Women’s Day - not just for a day, it’s every day

• Celebrating the balancing act of the exceptional women in Abans Group

As one week has passed since Women’s Day; over 50% of students who will be sitting for the Ordinary Level examinations in Sri Lanka are female, while over 50% of students who would get through the Advanced Level examinations and may get admitted to state universities are women. However, less than 5% of upper management positions are held by women. These statements raise important questions that require crucial answers.

What is happening to all the educated women entering the job market? Why is female representation in management positions very low, and decreasing? Why do women believe they have to choose either following a career or becoming a mother? Abans Group has a unique story of female entrepreneurship at its core. The fact that female representation in the upper management in its administration contributes to over 30% today, female involvement in the decision making and operation of the organisation is significant.

Here, each woman is considered unique and each story is inspirational. Every woman succeeding in her career has displayed exceptional performance and continues to show commitment, determination, endurance, perseverance and love. It is a well-known fact that Abans Group of companies is a leading conglomerate founded by a woman entrepreneur over 50 years ago. Through the years, while the Group has continued to grow and diversify into different sectors, the values of the business have remained unchanged. 

Aban Pestonjee – a home maker and mother of three – experienced the struggles of everyday life, especially from an age where technology was not widely available to make things easier. She was able to discover that home appliances could drastically reduce the work burden and thus, paved the path for a better way to life for home makers. In the 60s, as many business owners were men, she used this unique empathy she had for women to her advantage. In short, she was independently able to take a single store to the great heights of what it is today. 

Pestonjee – while being a business lady through and through – never faltered in her role as a home maker. “The business was a big part of my life but it was not the only part. Everything I did was for my family. The love I had for them drove me to do more. Later on, once all of them joined and helped me in driving the business, it made us closer and stronger as a family. Apart from this, I always encourage more women to join Abans and pursue a successful career with us. Women add great value to the organisation in various irreplaceable ways.”  

Abans Group Director Dr. Saroshi Dubash remarks that growing up with an entrepreneurial mother and with the responsibility of running a family-owned business, Saroshi always understood the importance of balancing the many roles she had in her life. Being the only girl with two brothers, she experienced at first-hand the difference of how a daughter is raised in comparison to how a son is and the dynamism of the parental role a working mother may play in comparison to a  working father.

“I had three daughters and, with a working mother, I had to learn – at a young age – the fine balance of the different roles. I was first and fore mostly a mother, and ensured that my main priority were the girls. Once they grew up and became independent, I completed my MBA and pursued my love for Philosophy by furthering my studies in the stream.”

Abans Group Chief Financial Officer Chandrika Perera, with an illustrious career spanning across 30 years, is no new face to leadership positions. “It’s important to have a positive mindset and a professional approach in whatever you do. In turn, you will be valued and respected. Women have inherent instincts and the resilience to deal with any situation. More than men, we excel at multi-tasking. I have always identified my goalpost in advance and strategized to achieve it by making others happy around me. One piece of advice in life is never to postpone anything you want to do during your journey, so that there won’t be any regrets when looking back. The family needs to support a mother and wife at a much greater manner to ensure the total burden does not lie solely on her, thus freeing her mind space to work productively. My two children are independent, confident adults, and a big part of it is due to them having a working mother and they have experienced first-hand how to balance their lives well,” stated Perera.

Abans Group Chief Human Resource Officer Dulani Nissanka stated, “The need of the hour is for businesses to evolve. It is a well-known fact that companies that have better gender balance outperform those that do not. There should be a sense of empathy for working mothers due to the demands they face when raising children. More progressive working cultures are emerging – flexi hours and working agile, to name a few. These offer women the flexibility to manage work while taking care of the priorities at home as well.” Nissanka had her share of hurdles as she was already a mother of a young son when she started her professional career. She always had the passion to improve work cultures to be more conducive for women and this saw through to her entering Human Resources and thriving in the profession.

Abans Group Chief Commercial Officer Maheshi Anandasiri specialises in business operations that sees her having to work with stakeholders across the business. “There was a time I had to choose between work and home, and I took a year off when I had my son. When I came back to work, I struggled with the guilt and the easier route would have been to give up. However, I had a strong family backing to pursue a career and I also pushed myself to place value in who I am beyond the role of a wife and mom.”

“Even today, I am firstly a mother to my son and daughter, and that remains my number one priority; but I have learned that it is really quality over quantity, and that the hours I put in won’t define if I am a good mom. I see a lot of talented young women letting go of their careers due to family commitments, which is unfortunate. There is a period when children are small and it becomes very challenging, but there is no single recipe that works for everyone. You need to find your own balance, which requires constant adjustments, compromise and sacrifices,” she expressed. 

“It is never easy, and no woman has to be alone in that struggle. I had a great support network at home, and also my close group of friends who helped me stay grounded and keep my balance. The key is really to be 100% in the moment. When I work, I give it my all and when I return home to my family, I am fully present. You can educate a girl-child and she can achieve the best results, enter the best company, but she will not achieve her full potential if she has no support. As a community we must create a more enabling space for women to achieve their full potential, and as women, we should take the lead in that space to make that shift in our families, schools, companies and society as a whole,” Anandasiri concluded.

These shared stories are merely a few from the many exceptional women providing strength and direction to Abans Group. Celebration of women should not be simply for one day; it should cater to a much longer period of time. In the true celebration of womanhood, it is about understanding and celebrating her uniqueness, empathising with her struggles, and helping her overcome them. It is in the understanding that there is no perfection in the world, but what’s perfect is unique to each person’s perspective. At Abans Group, we make the celebration of women not secluded to one day but for every single day.