Want Women Employees To Perform At Their Best? Give Them The Training They Need To Succeed, Says Neeta Murthy
Early in her career as an oilfield services engineer, Neeta Murthy was constantly surrounded by men. On oil rigs and in meetings, she was often the only woman present. She credits this experience with shaping her ability to push forward despite the roadblocks she encountered along the way.
But the further she went in her career, the fewer women she noticed alongside her. This is a reality that most women face in the workplace. While companies strive to recruit an equal number of men and women, the proportion of women significantly drops at every level, from the first management position all the way to the C-suite.
Contrary to stereotypical beliefs, this is not because women are "opting out." Research shows that women want to have successful careers, move up to leadership levels, and make an impact!
So if women want to go further, why is it still so hard? Neeta has a deep understanding of what holds women back in the workplace from her time working in different parts of the world operating businesses and leading teams.
After spending five years working as an engineer on oil rigs in Canada, Egypt, and Venezuela, Neeta went on to get an MBA from Harvard. She then worked on Wall Street in investment banking, and eventually went on to take multiple leadership positions at SLB, a major oilfield services company. She consulted for oil and gas clients, led sales & marketing and headed business units in multiple continents. As head of the flagship business unit for all of Continental Europe, she successfully ran the business across 35 countries during one of the most challenging downturns in the oil industry. Her most recent role with SLB was as P&L head of the South & South East Asia region where she was responsible for delivering financial results for large, complex businesses across geographies.
With all her experience, from North America to Asia, from oilfield to banking, Neeta noticed the same patterns impeding women from advancing in their careers:
- Systemic biases in the workplace present many additional challenges for women compared to their male peers.
- Women consistently hold themselves to impossible standards and sell themselves short, often underestimating their own true potential.
- Women lack the mentoring that is easily accessible to their male counterparts, making it doubly hard to navigate these gender-specific challenges.
These persistent problems keep millions of bright, capable, qualified women from performing at their best and progressing in the workplace, and it's imperative that they be solved. Finding a solution has changed the trajectory of Neeta's career.
Today, Neeta has invested everything she learned through the years back into helping women across all industries succeed professionally. She has created a unique, year-long program to help women build the practical business skills and mindsets to navigate challenges and take their performance to the next level.
Rekindle is an innovative business that combines technology with learning & development for women. Neeta notes, "Women have a lot of untapped potential that needs to be harnessed with the right training. By giving their women employees the right tools to succeed at the workplace, companies can bring out the best in them and deliver significantly superior financial results."
Based on behavioral science and developed in partnership with neuroscientists, industry professionals and senior executives, this personalized online training program effects change from the inside out.
A strong testament to its value, the program boasts an exceptionally good 81% completion rate! At the end of the 12 months, women report that they now navigate the system a lot better, perceive their work environment more positively, and display more leadership behaviors at work.
Rekindle works directly with companies worldwide that want to invest in and develop their women employees, setting them up for success in their careers.
"It is a rich and impactful program," "I absolutely love it," "It has helped me be a better version of myself," "I feel different in a very positive way," and "I wish the program would never end," are just some of the things participants say about the program.
Companies still struggle to retain female employees, promote them to senior roles, and consider their perspectives when making strategic decisions. But little by little, with tools like Rekindle, that dynamic is changing, and the global impact that Rekindle has will only continue to grow.