Gender equality and diversity in the workplace is something every organization strives for and Perficient is one of the organizations that is doing something meaningful for the Women working here. WiT ERG was introduced in India offices in 2022, and over the course of time, our efforts were dedicated to curating and bringing forth impactful events that resonate with each member of the WiT community. On celebrating the 2nd anniversary of WiT ERG, the WiT India chapter was introduced. By fostering collaborative relationships with teams in Chennai, Bangalore, Nagpur, and Pune, WiT India has been able to host events that not only offer creative freedom but have also reached out to larger audiences, drawing speakers from across all the GDCs, allowing us to make a substantial mark in the WiT India journey. Demonstrating remarkable growth, WiT India has been organizing a diverse range of events over the past 8 months on various important topics. Let’s relish the glimpses of the events that we had under WiT India so far:
Our very first session of the year, “Foster your Professional Presence,” focused on the importance of having the right skills and qualifications in today’s professional landscape. It highlighted the significance of fostering a strong professional presence by our speaker, Sulogna Gupta. She shared some examples of how implementing effective communication, body language, networking skills, dressing, and other general etiquette in our daily lives can impact the behavior of people in our surroundings. Sulogana shared some suggestions to shape our future, redefine success, and create a collective legacy of impactful presence.
We celebrated International Women’s Day in March, coinciding with WiT’s 1st Anniversary in Chennai and Nagpur. Both offices had their celebrations in their respective GDCs. In Nagpur, our featured guest, Dr. Tejinder Singh Rawal’s presentation about “Financial Independence,” appeared to have made a significant impact, encouraging us to consider financial planning and its broader influence. The session covered various financial management aspects relevant to daily professional life.
As for Chennai, the WiT team organized a “Wall of Expression,” inviting all the colleagues to share their thoughts, talents, and emotions. The Wall was full of creativity as, on the one hand, some shared pictures of their family, friends, and colleagues; on the other hand, some used this opportunity to express their support, admiration, and gratitude towards women. Later, the Chennai GDC gathered to watch a rom-com movie with delicious movie-time snacks.
As the sun’s warm embrace ushers in the much-awaited summer season, Chennai GDC held an interesting event in the month of May for children and parents alike: Summer Camp. The Summer Camp in Chennai was 2 days event. The 1st day started with the kids receiving a playful welcome from the puppets. As parents started their daily tasks, kids were having a gala at Puppet making workshop. The children enjoyed various activities on both days, including a bouncy castle, trampoline, tic–tac–toe, and snow bowling. They loaded themselves with various foods, from pasta, pizza, and cheese balls to popcorn, french fries, and delicious desserts. They were promised another fun event of Winter Camp this season, after which the Summer camp ended hesitantly but with a happy heart.
.“On the Same Page” was the second event that took place in May. We took a fun ride, delighted our book readers, and enlightened others to read in our next event. “On the Same Page” featured four bibliophiles who shared their good reads through fun presentations. Nancy Shukla, Sneha Annadurai, Ashish Pachpor, and Jagabathula Gowtham’s efforts proved successful and were worth celebrating.
As June marks the onset of monsoon season, bringing relief from the scorching heat, June 21st is celebrated as International Yoga Day. The Chennai and Bangalore teams took a great initiative in organizing a Yoga workshop for their colleagues. For both teams, the session started with simple breathing exercises and gradually moved to exercises with complex postures. These exercises with different difficulty levels were for mental clarity, the release of stress, and to bring calmness to mind and were taken up to test the flexibility of the individuals present there, which was followed by some stretching exercises. The yoga session proved to be a stress reliever for the Bangalore and Chennai colleagues. They felt more energized and ready to face the hassle of life again. The Yoga workshop ended with everyone agreeing on the importance of doing yoga and promising to practice the learned ‘Aasanas’ daily.
June was a month packed with exciting events for WiT India. One of the standout moments was the second event of the month, titled “Thriving Minds, Thriving Works: Integrating Mental Health and Productivity.” This in-person event brought together all the colleagues at Nagpur to explore the vital connection between mental well-being and workplace productivity. Dr. Neha Bhave Salonkar and Ms. Anagha Bhave began the session with an engaging activity to gauge the audience’s stress levels and their efforts toward improving their mental health. Through real-life examples and case studies, they helped the audience connect with their everyday challenges as well as providing practical solutions that everyone could incorporate into their lives. At the end of their sessions, attendees were left with armed formulas and strategies to manage and reduce everyday stress, ensuring they could thrive both personally and professionally.
In August, WiT India brought a brand-new session centred around the theme “Inspiring the next generation of Female Leaders”. This event was held online for all the GDCs. As the speaker for this event, Shahnaaz Azeez brought valuable knowledge and expertise, offering inspiration and guidance to all attendees. The nature of the event was interactive, where participants put forth their own views and experiences of being in the tech industry. It was fascinating to discuss why it is necessary to take risks for career growth, a critical topic. This inspiring and informative session ended with Dhivya Bharthi giving a vote of thanks to everyone who attended and the organizing committee for this event.
In September, WiT India, in collaboration with ASCI, hosted “Straight from the Horse’s Mouth – Chapter 3,” featuring Jennifer Rostal and facilitated by Malvika Malviya. Jennifer started the session by telling how her journey towards being a director began. She shared with the audience about how to create a foundation to build a good career by identifying our area of interest. She said she took every opportunity to train and practice toward her goal. She told the audience how she was proactive on the project by sometimes working beyond her role, by identifying the gaps in the project and filling them as when needed. She shared how every step she took towards up-scaling herself mattered in her career growth, and taking up the opportunity for Agile coaching helped her in the journey. Towards the end, she enlightened everyone by sharing how one should build one’s personal brand by making oneself visible, volunteering for committees, becoming a speaker in events outside of Perficient, and creating work groups. Jennifer ended the session by motivating the audience to work towards their career goals and taking opportunities that come to them.
In November, WiT ERG India and the Nagpur GDC celebrated International Men’s Day at Nagpur and Pune offices. This was an occasion to celebrate men’s lives, which are dedicated to society, community, family, marriage, childcare, and the environment. We started the celebration of this day by distributing a card and badge as a token of appreciation to each male colleague at the Nagpur and Pune offices, thanking them for all the support they provided us throughout the professional and personal journey. We also had a session by Anurag Shivhare, General Manager, GDC Nagpur, on “Healthy Men, Healthy World,” encapsulating the idea that men’s well-being contributes to society’s overall health and prosperity. The day was filled with so much excitement, and the event turned out to be memorable with this session followed by Cake cutting, delicious snacks, and a DJ to end it with a bang!
In conclusion, women have played a pivotal role in shaping the tech industry, and their contributions continue to inspire innovation and progress. As we celebrate the achievement of women in tech, let us also recognize the importance of fostering diversity and inclusion in this ever-evolving field. The final event may mark the conclusion of our current series of events, but rest assured, the show is far from over. We are excited and proud to share that WiT India will continue to be a beacon for empowerment and inspiration, as we have a vibrant lineup of future events in store.
