Robin Ely, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, says firms can improve their efforts by evaluating existing initiatives from other companies. She recently spoke at a conference in Mumbai in September.
When the country's Supreme Court in September struck down a law that deemed gay sex illegal, many large businesses and start-ups said they would continue to make their workplace more inclusive. But, diversity programs alone won't have a meaningful impact if human resources and senior leaders are not on the same page.
"Work in organizations needs to start with leadership development," Ely says. "Educate the leaders of organizations to understand what is it really to change a culture and how is it that they need to personally change in the process."
Women are 29% of India's workforce now versus 35% in 2004, according to the United Nations.