Managing Diversity

Managing DiversityThe Challenges for India Inc.

By: Ravi Agarwal Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida

Diversity- The India Inc. Way  Bharti Enterprises and American Express have mandated their recruitment agencies to have 25 % and 33% women candidates at the interview stage.  Infosys BPO employs 112 people who suffer from different forms of disability and it wants to take the proportion up to 3-4% in the next couple of years.  A team of 24 people at Infosys BPO were taught sign language to help them communicate with the hearing and speech impaired.

But is this all what “Managing diversity” calls for?

Globalizing India; Diversifying India!!!

Diverse ideas for diverse needs

Diversity is Omnipresent Supplier bal o l G

Organization

National Loc

al

Customer

Diversity for Globalizing India

• Respect – for our employees, customers, communities, dealers, suppliers and retirees • Appreciation – of their differences • Inclusion – of every person and every perspective • Integrity – to do the right thing, always !

Source: Ford Motor Co.

Does India Inc. really value diversity? Diversity addressed as an important issue in Websites 14%

Yes No

86%

Source: A website research conducted by us on 100 BSE listed Cos.

Managing diversity – Challenges for India Inc.

Work Force / Work Place Diversity• Talent Crunch •Assessing competence •Diversity Vs Meritocracy •Training and Development •Expatriate Management •Employee Retention

Talent Crunch.. Diversity is not being generated in the right numbers both at the high and low ends. Limited number of existing professional training institutes. ITIs today offer training in only 40-45 trades. BPO, KPO, Retail, aviation, hospitality and tourism would require diverse employees in the coming years.

Diversity Vs Meritocracy!!! Traditional wisdom: To manage diversity, manage the Xs and Ys

Subsidiaries in global markets require majority of the staff to be from the host country.

Quota based recruitment/ Affirmative Action

Does that come at the cost of merit???

More Factors.. • Heterogeneity exists in employees owing to their culture, gender, language, caste, creed and political ideologies.

• Expatriate Management- Diverse / varied working hours and working habits across national boundaries.  Assess competence- Different universities specialize in different subjects. Different countries require different scales for measuring competence.

Growing attrition…Retain them!! • Employees are increasingly relocating and migrating due to rising competition. • The attrition rate has crossed 20 per cent in the manufacturing sector while the services sector is facing 40 per cent attrition (Source: ASSOCHAM Business Barometer Survey 2007)

Break free the conservative mindset!!! • Indian executives have traditionally conducted business almost exclusively in India with a work force comprising almost entirely of Indians. (source: A report released by the Conference Board in 2005)

• Women in India are still discouraged by most families from entering hospitality industry and the likes.

Managing diverse markets!!!

Culture differences

Education levels

Managing supplier diversity

Yippie!!! We have choices… Give an equal opportunity to diverse suppliers but not at the expense of quality and business objectives. CREATE A WIN- WIN SITUATION!!!

SO WHAT TO DO???

Promote a Perfect blend of diversity and merit

•Well designed recruitment mechanism •Proper job/task analysis • Detailed Recruitment Planning • Continuous Performance analysis. •Performance appraisal •Help people work in cohesion to develop the best in class ideas.

Identify a trade off between Proactivity & Reactivity

PERFECT DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

PROACTIVE DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

REACTIVE DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

Build Training infrastructure & capacity building programs Cross cultural skills training Success coaching Experiential, motivational and self development training Finishing school.

Promote diversity of ideas and talent irrespective of sex, religion culture and political boundaries.

Conclusion  Do not misunderstand diversity as a Branding Tool!!  Its essential ………Manage it!!  It can be a benefit…Leverage it!!  Its really diverse……..include everyone, every perspective, every idea!! IT’S A CHALLENGE…TAKE IT!!

References 1.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Corporate_Trends/India_Inc_makes_room _for_women/articleshow/2576721.cms 2. http://dqindia.ciol.com/content/top_stories/2006/206110801.asp 3. “What do you mean by Managing diversity?”- by Caleb Rosado; Published in Sumati Reddy, editor Work force Diversity, Vol3: Concepts and Cases, Hyderabad, India:ICFAI University 4. http://www.financialexpress.com/news/India-Incs -M&A-value-6-bn-in-2-months/289296/ 5. www.ford.com 6. http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/apr/eco-jobs.htm 7. http://www.trackers.in/industrial_news.php 8. http://www.itpeopleindia.com/20040301/management1.shtml 9. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/manager/2006/07/31/stories/2 06073100601300.htm 10. http://www.rawpowerwriting.com/article.asp?id=9 11. http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac50/ac142/sdbd/index.html 12. http://www.pg.com/company/who_we_are/diversity/supplier/index.shtml

Thank You!!!!