Mumbai: India Diversity Conclave2021 witnessed over 40 Human Resources and India Inc. leaders from various domains discuss challenges in implementing diversity and inclusion at workplaces and the way ahead to making these an integral part of HR policies – in spirit and execution. Held on the 7th of April, 2021 as a virtual event was executed by Sapphire Connect. This first edition of India Diversity Forum’s conclave had 11,587 registrations, over 3000 attendees from over 100 corporate houses, and over 40 speakers.
Apurva Purohit, President, Jagran Prakashan Ltd said, “At offices too we do not give women bigger responsibilities. We know our intent is good but are we truly getting rid of subconscious bias inside us? Like they say, oh, this is a tough project, she will not be able to do it. We might be wanting to protect them but, in the process, we bonsai them.”Megha Tata, Managing Director, South Asia, Discovery Communications India said in the inaugural panel on ‘Driving change and Building a safe workplace’, “At Discovery, we have multiple leadership positions that are led by Women or from the LGBTQ community where the action is speaking more than words”.
Zee Entertainment Enterprise Limited was the Presenting Partner for India Diversity Conclave2021 (IDC). Animesh Kumar, President – HR & Transformation, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd participated in a Fireside chat with Dr. Ritu Anand, Chief Leadership and Diversity Officer, Tata Consultancy Services, and an Advisor of IDF. He said, “Gender intelligence is probably the most appropriate word that influences the narrative of diversity socially among corporates. It acknowledges the difference and does not support discrimination. It epitomizes the difference in behavior and the whole nature of behavior energy. It is believed that there are certain things that come to you because of your nature or gender or your experiences irrespective of your religion or orientation or the regions of the country or the world you belong to or the influences that come from the family that you belong to. In our business, we serve a billion viewers worldwide which represents such a diverse cultural nuance and have such different stories and different narratives. We need to go beyond organic and design to improve diversity. In Zee, we have three approaches, one is to address the supply-side constraints on how do you manage in a smaller industry compare to the other such as technology. Here we need to bring a lot more talent into the system. For this, we have institutionalized a process where we focus on hiring more girls at the junior level. We have approximately around 65 to 70% female hiring at the management trainee level. Secondly, we have also experimented where we bring people from outside the media industry at the mid-management level and therefore improving diversity ratios there. Lastly, we ensure an increase in the internal supply of leadership going from middle management to senior management in the organization.”
India Diversity Conclave is the first conclave of India Diversity Forum, a Section 8 company and an independent body, formed with the aim of creating more awareness about diversity and inclusion (D&I), sharing the best practices on D&I in corporate India, sensitizing professionals at various workplaces and taking it further ahead – from policies to practice – to make a difference in India Inc.Ankit Bansal, CEO, Sapphire HS and Advisor, IDF said on the occasion, “IDF will act as an active agent bringing the change towards Industry and national level and collectively raise the bar on Diversity & Inclusion”.Dr. Ritu Anand, Chief Leadership and Diversity Officer, Tata Consultancy Services, said, “Diversity is the Driver of Innovation & Performance; it builds pathways towards Growth in all type of Institutions.”
India Diversity Conclave had some of the most renowned leaders of India Inc. sharing their expertise, insights, and experience-driven strategies in making workplaces truly diverse and inclusive. They included ledger Felix Ramme (International Keynote Speaker); Vishakha RM, MD & CEO, IndiaFirst Life Insurance; Satish Rao, Chairman, and Managing Director, Firmenich; Amit Chicholikar, Global Chief Human Resources Officer, Tata Consumer Products; Amit Sharma, Chief Human Resource Officer, Volvo Group India; Sandeep Batra, Chief Human Resource Officer and Head Foundation, Landmark Group India; Rajendra Mehta, President & CHRO, Welspun India Limited; Sunita Cherian, Chief Culture Officer, Senior Vice President – Corporate HR, Wipro Limited; Rajorshi Ganguli, President and Global HR Head – HR, Alkem Laboratories; Raga Olga D’Silva, Co-founder and Director, Speaking Minds, Author, LGBT & Diversity Speaker; Samir Kukade, President Human Capital, Praj Industries and many more. Advisors of IDF Harshbeena Zaveri, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, NRB Bearings, Sudha Ravi, CCO, Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Ltd., Anisha Motwani, Founder- Director, STN Centuries, Independent Director on board of Welspun India and Abbott and Gautam Chainani, President – HR, Strategic Initiatives & Workforce, JSW.
Adding to this, Rishi Kapoor, Associate Partner & Business Head, Sapphire Connect said, “We are glad to have been associated with India Diversity Forum as they embark on their journey to make India more diverse and inclusive. We look forward to organizing much more engagements such as industry workshops, job fairs, etc. under IDF throughout the year and aim to make each one better than the previous. We at Sapphire Connect advocate involvement, innovation, and expand access to leadership opportunities that maximize engagement across various groups through various activities. We intend to provide leadership and commit time and resources to accomplish this objective of building diversity and inclusion in organizations.”
