Workplace diversity

By Shweta Seth

To understand what workforce diversity is, we should first learn the basic meaning of diversity. Diversity means understanding that each individual is unique and recognising their individual differences. These differences can be based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, etc.

Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organisation. That sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, and cognitive style. It means that every employee must feel included in the organisation irrespective of the differences.

So why it’s important to have diversity in workplaces:

1. Enhanced decision-making: Most of the time, decision-making power rests with top management only. When there is a participative style of management, voices of minorities are also heard, providing a new perspective. According to a McKinsey finding, the best-performing companies with gender diversity in management roles were 15% more likely to outperform the mean average. This probability more than doubles to 35% when considering racial and ethnic managerial diversity.

2. Better employee engagement: Once employees have a sense of belonging and security in the organisation, they feel heard and taken care of. This factor motivates them to engage in Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB), meaning they will be motivated to do things beyond what is expected from them, boosting the level of participation and engagement.

Top Companies in India for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion:

According to reports from Great Place to Work, which are experts in workplace culture, Capgemini Technology Services India Ltd. is the top company in India, comprising 174,491 team members working across 13 locations: Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Coimbatore, etc. The company has created a Great Place to Work for all its employees by excelling on the 5 dimensions of a High-Trust, High-Performance Culture – Credibility, Respect, Fairness, Pride, and Camaraderie.

In the second place is Tata Steel India Limited, including around 35,927 employees, with headquarters located in Jamshedpur. One of its great initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion was Tejaswini 2.0. Tejaswini is a first-of-its-kind initiative in Tata Steel aimed at empowering and providing growth opportunities to women working on the shop floor. The aim of this initiative was to train unskilled women to take up jobs driving heavy vehicles, operating mobile equipment, welding, gas-cutting, and others.

In conclusion, many organisations still do not give much preference to the subject of diversity. Today, people are more aware and knowledgeable about their rights. Hence, organisations, in a broader context, must identify the need for hiring more diverse individuals to maintain their work culture, improve employee retention rates, and enhance the knowledge of people and the decision-making process.