Women in Outsourcing industry constitute a big number. More than 85% of them are Millennials. (Millennials – loosely defined as those born between 1980 and 1995) Lets focus on India first which has been a remarkable success story.

According to official data, India’s IT and BPO services industry employs some three million workers. Today about a quarter or more of these are women, says India’s industry trade body Nasscom. That is up from a fifth of the workforce in 2007. A recent study, Diversity in Action by Nasscom and PricewaterhouseCoopers, suggests the number of women workers is steadily growing. That change represents a generational shift.

The IT industry has extremely high diversity in terms of gender, geography, language and socio-economic factors, that is because meritocracy reigns in the industry. It all boils down to talent. The competition for talent in the IT industry has smoothed out many of the inequalities, making it more diverse and inclusive than any other in India.

Foremost is the gender balance. Thanks to women-friendly policies, including escorts to the doorstep on nightshifts, generous maternity benefits and 24/7 childcare, the gender imbalance in the industry is slowly being evened out. More middle-class Indian parents, who wield enormous power over their children’s career choices, are becoming comfortable with their daughters working late and being away on business.

But diversity in the industry still has its challenges. While there are plenty of women entering the workforce, there is a pronounced lack of women in leadership or boardroom roles. She believes change is round the corner. There are a lot more women at the entry level in the industry. Secondly, many women are rising in functional roles today. In five or six years, more women will reach the top in business roles and in a few years, the IT industry will start looking like India’s banking industry which has seen domination of women leading banks by sari-clad women CEOs.

Indian companies have imported and formulated some of the best practices in HR. Their flat structures and informal work culture is quite a departure from the ambiance at India’s family-run or old- economy companies. But inclusivity in the full sense of word, encompassing generational diversity and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers, is still not visible in workplaces.

Close to six percent of India’s population has some form of disability but fewer than three in 100 are employed by the organised sector. There is more acceptance of diversity in the workplace than even a decade ago and people have a more nuanced understanding of labels attached to sexual orientation. But diversity as a corporate agenda is largely focused on bringing women into the workplace.

However, one remarkable aspect of India’s young industry has gone largely unsung. India’s infamous caste and class systems have been upended by the IT industry. With the migration from small towns to larger cities, many Indians no longer feel categorized by the caste system or shackled to it in an industry where merit rules.

The industry is dominated by a young workforce – in many large companies workers are aged on average in the early thirties. “Talent issues have diminished all biases, equal opportunity is the reality

Globally Millennials think and work differently. To be competitive, now and particularly in the future, organizations will need to create a culture and work environment that attracts and retains a new generation of workers. This is especially true as organizations work to attract, retain and promote women, who should one day occupy a higher number of senior positions.

The millennial woman is more highly educated and more likely to be employed than previous generations, and she is more confident than generations of women before her. Fifty-one percent of millennial women – compared to 61% of millennial men – say they feel they will be able to rise to the top of their respective organizations. Our study found that the Gen Y woman considers opportunities for career progression to be the most attractive employer trait. She also has more global acumen and is more technologically savvy than previous generations. Finally, the Gen Y woman has a strong sense of egalitarianism and is likely to seek an employer with a strong record on equality and diversity.

Why is this significant? Millennial women will comprise about 25% of the global workforce by 2020. In an era of talent scarcity, attracting and retaining skilled millennial women will be crucial. Organizations will have to adapt in significant ways, including how they manage, coach and provide feedback to these employees.

Many large corporations and employers have slowly begun to retool and transform their talent management processes. They are using important findings to design a system for coaching staff – particularly millennials – that would be more impactful and would have greater personal resonance with this new generation.

An important component of our revamped approach is frequent. Despite their digital aptitude, 96% of millennials prefer to talk face-to-face about career plans and progress, just as 95% of non-millennials do.

In addition to addressing millennial preferences regarding frequent, face-to-face feedback, more frequent conversations foster more effective mentor and sponsor relationships. There is a dire need to create an environment where informal discussion about career development and progression are systemic and will go a long way towards correcting that imbalance for aspiring women. Reorienting organizational processes to reflect the need for and acceptability of these conversations is an important step in changing mindsets that can be particularly destructive to a woman’s career development.

Many organizations have not caught on to the importance of taking an interest in their millennial employees. Less than 2% of millennials identify a colleague, employer or supervisor as the person encouraging them to pursue their professional aspirations, according to a study conducted this year by Bentley University’s Center for Women & Business. The study concludes that many organizations are missing an important opportunity to retain millennial employees by failing to take a personal interest in their career ambitions. One success story cited in the study was a millennial woman who loved her summer job because her employer made an effort to communicate the value and impact of her work. Each week, she was sent to other departments to see how the organization as a whole was using her work. As a result, she felt valued and motivated – and she developed a much deeper understanding of the entire organization in the process, a benefit to her and the employer.

Attracting and retaining millennial women is a business necessity for my organization and so many others. Building a culture where conversations about career development and flexibility are both frequent and constructive is an important, tangible step towards helping women reach their full potential in the workplace.