Diversity and Inclusion Practices in the Indian Workplace
Written by Aditya Pillutla.
As early as 2010, Schneider-Ross's research study highlighted how companies across India and China were investing in Diversity and Inclusion (DnI) practices to make for a healthier and diverse talent pool.
One observation from the study was that the disparate and disproportionate differences in wealth and regional differences in India meant that companies could focus on CSR projects that promote an inclusive society. But this came at the cost of the limited attention given to leadership and organizational issues.
One change that seems to be consistently applied across organizations is making top leaders accountable for the DnI practices across the organization. Deloitte USI practice has constituted committees with managerial-level employees that oversee Deloitte's efforts.
India still has a long way to go to ensure true diversity and inclusion in organizations. But MNCs seem to be pioneering the efforts in that direction. Our discussions with middle-level managers confirmed one thing – for many global organizations, what their website says are their DnI objectives match closely with the ground-level implementation of DnI practices. It is reasonable to assume that the second decade will make this trend go viral across most of the organized sector.
McKenzie's 2017 study pointed out that gender-diverse companies are 15% more likely to outperform while ethnically-diverse companies are 35% more likely to outperform their competitors.
Several startups are leading the race when it comes to gender and ethnic diversity. The common reasoning is that diversity fosters creativity and innovation. Companies are willing to offer benefits such as insurance and increase paid leaves to retain talent. Zomato stepped up the efforts by offering 26 weeks of paid leave for both men and women. It is not just the startups that are offering benefits to further DnI. MNCs and conglomerates are making an active effort to do it too.
Infosys had early on identified the importance of diversity in the face of growing global cooperation and talent exchange. The senior leadership was convinced that diversity programs that start with – and are implemented by – the senior leadership is paramount in ensuring an inclusive workplace. They instituted policies where business units are assessed by their performance on the DnI measures undertaken. An annual inclusion survey is also conducted to take feedback on the programs that Infosys organizes.
Several companies are doing a lot. Tata Group has enforced positive discrimination, where they choose candidates from the minorities when the candidates have similar skills. The software consultancy organization, ThoughtWorks has an 'Interning With Pride' programme where they train LGBTQ interns on technical elements. Many interns have become full-time employees afterwards, too. Accenture has allowed their LGBTQ+ employees to answer questions from their allies on a virtual platform. There are examples of Sodexo and Lalit Hospital Group running sensitization campaigns.
When it comes to gender inclusivity, one of the reasons that prevent women furthering is the idea that implementing 'women-friendly' policies can seem anti-meritocratic. Organizational policies and objectives are geared towards hiring the best talent, and according to many, if that means that more men have to be hired, then the companies' hands are tied. One reason
this disparity continues to propagate is the differences in the numbers of each sex that receive an education. Women are outnumbered when it comes to education from premier institutions such as IITs and IIMs.
One of the ditches that women run into is the general attitude that employees working late are better performers. This disadvantages their careers. Taking maternity leaves and coming back also puts women in the spotlight, requiring them to work twice as hard as their male peers to ascend the corporate ladder.
Corporate India is making several positive strides to make sure women, ethnically-diverse minorities, and lower-case and underprivileged people can get the same advantages that other employees get.
The pre-pandemic statistics present a heap of opportunity for India. The reservations, even with their shortcomings, have created a more inclusive backdrop for minorities to excel. As literacy grows, so does an awareness of career improvement. More minority-people are making an effort to break from the socio-cultural barriers to carve a better life for themselves.
The problem, however, lies with the unorganized sector. According to the Economic Survey (2018-19), about 93 percent of India's workforce is in the unorganized sector. The COVID-19 pandemic made it worse for them. This sector is not extensively concerned with furthering gender equality, pay parity, or LGBTQ+ inclusivity.
India has policies that require companies to provide maternity leave of 26 weeks. The Supreme Court of India has almost banned bonded labour. It had also granted recognition for transgender people and categorized them under "Other Backward Castes" (OBCs). But subversive practices ensure that those policies are not truly implemented in the workplace.
The fact that employees in the unorganized sector don't have any legal protections means that they can't seek enforcement of policies that implement diversity and inclusion. Even though the customer base for both organized and unorganized sectors involved diverse genders and sexes, the workforce, especially in the unorganized sector, doesn't seem to mirror that.
The percentage of women in the workforce – particularly in the unorganized sector – has fallen drastically. The impact of COVID-19 has been worse on women than it has been on men. Even before the pandemic, twice as women would lose jobs as men in the unorganized sector. Since most of that sector is self-employment and micro-industries, it is hard to keep track of diversity measures for the simple reason that it is costly.
People in the unorganized sector can't afford to spend a lot of money from their cash-crunched business for intangible benefits without a fixed manifestation deadline. It's not easy to blame them either. Several statistics, the one by The Hindu, for example, shows that many people in the unorganized sector are lagging far behind the salaried professionals. This disparity just means that those organizations will hire those that they think will produce the best results. It is just coincidental that men happen to be the majority workforce and educated from top schools.
Conclusion
From the first decade of the 21st century, India has made significant progress in DnI practices. With the change in the tone of the country's laws, more companies can implement
DnI policies. While the outlook is positive, there's definitely more to be done, particularly in the unorganized sector.
