose.

What, according to you, makes women hesitate to re-enter the workforce once they have left it and how is SWRA going to help them in this regard?

I clearly see two cohorts, one is a section of women who are educated and are confident and have it in them to come back and say that it is fine that I took a break, but now it is time to come back. They are able to overcome obstacles by way of sheer determination and support from their social circle.  However the second cohort is a section of women are troubled by feelings of self-doubt and guilt about whether they will ever be able to go back to the corporate world or go back to work and perform in the same manner that they did before they took a break. They either lack confidence or social support or guidance to help them get back. So, we want to be that silver lining in the cloud where we want to work with these women who want to come back but need support in coming back and help them to prepare for the comeback. We will partner with these women, prepare them for their journey ahead, and in the process, we will also open up job opportunities within the company and in our agent, partner community and help them get these, or at least prepare them to grab opportunities elsewhere.

What is the long-term vision of SWRA?

We are looking at training and employing both put together at least 10,000 SWRAs by 2030.

Could you take us through your journey so far as the Chief Human Resources Officer at InsuranceDekho? What were your biggest lessons being a women leader in this corporate world?

I think I have evolved, like most women, I have had my ups and down owing to different stages in my life cycle. There are a lot of sacrifices on the way, but at the same time a very sound social support system, very supportive colleagues, and an enabling work environment are what have helped me stay afloat. It is very important to remember why we started and then garner all the courage you have to face challenges and surge ahead. Like Viktor Frankl said, ‘Aa man who has a why to live can bear almost any how’.

Any message that you would like to give to aspiring women leaders?

We need to seek help whenever we require it. I think as a woman the biggest problem is that we want to do everything ourselves and do it in the best possible way, be it kids, be it home, be it office, be it maintaining friendships or maintaining social responsibilities, we want to do it all by ourselves and we do not seek help despite help being available. Thus, I think the biggest message that I will give out to women at different life stages is to seek help, be it from your family, be it your friends, be it domestic help at home, be it anything, any kind of social support system that you can build at any point of time you must build.

Secondly, it is important to know what your focus is. Everything cannot be a number one priority at all points in time. My biggest learning is that the priority list doesn’t remain the same every day, we need to learn to juggle between this list and move up and down the priority list depending on the situation. So, there are times when my child is my priority and I focus on that. Then there are times when work is my priority and I focus on that. So, the notion that everything can go together at the same pace and vigour puts a lot of pressure on women. Thus, it is important to have a mental model where you have your priority list attuned with the demands of time. You cannot have a single priority throughout your life, because the life stages are different, the challenges are different, your career stages are different, and life in general has many ups and downs. So, the idea is to have a priority list, but accept that the number one priority will keep on changing and not feel guilty about it.

Besides SWRA, what are the other initiatives by InsuranceDekho on the occasion of Women’s Day this year?

We are a company that focuses on diversity. We internally target bringing in more and more women in the company and creating a culture which kind of helps women get through various career stages in life and contribute. I would say it’s not just a Women’s Day when we would want to do something special for our women, we have multiple leadership development workshops, health workshops, connect sessions, and things that go on apart from a specific focus on hiring as far as women are concerned. So, when we will be celebrating Women’s Day with the women, we will be thanking them for the contributions that they have made. But this year we thought that while we are a woman-friendly company with already an enviable diversity ratio, we should do something for women who want to come back and work. So I think that is the highlight. We will be working further on this initiative so that we can get back to the people and tell them how can they register for these webinars, how can they apply for job openings within InsuranceDekho and our partner community, and then take it ahead. That is the larger plan for us.

How is Mary Kom associated with this initiative?

We had invited Mary Kom to come to launch SWRA as she is the epitome of perseverance and not giving up in the face of challenges in life, thereby making a very sound comeback. She also had to take a break in her career because of some reasons. But she did not give up hope, she did not let it go, and she did not let the hunger to achieve more, do more die. And she came back, and won so many accolades for the country. So, we felt that there is no better person to launch SWRA because SWRA is all about women who have taken a break in their careers and want to come back, but need guidance, support, and help in coming back.