BEST POSSIBLE FUTURES

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a method for studying and changing social systems (groups, organizations, communities) that advocates collective inquiry into the best of what is in order to imagine what could be, followed by collective design of a desired future state that is compelling and thus, does not require the use of incentives, coercion or persuasion for planned change to occur. The following slides are a summary of the Best Possible Futures generated at the Working Mother Media Global Advancement of Women Conference in Bangalore, India, using Appreciative Inquiry.

BEST POSSIBLE FUTURES

Facilitator: Andrea Wicks Bowles, Bright Horizons •Encouraging sabbatical policy leading to higher retention level •50% representation of women at top management •Open Circle meetings for democratic opinion sharing leading to higher listening scores for Managers by 20% •Flexibility options available to all, like child care leave for father/mother.

Table Participants: Karthik Ekambaram, AVTAR; Freshteena Data, GM; Nandini Hamsa, EMC; Smriti Goel, Intel; Asha ManoorVenkatesh, EMC

BEST POSSIBLE FUTURES Facilitator: Chandha Olson • All Team Leaders/Members are invested in the engagement and retention of women in our organization •Family Day in our organization is one of the most well-attended events of the year. An occasion where both TM’s and families are recognized. •Our Talent Pipeline is challenging and driving a higher % of women leaders (50%) in leadership roles

Table Participants: Corey Smith, Target; Kim Strong, Target; Tanushree Garg, Target; Sonal Bhimani, Target; Aruna Kanthi, McGraw Hill; Semantini Godbole, Target; Veda Srinivasan, EMC

BEST POSSIBLE FUTURES Facilitator: Madhu Manjunath, EMC

Our best possible future is transforming the DNA of the organization and establishing a tapestry of diverse dimensions across all levels of organization. This would be achieved by […] launching a renewed resourcing strategy to widen the resourcing pool and get more social diversity as well as fix the leaky pipeline by defining second career options.

Table Participants: Krishna Subhaga, EMC; Renee Andersen, Novartis; Gayathri Shenoy, EMC; Divya Sen, EMC; Kripa Thimmaiah, Lenovo; Swetha Kumili, Mc Graw Hill Financial

BEST POSSIBLE FUTURES Facilitator: Marina Shoemaker, GM

Our Best Possible Future has addressed the corporate pipeline leak not only of women, but new and bright talent in the organization. We have accomplished this by stressing the importance of communication. This has resulted in a solid succession pipeline to ensure the future of our organization.

Table Participants: Jalaja Murthy, Intel; Chiara D’Souza, GM; Vidhya Ravi, EMC; Nirmala Sanikere, Intel; Kalyani Sekar, Verizon; Suman Prakash, EMC; Sudha Srinivasan, Intel, Sangeetha.subramani, EMC; Manjula Reddy, EMC

BEST POSSIBLE FUTURES Facilitator: Meeta Walia, Synthes Medical Ltd.

Our best possible future is to create awareness at the entry or talent acquisition level to sow the seeds of mentoring and coaching. Our motto is “catch them young and watch them grow”.

BEST POSSIBLE FUTURES Facilitator: Shaila Dembi, Cisco

By 2016 have 30% women leaders represented at CxO and 2 levels below.

Table Participants: Shivena Singh, Johnson&Johnson; Veda Srinivasan, EMC; Krishna Paul, Intel; Sudha Sankaran, General Motors; Sunitha Shetty, EMC; Veena Y, Intel

BEST POSSIBLE FUTURES Facilitator: Snigdha Suman

Our best possible future is where women are empowered to live for themselves more through a change of mindset and attitude, rising above social pressures, conquering limitations and stereotypes.

Table Participants: Ronnie Ong, Dell; Rashmi BE, GMTCI; Shilpa Gupta, GMTCI; Sapna Saini, GM; Monika Sathe, Johnson & Johnson; Mrittika Ganguli, Intel; Katrina Crawford, Working Mother Media

BEST POSSIBLE FUTURES Facilitator: Uma Seethamaran Our “Best Possible Future”: 50% of high potential women are in leadership positions.

•We achieve this by gender sensitization programs in the corporation with a vision to eliminate gender bias/discrimination. •Identification of right talent at recruitment level to train and create pipeline of future leaders.

Table Participants: Swapna Sree Medikonda, McGraw Hill; Poornima Matthan, Kalas

BEST POSSIBLE FUTURES Facilitator: Vasantha Erraguntla, Intel An ecosystem of coaching/mentoring and sponsoring for equal opportunity where women and men operate in a culture that enables their ability to thrive.

Table Participants: Lisa Neal-Graves, Intel; Saira Banu, EMC, Pallavi Kumbhalkar, EMC; Michelle D’Souza, DIAGEO; Rajeshwari Mandanarvanda, EMC; Kavita Mehra, Dell

BEST POSSIBLE FUTURES Facilitator: Vidya Dhareshwar , Cisco Women are provided ‘equitable opportunities’ through different life stages, such that they can reach their ambition and potential. This future is accomplished by: •Ensuring leadership commitment and accountability towards identified women •Mentoring starting at the college/entry levels •Internship for re-skilling