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gryphonspeak-blog · 10 years

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Warming up to D&I

Having grown up in a Defence background meant two things were a constant, one was change, and the other was to be surrounded by a diverse set of people. While I realised early on that the practice of moving every few years to a new city was unique to my upbringing, I never gave the diversity aspect much thought, assuming it to be true for everyone. But today, the more I work in the area of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), the more I realise that I was way off in my assessment. I was fortunate to have Diversity engrained as a way of life, but that is not the case for many individuals, making it somewhat a new challenge. This individual challenge often translates to an Organizational challenge when the workforce population comprises of folks that have had very limited exposure to diverse thoughts and perspectives.

The Indian Corporate too is relatively new to the challenge of managing diversity, and in turn inclusion. Given that many Indian companies today operate in a global space and serve a diverse set of customers, makes diversity a living, breathing reality. In the coming years, this complexity is expected to only get further compounded, hence Organizations that see themselves as future leaders need to get a grip on this very important topic at the earliest.

Let me share some interesting findings of a recent study conducted by Harold Andrew Patrick and Vincent Raj Kumar* that examined Managing Workplace Diversity for the Indian IT sector. The study concluded that most employees are positive that they can cope with diversity (diversity realists), while a few have understood, adjusted, and are enthusiastic to work and leverage positive workplace diversity (diversity optimists). It also found that the major barrier encountered by employees for accepting workplace diversity is discrimination, followed by prejudice and ethnocentrism. The study clearly emphasizes that Organizations should take measures to manage diversity to harness and leverage the potential of employees for competitive advantage.

Interestingly, the study also found significant statistical difference among various groups such as gender, age etc. in their preferred strategy to increase awareness about workplace diversity. This clearly indicates that Organizations ought to customize strategies to suit the target audience.

In the Indian context, the Corporate is already wary of the quota system seeping into the Private sector; hence one has to be careful in articulating what we mean by a diverse workforce. We need to bear in mind that Diversity is not limited to gender, but goes much beyond to include age, background, educational qualification and other such.

In conclusion, I believe that managing Diversity & Inclusion is something that the Indian Corporate needs to figure out, and soon. I also do not see this phenomenon as unique to India, which is good news as it allows us to learn from other geographies that are further ahead in this journey. I am sharing here what I see as key levers that will help propel the Corporate further in its drive.

Customised D&I programs that create the desired level of awareness, and provide a platform for employees to openly voice their concerns in coping with workplace diversity

Leadership buy-in so as to provide a reinforcement to the D&I strategy and initiatives, and to enmesh it with the Organizational culture

Recognizing and leveraging the diversity optimists as catalysts in speeding the journey

Designing an incremental plan which allows the Organisation to successfully internalise the change, thus making room for more

Starting with encouraging representation, without losing sight of the end goal of a diverse and inclusive work environment

*http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/2/2/2158244012444615

These being my views, I would love to hear what you have to say about D&I for the Indian Corporate. If you counter any of my views, feel free to voice it. If you would like me to elaborate on any particular aspect, do let me know.

#diversity #inclusion #d&i #indian corporate

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