GenY employees more open to networking

You can’t ignore the power of networking in today's workplace. While one-to-one relationships are important, networking can open doors to opportunities and help in career advancement. HR consulting firm Randstad India has conducted a study on networking — in particular, the networking patterns of women across various domains and sectors. Excerpts from the study shared exclusively with ET:

Junior-level employees invest more time in networking

Organisations encourage networking While both male (41%) and female (44%) employees agree that networking is important, it is the junior-level employees (59%) who make more time to network. Of these junior employees, men constitute 31% and women constitute 28%.

47% of respondents at the age of 35 years and below mentioned a preference for networking.

Family support crucial

94% of the respondents surveyed are of the view that family support is crucial for successful networking.

Personal appearance counts

Men (40%) and women (44%) both feel personal appearance matters during networking. This is felt more among young women candidates who are less than 35 years of age and with work experience of up to 8 years.



Organisations encourage networking

64% say their organisation has an open policy regarding networking. Also, 44% have an internal social network that enables them to interact and build meaningful relationships with their peers and co-workers across functions and departments.

Hanging out with co-workers at coffee shops (63%) and attending parties (55%) are the two most preferred networking activities for both male and female employees.

Women in HR value networking the most

By industry, women employees in the HR (14%) and IT & ITeS industries (11%) with 3 to 8 years of experience value networking the most as compared to sectors such as BFSI (4%), advertising (3%), manufacturing (3%) and education & training (2%).

Obstacles: Power equations and lack of time

The two biggest obstacles to networking are lack of time (22%) and power barriers (20%). Apart from these reasons, a few women employees (6%) feel that their introversion prevents them from effectively networking with others. 14% of the respondents are not sure who to connect with and 11% of them are unable to network effectively due to conflicts of belief and dissimilar interests. A few of the respondents (9%) are afraid to ask others for help.