Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) are about creating workplaces where everyone feels valued, respected, and included. DEIB is about ensuring that everyone benefits from the same opportunities and experiences.

There is no doubt that D&I is essential. However, it has become a buzzword that has been used too often without understanding its meaning. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (also known as DEIB) is becoming increasingly important and integral to the long-term success and growth of a company. These initiatives aim to promote and support diversity in all forms, such as race, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, and ability, and work to address and eliminate any forms of discrimination and bias for an equitable workplace.

• Diversity: This refers to demographics, including gender, age, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, location, nationality, disability status, and more. The wider the range of these demographics, the more diverse your organization is. However, having a diverse team is not enough. Creating a workplace environment that supports and nurtures diverse employees is what matters.
• Equity: An equitable organization means that every employee receives equal opportunities, is treated fairly, and has the resources they need to succeed in their job, regardless of their background.
• Inclusion: An inclusive environment means that all employees are treated with respect and care, despite any differences, and made to feel welcome, valued, and heard. A report by Gartner found that inclusive teams perform up to 30% better than non- inclusive teams.
• Belonging: All employees should feel accepted, valued, and heard at work. Belonging is about fostering psychological safety in team situations, where every team member is comfortable expressing themselves without fear of judgment or retribution. Regardless of how long an employee has been in the company or team, they should feel welcome and needed and receive the same comradery and opportunities as anyone else.

Practices- The Significance

A more diverse and inclusive workforce with DEI core values leads to better decision-making, increased innovation, and improved employee engagement and retention along with a better employee experience. Additionally, actionable DEI practices can help organizations attract and retain top talent from underrepresented candidates and can also improve their reputation and public image by developing a culture of inclusion.

According to a study by McKinsey & Company, companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.

One significant aspect of DEI initiatives is the promotion of commitment to diversity as core company values. This can lead to a more innovative and productive talent pool, as well as a better understanding and connection to the diverse communities that a company serves. A diverse workforce can also contribute to a more positive and inclusive company culture.

Diversity initiatives also aim to address and eliminate systemic discrimination and bias. This can include creating policies and procedures to address discrimination and bias in the workplace, as well as providing training and education to employees on how to identify and address these issues.

Additionally, DEI initiatives often focus on creating an inclusive environment for underrepresented groups, like people of colour (especially black employees), women and members of the LGBTQ community. This can include providing resources and network support for these groups, as well as making sure that their voices are heard, and their perspectives are taken into account in decision-making.

Overall, DEI initiatives are important for creating a more just and equitable society, promoting diversity and inclusion in the workforce, and addressing and eliminating discrimination and bias.

There are many different types of DEI initiatives that organizations can implement to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Some common diversity efforts include:

Inclusion and Diversity Trainings

Training programs and educational events that educate the employee base about unconscious bias, microaggressions, and other forms of discrimination can help to create a more inclusive culture in the workplace. These programs can include workshops, seminars, mandatory diversity training, and online modules that cover a variety of topics, such as cultural competency, allyship, and creating an inclusive work environment.

Employee Resource Group (ERGs)

ERGs are groups of employees who come together to support one another and to promote diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace. Employee Resource Groups are important DEI tools that can be organized around specific identities or experiences, such as race, gender, or sexual orientation, and can provide a sense of community and support for the employee base who may feel marginalized in the workplace. ERGs or affinity groups can be dedicated to, parents, LGBTQ, black women, people with disabilities, Hispanic workers and many more groups.

Recruitment and Hiring Practices

Organizations can promote diversity and implement inclusion initiatives by implementing fair and equitable recruitment and hiring practices. This can include developing inclusive job descriptions and advertising with a focus on equity, actively recruiting from underrepresented candidates to ensure adequate representation of women and minority employees. In addition, human resources can collaborate with diversity managers in implementing blind resume review processes to reduce bias in the hiring process.

Policy Changes

Organizations can promote diversity and inclusion by changing their policies and procedures. This can include implementing action against discrimination and anti-harassment policies, creating family-friendly policies, and providing accommodations for employees with disabilities. In return, these changes will surely have a positive impact on diversity standards that the organization is aiming for.

Employee Engagement and Retention

Diversity commitment comes in different ways. Organizations can promote diversity and inclusion by creating an environment where employees feel valued and respected. This can include providing opportunities for professional development, implementing employee training, creating an inclusive work environment, running employee recognition programs, and providing opportunities for employees to give feedback and have their voices heard.

Encouraging employee engagement and feedback is essential for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Employees should be encouraged to share their perspectives and experiences, and their feedback should be taken into consideration when making decisions related to DEI. When employee engagement is high, it directly affects employee retention.

Hold Leadership Accountable

DEI initiatives are most effective when they are led and supported by top management. In that case, having a Chief Diversity Officer in your organization can make a difference. Therefore, it is important to hold leadership accountable for creating and promoting a workplace culture

of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This can be achieved by setting clear expectations, providing regular progress reports, and creating DEI-specific leadership development programs.

It's important to note that DEI initiatives should be an ongoing action plan and not a one-time project; it's important to regularly assess the effectiveness of the initiatives and make adjustments as needed. Moreover, it's important to have company leaders and management buy-in and support for DEI initiatives, as it creates a culture of accountability and ownership throughout the organization.

LGBTQ - Overview

LGBTQ is an acronym that stands for "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (or "questioning"). It's for people who aren't heterosexual. It's also for people who don't identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Let's go through each letter to learn about those in the LGBTQ community.

Lesbian

"L" is for "lesbian." A lesbian is a woman who is attracted to other women. Some of these women may prefer to identify as "gay," or as "gay women."

Gay

"G" is for "gay." A person who is gay is attracted to people of the same sex. The word "gay" can be used for men and women.

Bisexual

"B" is for "bisexual" (or "bi"). These people can feel attracted to both men and women. The type of people they're attracted to may change over time.

Transgender

"T" is for "transgender." These are people who feel the sex they were assigned at birth doesn't match the gender they feel they truly are inside.

Queer or Questioning

"Q" is for "queer" or "questioning." This is a broad label for sexual and gender minorities. A person who identifies as "queer" or "questioning" may also belong to one of the other groups. Or, they may feel like none of the other groups are a perfect fit.

LGBTQ & ERGs in the Workplace – Is it Necessary?

If a company wants to establish the finest workplace culture and community, it must ensure that every employee feels respected, supported, and empowered by the company. A poll conducted by the Human Rights Campaign revealed that 46% of employees belonging to LGBTQ communities chose to remain closeted at work. The major reason stated for this finding was that LGBTQ employees don't believe that they will get support and help when they report offensive remarks, actions, or other forms of bigotry and aggressive conversations to senior leadership. In short, there are questions regarding the possibilities of LGBTQ Equality.

The execution of LGBTQ support may vary from company to company, but the primary goal behind the cause is that all employees are encouraged, empowered, and treated fairly as important members of the workplace and community, in spite of their sexual orientation and gender identity or gender expression.

Companies must establish themselves as a safe space for their employees. To ensure the attainment of this particular objective, Employee Resource Groups are established by employees to develop and promote a culture of inclusion, diversity, and equality of development opportunities and outcomes that are not affected by sexual or gender orientation or identity.

DEIB Practices in Selected Indian Companies

The number of Indian companies like, WIPRO, TCS, Vodafone, Flipkart Group (Flipkart Internet Private Limited, Clear trip, Flipkart Health), Infosys Limited, Max Life Insurance Company Limited etc. are now practicing DEIB activities. There are five companies have considered for the present study, such as WIPRO, TCS, INFOSYS, TATA and HUL.

• Women Inclusion

The Women of Wipro (WoW) program is a strategic enabler that promotes equal opportunity and gender equality within Wipro. Over the years, WoW initiatives have helped nurture a culture to support the career ambitions of women executives, and facilitate greater business participation by women leaders at different levels within the organization. Their WoW program includes initiatives that support the women employees at every stage of their careers to ensure that they can build successful and thriving careers. Over the years they have scaled up the program by implementing policies, processes, initiatives, career building conversations, comprehensive leadership programs, mentorship and sponsorship programs which provide women employees with the resources and guidance they need to thrive in their roles. Last year the company signed up for UN Global Compact’s Gender Equality Action – equal pay for work of equal value by 2030.

• The company host monthly and quarterly discussions where women leaders share their perspectives with CEO and Executive Board, fostering open conversations.
• The WoW Mom program supports, enables, and engages with women employees proceeding for or, returning from maternity leave. Last year, the company launched e- learning modules on managing maternity at the workplace – one for women employees and another for managers, these modules provide step-by-step guidance from the time the news is shared, the maternity leave period, the transition back to work, and beyond.
• Her Code Lab 45 and DEI initiative- Lab45 is a visionary space developing ground- breaking solutions to foster and accelerate ideation throughout Wipro. At Lab45, teams of engineers, research analysts, and scientists come together to infuse creative ways of incubating solutions for customers that will transform the future. In its third edition now, empowers women in technology, providing networking, education, and tools to advance their careers. Their flagship programs on Women Leadership such as Your Career Your Choice, Your Path Your Progress and She Leads help women stay competitive and tackle workplace challenges.
• Inspirational journeys covering the professional and personal experiences of the women of Wipro across roles have been showcased through our Her Story series. Besides this, the SHE CAN series run in one of our business units aims at celebrating the diverse experiences and accomplishments of our women employees.
• Besides the organizational level programs various programs are run across the business units like the Up Thrive which is a sponsorship program for high potential and emerging women leaders in the mid-management level. There are also mentoring programs across the different business units (Inner Circle, Limitless and Circle Talks) which cater to different levels of women in the organization and enable enhancement of leadership competencies through various interventions as a part of the journey.
• Conversation-based series for Women in Tech spotlight senior women leaders in technology, including clients and holds conversations around role that women play in technology and how to break the bias, alleviating like-minded employees to carve their path out to senior positions in technology. Additionally, the company host conversations focusing on industry insights and best practices for the women.
• The month-long focused efforts for International Women’s Day 2024 were on the theme ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’ and included the Women in AI and Women in Tech campaigns, where the company showcased their commitment towards building responsible and inclusive AI frameworks and a strong women leadership team. There were multiple conversations on Invest In Women through panel discussion, podcast series, etc. There were also educational, social and informational events held to celebrate Women’s History Month.
• Accelerating Progress on Pay Equity: Our vision for gender equity is more than representation of women in leadership roles. Our effort is to create a robust environment of support for women employees at different life stages including fair and equal remuneration, regardless of gender.
  • Mapping our annual salary increases against the latest compensation trends to analyze how our pay matches up for different groups of employees.
  • Incorporating new acquisitions into our pay review cycles based on the harmonization process.
  • Reviewing quarterly promotion nominations for adequate representation of diverse talent.
  • Ensuring fairness in promotion linked compensation structures based on factors like job responsibilities, experience, and performance.
  • Ensuring that employees being promoted are, at the minimum, brought within a predetermined percentile range for the band for all geographies.
  • Training managers and decision makers to recognize and address unconscious bias that may affect promotion, compensation and hiring decisions.

Disability Inclusion

At Wipro, they are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible workplace for all colleagues, including those with disabilities, chronic medical conditions, and primary caregivers to dependants with disabilities. They align their efforts with the CREATE framework (Career, Recruit, Engage, Accessibility, Train, and Enable) to implement initiatives such as hiring, redeployment, engagement through accessibility improvements.

Disability awareness sessions are conducted to help everyone understand the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities and how to create a more inclusive workplace. Our Disability Inclusion Handbook provides details on inclusive practices to empower our employees. Leadership Connects and conversations with senior leaders are held for the community members. The Disability Alliance Network (DAN) brings together Wiproites with disabilities across intersectionalities, caregivers and allies. Cultivating a safe space for conversations, sharing and resources related to disability, neurodiversity and accessibility to contribute to holistic inclusion.

Throughout the year, the company commemorated significant observances such as World Braille Day, Autism Awareness Month, Global Accessibility Awareness Day, International Day of Sign Languages, and International Day of Persons with Disabilities among others.

LGBTQ Inclusion

Wipro’s commitment to LGBTQ inclusion is more than just policies and programs—it’s about creating a space where everyone can be their authentic selves, contributing to a world that thrives on diversity. They have made significant strides this year in promoting inclusivity and respect within the workplace. This commitment is evident through the incorporation of pronouns in various communication channels, such as email signatures, Microsoft 365, and the internal engagement platform. This initiative ensures that every individual is addressed with the utmost respect, acknowledging and embracing their unique identity.

Furthermore, the expansion of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) across different regions, including the launch of new ERGs in India and Europe, has fostered a supportive network that encourages DEI. These ERGs have been instrumental in creating a sense of community and solidarity among employees.

Over the last twelve months, the company has implemented educational initiatives to nurture an inclusive mindset among employees including an e-learning module ‘Championing LGBTQ Inclusion in the Workplace’ to empower individuals to become advocates for change.

Additionally, they have enhanced our existing policy on the prevention of LGBTQ discrimination, to uphold the rights and dignity of all employees. Public commitments, such as the Wipro DEI Council's joint statement on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) 2023 and the organisation’s support for the Business Coalition for the US Equality Act, underscore our unwavering advocacy for legal protections and equality for the LGBTQ community.

Embracing Multi-Generational Inclusivity

They embrace a multi-generational approach and ensure that our policies and practices cater to all generations in the workplace. Our tools and programmes enable employees across generations to balance their work lives and personal commitments, while giving them development opportunities at each life stage. The encourage cross-generational collaboration and knowledge sharing through an engagement framework that includes mentoring, reverse mentoring and peer learning programs and 360-degree feedback. They are constantly working towards shaping a workplace culture that engages and values every generation and provides employees an opportunity to exchange skills, insights, and perspectives. Some initiatives are highlighted below:

• Fireside chats and panel discussions are held to explore the significance of generational diversity and dispel myths.
• Wipro People Manager Program supports in enabling leadership transition for first-time as well as seasoned managers.
• Global 100 program recruits management graduates from top global business schools to ready them into future leaders, over a 15-month program.
• MBA talent development program provides pragmatic learning opportunities to management graduates from premier business schools in India.
• Wipro’s Work Integrated Learning Program (WILP) offers BCA and BSc students a chance to start working at Wipro while pursuing an M Tech degree from a premier university, their degree is sponsored by Wipro.
• Employees in different life stages have an opportunity to contribute to and benefit from the extensive mentoring programmes, covering traditional mentoring, peer mentoring as well as reverse mentoring.
• To enable continuous learning on demand, Wiproites have access to Spark an enterprise digital learning platform offered by Harvard Business Publishing.

Black Alliance

The Black Alliance ERG strives to promote a diverse and inclusive work environment for African-American employees. The observe an additional holiday in the US on Martin Luther King (MLK) Day. To observe MLK Day, employees explored volunteering opportunities at various charities and non-profits that contribute directly to Black communities. Engaging events were organized to recognize Juneteenth and emphasize on the historical context and significance of the day.

Every February, the celebrate the achievements and history of African-Americans as part of the Black History Month. This year’s theme ‘African Americans and the Arts’ offered Wiproites an opportunity to recognize their triumphs, struggles and contributions throughout history.

The company partnered with a local fraternity to raise awareness about Wipro with students in historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and are an active supporter and partner to the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, a historically African-American fraternity. The company coordinate volunteer days at school and help teens and college students to learn about careers in technology.

Supplier Diversity

Aligned with the certified norms of diversity, Wipro has two flagship programs for new as well as existing suppliers, the ‘Wipro Inclusion & Diversity Opportunity for Vendors (WINDOV)’ series of virtual conclaves that enable direct access for small suppliers to present their capabilities to the global procurement team and the ‘Wipro Inclusive Supplier Development and Mentorship (WISDOM)’ program to strengthen these businesses by providing management and technical support to the participating suppliers. These programs have enabled us to increase our sourcing from businesses owned and controlled by the members of historically disadvantaged communities such as minorities, women across the globe, Indian small businesses, and enterprises located in Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) zones.

Close to 15% of the suppliers are certified diverse suppliers. In FY24, the company’s supplier diversity initiatives enabled to register 14.06% of the global spend with certified diverse suppliers and 5.67% of the company’s global spend with MSME suppliers.

Tata Consultancy services (TCS)

The DEIB practices are:

Inclusion without exception

At TCS, the company’s diverse workforce, which is a competitive advantage, drives performance and profitability, and creates a rich culture of varied ideas, mindsets, and possibilities. The company leverage individual strengths and power innovation to build a ‘future forward’ mindset through the lens of human relationships.

As a value driven multi-dimensional organization and an equal opportunity employer, They create an equitable work environment for all. Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework, which is a part of our LeaD (Leadership and Diversity) function, has progressed over the years to a segment-based focus, earmarking the various facets of diversity—gender inclusion, LGBTQ inclusion, people with disability, neurodiversity inclusion, and race and ethnicity inclusion. Their focus on ‘Inclusion without Exception’ is driven by a five-pillar approach to diversity, equity and inclusion: Representation, Ecosystem, Enablement, Engagement, and Development.

Approach

Their focus on ‘Inclusion without Exception’ is driven by a five-pillar approach to DEI: Representation, Ecosystem, Enablement, Engagement, and Development.

Diverse Identity Segments

With motto— “Inclusion without Exception,” the company encompass various segments of diversity in the workplace:

• Gender Inclusion creates an eco-system of equity across genders, while enhancing capability and capacity through behavioural and mindset shifts.
• LGBTQ Inclusion creates a new normal in inclusion at TCS, where every community member feels psychologically safe to bring their authentic selves to work.
• People with Disability and Neurodiversity Inclusion removes the culture of silence and stigma around disability through an environment of access and knowledge.
• Diversity and Culture Inclusion strengthens a multicultural mindset to communicate and collaborate across cultural boundaries. Race and Ethnic Diversity ensures all persons, irrespective of race, nationality, ethnic origin, caste, and religion, have equal opportunities of representation, engagement, knowledge, development, and career progression, without discrimination.

TCS’ DEI offerings are based on the ‘Diversity of the Mind’ pedagogy, a unique model built on inner attributes and external behaviours that explores and leverages the potential of people diversity and the cognitive intelligence of people at the workplace.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

TCS’ Employee Resource Groups are voluntary workplace groups where the associates get the opportunity to discuss shared interests and experiences. The ERGs are also largely utilized to network, provide support, and enhance professional and personal development.

The ERGs at TCS:

• Create a psychologically safe space which encourages employees to bring their authentic self to work.
• Build a platform for communities to contribute to the organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy through cross functional teams (CFT).
• Co-create and curate educational and development programs; enable inclusive and accessible systems and infrastructure.
• Mobilize allies of diversity.
• Create opportunities to support personal and professional aspirations.

Our ERGs, detailed below, follow the TATA Code of Conduct and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements.

Network of Outstanding Women: An ecosystem of equity across genders and enhance capability and capacity through behavioural and mindset shifts.

Shifting the gender dial has always been a key focus area for TCS. As an organization, The company emphasize on retaining women through engagement, enablement, development, and creating an ecosystem that is conducive to this. In March 2020, ‘TCS NOW-Network of Outstanding Women’ was created to provide the women associates a platform to collaborate, connect, co-create, learn, and grow by seeking personal and professional support from each other.

ARISE: A forum for the African American and Black community to come together, share experiences and extend support. TCS initiated race and ethnicity as a diversity identity segment in 2020. The ERG ARISE, for the African American and Black community, was launched in May 2020 in the US. It has a membership of over 500 people, including those from the community and allies. TCS ARISE is an organizational commitment toward race inclusion, especially in the light of the Black Lives Matter movement.

QOLORS: A platform for TCS’ LGBTQ community to interact, encourage dialogue, and share thoughts on workplace inclusivity. TCS is committed to LGBTQ inclusion. The company believe in fostering an environment where all associates feel respected, valued, involved, and psychologically safe. The company facilitate a work environment that ensures participation of all associates from the LGBTQ community and encourage each individual to bring their true self forward. The ERG, QOLORS, launched in June 2018, aims to explore intersectionality and growing together, and is an example of one of TCS’ core values, ‘respect for the individual’.

ENABLE: A network for persons with disabilities. The Disability and Allies Network, ENABLE, was launched in December 2017, to create a safe space for employees with disabilities. ENABLE helps them connect and share stories, concerns, and solutions. With this ERG, TCS commits to disability inclusion.

UNO Parenting: A forum for single parents and allies. Along with all the joys of parenthood, single parenting brings along a fair share of responsibilities, tasks, and emotions to deal with. UNO Parenting was launched in May 2021 as a forum for single parents and allies to encourage, educate, and empower each other by sharing their personal stories and learnings with others in similar situations.

PACT – Parents, Allies, Caregivers Together: A discussion forum for those who raise and take care of persons with disabilities. While working toward disability inclusion at the workplace, TCS engaged with several parents of children with disabilities. The issue calls for a separate ERG, as it is different from the needs of our associates with disability. The parents’ experiences are different, their stories are different, their challenges are different, their coping mechanisms are different. By extension, so are those of caregivers of family and friends with disabilities. Keeping this in mind, a new ERG called PACT (Parents, Allies and Caregivers of children and loved ones with disability), was launched in August 2021.

BRIDGE – Building Relationships in Diverse Generations: A space for people of different generations to share their experiences and perspectives. To understand interactions between people of different generations and what age diversity means at work, a new ERG called BRIDGE was launched in August 2021. BRIDGE appreciates age-based experiences and perspectives to build flourishing relationships, and also provides employees with an opportunity to learn from each other.

Infyability is an employee resource group formed for employees with disability that aims to create a safe, accessible and inclusive work environment. It addresses specific needs towards the recruitment, development, engagement, growth, and retention of employees with disability by promoting an inclusive workplace where skills and knowledge of each employee are valued and respected. It also runs campaigns to raise awareness among employees and contributes to the design of the Company’s disability inclusion strategy.

Infosys Practice Guidelines to support integration of employees with disabilities:

The practice guidelines will help sensitize, inform and enable various stakeholders including employees with disabilities, their managers and co-workers and enabling functioning’s such as Human resource, facilities and infrastructure transport, technology support team and the legal team to address disability at the workplace more effectively. It is intended to enable stakeholders make informed choices in their line of duty toward building an inclusive work environment. And also adopt formal expressions of commitment and intent related to the recruitment, hiring, retention, and advancement of individuals with disabilities

Inclusive Workplace

Digital and Physical Accessibility at Infosys Limited: Providing an accessible workplace which includes a constant effort to improve both physical (infrastructure) and digital communication accessibility

Reasonable Accommodations: Provision of assistive devices for those with special needs to improve accessibility and to create an inclusive work environment accessible transportation in our Development Centres (DCs) for easy commute across the campus, manual and motorized wheelchairs, conformable workspace at each work station, screen readers and other supporting assistive devices as needed. Employees with hearing impairment are placed in all roles, excluding roles that involve in speaking over the phone to the clients/vendors/employees.

Employees with visual impairment are mostly placed in support functions and business roles where we have reasonable accommodation in place.

Digital Accessibility - Accessibility Lab: The Accessibility Lab as the name suggests is a treasure trove of learning on ‘Accessibility.’ All resources in the lab is hosted in a dedicated space in our DEI Channel on LEX, and is contributed to by practitioners at Infosys. Accelerating our efforts at building awareness and skills on Digital Accessibility

Women represent 39.3% of their workforce: Their global and local initiatives continue to strengthen the participation of women in technology and business.

LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual):

UN LGBTI - As a signatory to the UN LGBTI Charter for Business, Infosys is committed to be an inclusive workplace for members of the LGBTQIA community. They foster a culture of equality where the people regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation can bring their authentic selves to work. Infosys is a signatory to the UN Standards of Conduct for Business Tackling Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, and Intersex People.

Inclusive policies and equal benefits

An enhanced Health Insurance Plan for the employees based in India covers partners (same- sex, domestic, civil) as dependents, gender conformation surgeries, coverage for surrogacy, egg freezing procedures and mental health therapy.

Learning and sensitization: Ally For Change is a powerful three-part learning program curated by the DEI team replete with self-reflection exercises, personal stories, practices from across the world and a host of learning resources targeted towards building allyship and nurturing inclusive workplaces and communities.

Awareness & Engagement: Through the year, awareness and learning interventions through personal story-telling, interviews with experts, blogs and perspectives continue to strengthen the cultural fabric.

National Coming Out Day: It’s our responsibility to create an inclusive and welcoming environment for each other. This National Coming Out Day, Infosys celebrates every individual and their whole selves. Because it's only when we make it okay, will they be okay coming out as who they truly are. Workplace accessibility is at the heart of an inclusive ecosystem.

Multi-Cultural Workforce & Racial Equity and Inclusion: With over 160 different Nationalities from over 56 countries the Infosys workforce is a tapestry of rich cultures and racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Military Veterans: Infosys is proud to support military veterans and their families. The company honored to have military veterans as part of the Infosys workforce.

Multi Generation Workforce: The multigenerational workforce at Infosys helps them to adapt quickly to the ever-changing world. The multigenerational workforce at Infosys helps to adapt quickly to the ever-changing world. It also has created opportunities for the to learn from each other. 55% of the workforce is lesser than 30 years of age and another 42% is between 31 to 50 years of age.

Tata has implemented several activities to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in the workplace, including:

• Culture Transformation: Tata aims to create an inclusive workplace culture with equal opportunities for all. Leaders communicate inclusively, and policies and processes are designed to create an inclusive work environment.
• Training and sensitization programs: Tata Steel regularly conducts training and sensitization programs to promote awareness and understanding of LGBTQIA issues. These programs educate employees about LGBTQIA terminology and dispel common misconceptions.
• Tata Engage: Tata launched a group volunteering program called Tata Engage in 2014 to complement the company's efforts to provide opportunities for employees to serve.
• Inclusive employee lifecycle: Tata integrates DEI into the employee lifecycle, including onboarding, learning and development opportunities, and leadership development.
• Other DEIB activities include: Putting on diversity and inclusion awards, collecting data on key diversity and inclusion metrics, improving bias awareness, and being intentional with efforts.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL)

Key DEI Initiatives are:

• Career by Choice: This initiative allows women who have taken a career break to re- enter the workforce through a structured return-to-work program. HUL offers flexible work arrangements, mentorship, and reskilling opportunities to help these women rebuild their careers. This initiative is especially valuable in combating the “leaky pipeline” issue, where women often drop out of the workforce due to caregiving responsibilities and find it difficult to return.
• Gender-Neutral Parental Leave Policies: HUL’s parental leave policy provides equal leave for both mothers and fathers, as well as for adoptive and same-sex parents. This policy encourages shared parenting and helps reduce the stigma associated with men taking time off for family responsibilities. The policy is part of HUL’s broader commitment to building an inclusive and gender-balanced workplace.
• Supplier Diversity Programs: HUL ensures that its supplier base is diverse by actively engaging with minority-owned businesses, including those owned by women and individuals from marginalized communities. This initiative not only fosters economic inclusion but also drives innovation by bringing diverse perspectives into the supply chain. The company also supports these suppliers with business development resources and mentorship.

These 5 Indian companies are setting new standards in the realm of DEI, with their commitment to fostering inclusive environments that drive innovation and enhance employee well-being. Through focused initiatives, measurable impact, and a clear vision for the future, they serve as inspiring examples for other organizations looking to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion. To move toward sustained commitment to DEIB, the organization must focus on not only establishing DEIB interventions, but on their successful implementation. Organizing DEIB activities is not just a nod to modern workplace expectations — it's a catalyst for real growth. A robust DEIB approach improves employee morale, which in turn enhances productivity.

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