This document discusses the importance and benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. It contains perspectives from several HR executives and companies. The main points are: 1) Companies now see diversity and inclusion as integral to their business strategies and driving innovation, not just separate initiatives. A diverse workforce brings different experiences and perspectives that fuel innovation. 2) HR executives from Serco and Coca-Cola say diversity enables unique approaches and complementary strengths as people have different values and insights. 3) Companies have realized hiring people with disabilities can utilize an untapped talent pool and improve retention. Siemens supports developing skills of disabled employees. 4) Workforce diversity gives companies a competitive advantage over those that

1. Anasua Chakraborty
I anasua.chakraborty@hindustantimes.com
For global as well as Indian
companies, the mantra for a
diverse workforce is rapidly
evolving. Companies no longer
view diversity and inclusion
efforts as separate from their
other business practices. More
and more senior executives are
realising that a diverse set of
experiences and perspectives
fuel innovation within an
organisation.
CATALYST FOR
INNOVATION
Today, diversity and inclusion
efforts are de rigueur for almost
all companies. A diverse and
inclusiveworkforceisnecessary
to drive innovation, foster crea-
tivity, and even drive business
strategies.
Talking about the relation-
shipbetweendiversityandinno-
vation, Manuel D’Souza, direc-
tor, HR, Serco Global Services,
explains, “A diverse workforce
enables unique approaches
to the same business, as each
employee has his/her own set
of values and insights.”
Sameer Wadhawan, vice
president – HR and services,
Coca-Cola India and south west
Asia, echoes similar sentiments
on the issue, adding,“For us,
diversity is like the whole Yin
and Yang theory where opposite
or contrary forces become inter-
connected and interdependent
and start complementing each
other’s strengths and qualities”.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Hiring people with disabilities
can positively impact a busi-
ness. This untapped labour
pool can offer a source of skilled
employees and can contribute
to better retention. “We believe
in backing differently-abled
employees and supporting them
to sharpen their skills. We moti-
vate them to perform to their
fullest potential by ensuring
equalopportunitiesforpersonal
development and professional
growth,” says Ramesh Shankar,
executivevicepresident,human
resources, Siemens Limited.
Employers have realised
that a diverse workforce helps
businesses succeed by offering
different perspectives on how
to deal with issues, accomplish
tasks and implement strategies.
By diversifying workforces, ‘dis-
advantaged’ individuals also get
their much-needed ‘break’ to
earn a living and achieve their
dreams. Says D’Souza, “We
accommodate reasonable work-
placeadjustmentstoensurethat
employees with disability have
optimised training and develop-
ment options.”
BUSINESS SENSE
Diversityattheworkplacebrings
scores of business benefits.
Productivity increases expo-
nentially, strengthening long
term ‘value drivers’ that gives
a competitive edge to business.
Wadhawan says, “A diverse
and inclusive workforce helps
ensure that an organisation’s
products and services are
respectful of their client’s cul-
tures. Multiple voices, experi-
ences and insights can help
generate new ideas to power
business strategies.”
Shankarsharessimilarviews
ontheissue,“Thereisdefinitelya
correlationbetweendiversitypol-
icyof thecompanyandbusiness.
Diversity,if leveragedeffectively,
promotes collaboration within
theorganisationandwithallour
external stakeholders.”
It is clear that companies that
diversify their workforces will
have a distinct competitive
advantage over those that don’t.
Further, one realises that the
greatest benefits of workforce
diversity will be experienced,
not by the companies that have
learned to employ people in
spite of their differences, but by
thecompaniesthathavelearned
to employ people because of
them.
14 | shinejobs | HINDUSTAN TIMES, NEW DELHI
TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014
‘Corporate India is not ready
for gay employees as yet’
NO GOING BACK The SC ruling on Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalises
‘unnatural sex’ may have come as a setback for the LGBT community in the country. However,
many, like Vinodh Philip, continue to fight for their rights and make a difference
Harini Sriram
I harini.sriram@hindustantimes.com
Vinodh Philip says he leads a
double life. Being gay, a part
of the oppressed minority, he
straddlestwoworlds–onewhere
he is at ease with himself, and
the other where he is forced to
underplay his flamboyance, at
times.“TheonlytimeIcanreally
be myself is when I am with
my gay friends or, say, at a gay
pride,” says the 38-year-old com-
munications specialist, “When
I am at work, or anywhere else,
for that matter, I have to behave
differently. In a professional
environment, one has to abide
by certain codes of conduct. In
a sense, everyone leads multiple
lives but it is more pronounced
in the cases of the LGBT com-
munity and women.”
Philip emerged from the clos-
et “into bright sunshine and a
rainbow of promises” around 13
years ago, out of sheer necessity.
“I was confused about whether
I wanted to marry this girl. I
thought about it and decided I
did not want to ruin both our
lives. I told her that I discovered
myself, so to speak, and she was
very understanding. Since then,
I have been very comfortable
with who I am,” he says. His
family has never really con-
fronted the situation, he says.
“Myfamilyhasadon’t-ask-don’t-
tellpolicy,”headdswithalaugh.
“My mother had been pressuris-
ing me to get married for quite
some time. Of course, now, she
doesn’t. I do not think they have
a problem with it, and I am quite
sure they know who I am.”
In his professional life, Philip
has not really faced much dis-
crimination. “But yes, there
are subtle jibes and remarks,
always from men,” he says. “I
have noticed that men have a
herd mentality. So when a group
of them get together, they tend
to bully the minority. I have
experienced this in the work-
place sometimes. For instance,
they would make fun of the fact
that I’m 38 years old and unmar-
ried, and pass nasty comments.
They’d never dare do it when
theyarealone;italwayshappens
whentheyareinagroup.”Philip
believes that this stems from the
fact that most men are insecure
about their own sexuality. “In
our prepubescent stages, there
is a level of self-exploration that
happens. Some men may have
had similar experiences when
they were younger, but thanks
tosocialandreligiouscondition-
ing, and the stigma associated
with being gay, they might never
muster up the courage to come
out.Thereisalackof awareness
among people,” he says.
Philip is of the strong opin-
ion that corporate India is not
ready to embrace the LGBT
community just yet. “Most
large organisations try to be
politically correct in terms of
their diversity policy. However,
they are far from inclusive.
This is mainly because of the
mindsets of the employees. Not
all your colleagues will under-
stand and accept you,” he says.
Philip works in a multi-national
company that takes pride in its
diverse employee base. “My pre-
vious organisation was much
smaller and the employees had
little or no exposure. So life was
perhapsalittlebitharderthere,”
he says. None of his employers
have openly asked Philip if he
is gay. “But a smart employer or
colleague can guess it through
my body language. We call it the
gaydar,” he says.
Philip has been working on
creating a support group for
the LGBT community in his
workplace. He is, however, upset
about the recent Supreme Court
verdict banning homosexuality.
“The ruling has set the clock
back by so many years and
stalled the efforts of progressive
organisations,” observes Philip,
“Infact,alotof MNCshadLGBT
support groups even prior to the
2009 Delhi High Court verdict
decriminalising homosexuality.
Now, I feel that even companies
are confused about how to han-
dle the situation, although they
seem to maintain the status quo.
Indian companies, on the other
hand, have a long way to go.”
Despite these shortcomings,
Philip is a happy man. “I have
the freedom to be myself here,
and I have always let my work
speak for me,” he concludes.
I Indian companies have a long way to go to make their workplaces inclusive HT PHOTO
›ORGANISATIONS TRY TO
BE POLITICALLY CORRECT,
IN TERMS OF THEIR DIVERSITY
POLICY. HOWEVER, THEY CANNOT
BE INCLUSIVE UNLESS ATTITUDES
OF EMPLOYEES CHANGE
VINODH PHILIP, communications specialist
Inclusivity fuels innovation
›WE MOTIVATE DIFFERENTLY-ABLED EMPLOYEES
TO PERFORM TO THEIR FULLEST POTENTIAL BY
ENSURING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH
RAMESH SHANKAR, , executive vp, hr, siemens limited
Shailja Shah Purohit
I shailja.purohit@hindustantimes.com
Employees appear to have a
positive outlook on being a
part of a diverse workforce,
the Shine Survey on diversity
reveals. There is some sense of
discrimination being felt, but
there is no clear or one specific
reason behind this.
The survey that covers
almost1500employeesfindsthat
amongstcandidates,almost45%
are aware that their company
hasadiversitypolicy,thoughthe
fence-sitters, who are not aware
whether their organisation has
a diversity policy or not, consti-
tuteaboutonefourth.Obviously
the message on diversity is not
an important agenda on the HR
policy of these companies.
Of those who are aware of
their organisation’s diversity
policy, more than 75% believe
it helps give the workplace a bet-
ter work environment or leads
to better productivity. Only 5%
think that diversity policies are
leading to lesser talented people
coming in.
On how diversity gets imple-
mented in the organisation,
more than half see this in terms
of different cultural/religious
events getting celebrated in the
office. Little less than half view
measures for women’s safety
as a means of promoting diver-
sity. About a third actually say
that the organisation provides
career development training
programmes or mentoring, tar-
geted towards diverse groups,
and another third say they are
allowed to observe holidays as
per their religion or culture.
Of the total candidates sur-
veyed,onefourthreporttofeeling
discriminated against at some
point in their career. There are a
widerangeof reasonsforthisdis-
crimination, though gender and
region feature on top of the list.
Almost one third feel they
have been passed over for a job
opportunitywithintheirpresent
organisation, or when applying
outside the organisation, for
reasons other than professional.
Hereagainthereasonsarenumer-
ous, with gender and age being
amongst the more quoted ones.
Only 50% of candidates
surveyed believe their boss is
always or mostly fair towards
all members of the team, irre-
spectiveof gender/age/physical
appearance/religion/ region/
caste/LGBT/nationality, etc.
Morethanhalf the numberof
candidates view a diverse team
as having a positive impact on
the team’s performance and
overall business growth, while
only 10% actually view it as hav-
ing a negative impact.
The employee perspective on diversity
I Having a diverse team positively impacts performance THINKSTOCK
hrtweets
If you encourage – people to bring
more of themselves - they contrib-
ute more to the group
@Hema Ravichandar, HR Strategic
Advisor
Gender diversity is low hanging
fruit. There is a lot more that
needs to be done for diversity.
@R Sukumar, Livemint, @mint_ed
Corporates are only microcosmic
reflections of macrocosm economy
@Adil Malia, Essar Group
Gender diversity is our focus. It is
better to take up one agenda and
do it well, says Krishna Kumar,
Philips India
It’s not just compliance - but corpo-
rates require diversity to grow
numbers and reflect the customer
base
@Pratyush Krumar, Boeing India
THINKSTOCK
DIVERSITY IS KEY FOR ANY BUSINESS