We are steadfast in our goal of making Molecular Connections a world-class enterprise that truly celebrates and prioritises gender diversity and inclusion. It gives us great pride to say that at Molecular Connections we have worked extremely hard over the years to implement several women-centric policies that allow our female colleagues to thrive and excel in a variety of disciplines. Bagging the “the best company for women to work” 5th time in a row is no surprise. The award is a testament to @mc’s unique culture, reinstating “MC is an equal opportunity employer”
#WomenLeadersatMC you inspire and corroborate that you can achieve great things just by being you.
Acknowledgements:
Dr Usha Mahadevan
Chief Scientific Officer
I joined Molecular Connections with domain knowledge but little of the corporate world. Mr. Jignesh Bhate, our CEO is the one who has groomed me to my position now as Chief Scientific Officer in the company. He is a mentor who leads by example and also guides by one-on-one interaction. He instilled confidence as a visionary and a good businessman when I first met him and that has stayed true all these years. His working hours extend to late nights and early mornings and is always available for any discussion. I cannot recall a single one of my mail that was not answered. He has been very accommodative to a working women’s plight of managing home and office, in permitting leave or work from home options whenever needed. He has never denied any of such requests all these years which had given me more moral responsibility to deliver what is expected of me. I got tremendous support from him in 2018, when I was so caught up to arrange my son’s wedding. Jignesh knows all in my family and has also visited home with his family many times. From the very beginning Jignesh has ensured safe travel for me by providing reliable transport service which is particularly helpful for a working mother. He knows the strengths and weaknesses of individuals and accept them for what they are. He also gives them enough space to handle people and clients and manage work in their own style. This instils confidence in his leadership. Personally I have learnt a lot by observing Jignesh. One thing he always says- “we all make mistakes” is a confidence booster and tells you that you are not judged by one incidence. He is also very proactive. For example when the world was just getting ready to deal with the pandemic, Jignesh had by the end January 2020, put together a team for initiating and sustaining ‘work from home’ which is going extremely well at Molecular Connections. ‘Work and Fun’ is Jignesh’s mantra and I know that he was solely responsible for initiating fun activities at MC. One can learn a lot from his innovative business strategies. Jignesh deserves all credit for whatever I have learnt from him one on one to deal with clients including written communication. His ability to get insight of the project though he does not have a science background is very impressive. In addition, he is one step ahead of the operation managers to understand the nuance of the project and this has helped me tremendously in delivering the required volume on time in several projects I had handled. I can never thank him enough for the trust he had in me to execute projects. We have had our disagreements but his encouragement is such that I have always shared my opinion and would also take decisions that were respected. He has been a great motivator and I have immensely enjoyed working with him all these years.
Krishna K
Vice President - Business Development & Marketing
(18 years), MBA in International Business – IIM Indore
It is not often that you find women, especially young women in leadership roles in the corporate world. Yet, here I am, all of 18 years, Heading the Sales and Marketing function of MC. While I started in the junior most position 16 years ago, my hard work, perseverance coupled with an encouraging / nurturing environment lead me to be one of the corporate executives of MC. Giving competent individuals significant opportunities to grow and empowering them with resources is the key to our growth. Performance is the criteria that differentiates people. Our dedication, perseverance, commitment and hard work are recognized and rewarded here. I have rose through the ranks in the company, joining in the admin department as a trainee and today leading the business development function in the company, globally for almost ~5 business verticals. Being responsible for global business development and sales, leading a highly motivated and talented team of individuals to generate revenue for the organization, not just in India but across geographies is indeed truly gratifying. At the forefront of the company, I today thoroughly enjoy bringing customer insights to the business shaping its future vision and strategy. Various business offerings have emerged from these customer insights generating significant revenue and resolving some unmet industry needs. At MC growth is non-negotiable. I personally have overseen the setting up of our sales and distribution channel in japan & MC’s conference and exhibition strategy, which is very critical for building visibility worldwide. Japan today though small is a growing part of our overall revenue. That is not all, MC is a fun place to work. Throughout my career at MC, I have headed MC’s fun committee, we organize various fun activities for our employees. I am a professional Kathak dancer, an avid runner and also teach at NGOs & worked close with Govt. of Karnataka as a “COVID Warrior” adding muscle to combat and contain the spread of life-threatening epidemic. I take part in most marathons, I am certified yoga trainer and trained Indian classical “Kathak” dancer. MC has encouraged and helped me to keep these passions alive & MC nurtures and celebrates both my professional and personal success alike. CEO, Jignesh Bhate is an inspirational leader who has been my coach and mentor; he has enabled me to transcend boundaries.” Jignesh Bhate, Founder & CEO of Molecular Connections has been a firm believer of woman empowerment in both his personal and professional life. When he started MC, he decided to make MC a pioneer when it comes to gender diversity. He broke all stereotypes decades ago when he hired two senior woman employees to be Business Unit Heads of his then, start up. He not only continued on this journey and hired many more woman employees across the board from Leadership positions to individual contributors, he also constantly coached and mentored them on Operations, P&L responsibility and client management. He pushed them constantly to achieve more than their assumed capacity. He spent quality time coaching them to build the business acumen while they were already experts in their technical / scientific domain. He believed in the philosophy of inclusion which got embedded in the culture of Molecular connections strongly. Today, hiring competent women employees, retaining them and their career advancement in the organization happens more naturally. He led from the front and continues to believe in an equitable environment bringing better business results. MC’s success story is a testimony to this fact as we grew from 20 employees in 2003 to about 3000+ employees now. He dedicates time for Mentoring / coaching of woman employees in Corporate Executive and Senior manager category”
One of our Senior Leaders, Krishnaveni says “CEO, Jignesh Bhate is an inspirational leader who has been my coach and mentor; he has enabled me to transcend boundaries.” He also retains a personal touch with employees across the organization in critical managerial positions. He has made inclusion and equitable environment a reality and integral part or DNA of Molecular Connections.
Dr. Jaya Nagaraja
Chief Scientific Advisor, PhD – Cancer Immunology, University of Bern, Switzerland. Post Doc from University of Rochester, New York & IGBMC, Strasbourg, France.
I joined MC 18 years ago with my rich research experience and domain expertise in Science, I knew very little about Business, SLAs, Client Management or People management. The unstinting support and guidance from Jignesh enabled me to become a successful leader that I am today. One of the Management Council members of MC, I have transitioned several projects, handle global customers and lead a large team today and credit goes to Jignesh for mentoring me. More than a boss, people find Jignesh to be a good friend /mentor and I am no different. Be it guiding me in areas such as being assertive, execution focus or the emotional balance a leader has to strike while managing people, Jignesh mentored me to gain these qualities. He not only believed in Gender and Generation diversity, he leads from front and successfully enabled his first and second line to imbibe this into MC. People talk about glass ceilings and women employees finding it challenging to grow up the career ladder. But, at MC, we have made this a myth; and the credit goes to Jignesh for hiring and enabling women across all levels of organisation and mentoring them to be successful leaders.
Shashikala G
Senior Director – Content Management
I joined MC when we were around 30 member team and today we are close to 2000+, with 70% work force being women, kudos to the visionary Mr. Jignesh Bhate. He is one of those rare leader’s who also naturally serves as an inspiring mentor to everyone in need. His leadership skills make it easy for him to manage the team despite the diverse professional background. He has the strong human side to his leadership supporting his team unconditionally to helping those facing workplace blues. He strongly believes in and has consciously created this family culture at MC where all voices are heard, regardless of the gender and experience, making every staff feel valued. It has been privilege to be associated with Jignesh, who is truly worthy of respect and admiration and a man full of energy and motivation. More than 50% of the senior management staffs are women - this is truly diversity and inclusion in action. Being a woman, I have been provided a level playing field, helping me realize my full potential and excel in my career. The friendly work environment, flexible work, short-term break in careers, remote working options help me and my women folks flourish at home and at work. There is great sense of family here along with professional growth and success. Feel immensely proud to be part of MC family.
Dr Arathi Raghunath
Senior Director – Content Management, at
Molecular Connections Pvt. Ltd.,
When I joined Molecular Connections in 2004, including me, there were ten members altogether. I remember feeling so inspired at the time to be led by two outstanding female scientists and to learn from them. Over the next 18 years, I grew and led as the team grew larger and larger with each passing year, and I groomed many people along the way. The "healthy tolerance" work culture of the organisation encourages individuals to perform to the best of their abilities, and the mutual care, respect, and support was shown to one another makes the organisation a commendable place to work. Furthermore, the policies in place for all employees are designed to ensure that each employee has a healthy work-life balance and that all possible barriers are addressed.
Lately, because of the Indian press's scrutiny, there has been widespread awareness of gender diversity over the years. Many Indian businesses are catching up and making deliberate efforts to increase gender diversity. This trend must pick up at an even more rampant pace so that more workplaces are created that encourage women to rise in the ranks and go on to form a strong community of globally recognised leaders.
Gurminder Kaur
A Talent Acquisition Specialist at
Molecular Connections Pvt. Ltd.,
After a 7-year hiatus, despite my lack of confidence in myself, I decided to return to work and told myself that it was time I did it for myself. I remember feeling so insecure and unsure that any company would even consider hiring me. I had given up at one point, but everything changed when I received a call from Molecular Connections Pvt. Ltd. I was ecstatic that this organisation believed in my abilities and welcomed me with open arms. So far, I've been working with Molecular Connections for 6 months, and it's been one of the smoothest transitions back into the corporate world.
Molecular Connections Pvt. Ltd., a Bengaluru-based data science and big data solutions company, has always prioritised gender diversity since its inception. In 2021, over 300 people were employed, with women accounting for 85 per cent of those employed. In 2020, prestigious groups “AVTAR & Working Mother, New York, named Molecular Connections as one of the 100 best companies in India for women to work.
Although the employment crisis in India predates COVID-19, the pandemic has further caused a decline, due to which it has become even more difficult for women in the country to find jobs. Also, due to the adverse effects of the pandemic, more women are dropping out of work and being let go as compared to men. Studies have found that many women drop out of their jobs in an increasing number when they are posed with tough decisions like marriage, family planning, and family. To prevent these harmful trends and set a meritocracy-driven culture within the organisation, at Molecular Connections, programmes such as the provision of flexible work hours, sabbaticals, unpaid time off to take care of ailing family members, and reduced work hours are all institutionalized to enable retention. Flexible ways of working are one of the most commonly followed practises at Molecular Connections, as this is highly effective in retaining female employees while they enjoy a balanced work life.
