Indian Companies Make ‘Remarkable Transformation’ with I&D

Workplace diversity is a relatively recent concept in India, but some organizations are forging ahead with programs to bring in a wide mix of employees and provide them with an inclusive work environment.

“In the past decade, India’s corporate landscape has witnessed a remarkable transformation in the way inclusion and diversity (I&D) is approached — evolving from check-the-box initiatives to building deeply inclusive, purpose-driven cultures,” said Achal Khanna, CEO of SHRM East. She said companies are not only seeking to get more women in their employee mix but are also fostering inclusion for people with disabilities and various sexual orientations.

“The benefits are huge,” said Tina Vinod, founder of Diversity Simplified, a consultancy based in Bengaluru. Vinod referred to studies showing that diverse companies are able to tap into new markets and perform better.

In a study of 1,265 companies in 23 countries, McKinsey & Company found that companies with diverse leadership teams were associated with higher financial returns. “Companies with representation of women exceeding 30 percent … are significantly more likely to financially outperform those with 30 percent or fewer,” according to the 2023 study.

HR executives say that having a diverse workplace also makes sense from a consumer and market perspective, as consumers are also diverse. 

“We focus on getting the right person for the role … rather than a gender who can do the job,” said Megha Goel, CHRO at Godrej Properties, a real estate developer in Mumbai.

For now, women make up a small part of the workforce in India, partly because culturally, they are primarily seen as caregivers. Only 42% of girls and women ages 15 and older are participating in the labor force, according to Indian government data. A small fraction get formal jobs, and even fewer move up the ranks. Less than 13% of women in India hold senior and middle management positions, compared to a global average of 35%, according to the International Labour Organization.  

However, some companies are trying to change this.  

Women now make up 20% of the senior leadership team at UTI Mutual Fund, a money management company headquartered in Mumbai, up from less than 5% a decade ago, said Bhavna Tiwari, executive vice president and head of human resources. “Diversity came into focus in the last few years, and since then, we’re committed to creating an inclusive environment,” Tiwari said.

She said that on all critical projects, the company tries to have equal representation from both men and women. “This is a conscious decision that our top management takes because they know that women are able to balance things out very well,” Tiwari said.  

More broadly, she said UTI Mutual Fund is conscious about being nondiscriminatory in  its hiring. Years ago, when it was a government-owned company, Tiwari said it used to ask new employees about their religion, but now it has stopped asking for that information. “We just need good skill sets to form part of our team,” she explained.

India’s Lens on Diversity

Though U.S. and other multinational companies have historically led the diversity conversation in India, when it comes to making policies for local units, experts say diversity needs to be looked at from an India lens.  

“Our context is different, our culture is different,” Vinod explained.

For instance, women in India culturally are expected to take care of children or ailing parents, which means many of them drop out of the workforce at such times.

To address this issue, some companies have made policies to bring women back after career breaks. Indian conglomerate Godrej Industries Group, automaker Mahindra Group, software services company Tata Consultancy Services, and payments firm Razorpay are among those who offer women skilling, mentoring, and other support to get them back to work.  

One benefit of doing this is better retention.  

“Women returnees were often more likely to stay on in the company,” according to a “returnship” report by the Centre for Economic Data and Analysis at Ashoka University and Godrej DEI Lab.

Another cultural nuance is that historically, women in India have not worked in factories.  

However, lately a handful of manufacturing companies, especially automakers such as Kinetic Green, have launched all-women assembly lines. Some of them are providing support for women workers and even their parents to live near the factory premises.  

Even the Indian government has launched a policy to provide equal job opportunities to transgender people.

“Uniquely, several government enterprises have also taken the lead by implementing formal policies for transgender employees, placing India at the forefront of global I&D efforts,” said Khanna of SHRM East. 

While gender diversity is the be-all of diversity for many organizations, some companies are going beyond that.

For example, Godrej Properties has connected with specialized recruiters who work with disabled people, or with people from the LGBTQ+ community, and provide internship opportunities that can lead to jobs, Goel said. Her goal is to expand the sourcing mix of talent for the organization. “How do you ensure that you’re at least putting them in the pipeline?” she asked.  

Once diverse employees come in, a lot of work is done to create an inclusive environment for them, including sensitizing leaders and hiring managers, and also offering workplace benefits suitable to their needs.

Shefali Anand is a New Delhi-based journalist and former correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.