Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets. Sylvia Ann Hewlett

grocery runs.¹⁴

      Pink Taxi service has also been operating in Dubai for several years and recently spawned a sister organization in Abu Dhabi. The “Ladies' Taxis,” as they're known, boast safety-enhancing features not offered by ordinary taxis. Video cameras linked to the communication center of the taxi regulatory authority monitor the driver at all times. Because speeding was a common complaint among women passengers in regular cabs, each car is equipped with a gauge to detect if the driver goes over the speed limit; if she does, she will be fined. A panic button is accessible to passengers if they feel threatened.

      In a country in which, according to Islamic tradition, women do not talk to men other than those in their family, the service has been a triple win—not only for women passengers upset at being leered at by male drivers, but also for women drivers happy to have flexible work options and even for the transportation authorities. “Women are safer drivers statistically [than men] and are less likely to get into an accident,” says Abdulla Sultan al Sabbagh, director of TransAd, the UAE taxi regulatory authority.¹⁵

      Global companies know how to provide this kind of support: they've done it for female and minority talent in the United States and Europe. The challenge is to translate cutting-edge diversity initiatives to fit the contours of the culture of each country.

      It's a challenge that can't be dismissed. These “soft” sentiments can have repercussions for employers. Our previous studies of highly qualified minority women in the United States found that more than 40 percent of Asians and African Americans, and nearly 50 percent of Latinas, in their prime childbearing and child-rearing years felt demoralized by workplace discrimination and seriously considered quitting.¹⁶ In emerging markets, where cultural and gender prejudices pulling women out of professional careers are far more pronounced, companies are at risk of losing their most qualified women at the peak of their professional powers. Worse, without the presence of those women acting as magnets for university graduates, employers will cut themselves off from the best prospects in their talent pipeline. In short, multinational organizations must move beyond Western notions of work-life pulls on women and craft solutions that help tackle this potent set of issues.

      Part Two

      The Markets

      Despite the similar broad themes shared by talented women across BRIC/UAE markets, each country is characterized by its own idiosyncratic array of “pulls” and “pushes.” The devil is in the details, as it were. The following five chapters unpack those details in depth and explore their manifestations in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and the UAE.