How Can We Boost Gender Diversity in Indian Workplaces? Seeking Your Best Practices

Improving Gender Diversity in Organizations

I have been assigned a project on improving gender diversity in my organization. I request all of you to please help me with industry best practices to enhance gender diversity in India.

Regards,
Neha Srivastava
Employee Relations

"Diversity breeds dynamism," goes the adage. Therefore, while infusing diversity, you cannot restrict your activities with respect to gender only. In addition to gender, you need to foster diversity in terms of geographical location, religion, ethnicity, language, educational background, educational institutions, physical disability, age groups, and so on.

A diversity program is best executed through the right recruitment practices. There is nothing like industry best practice. The objective of a diversity program is to bridge the "us and them" gap, if any. You need to have a breakdown of the employees based on the points mentioned in the above paragraph. Find out whether there is an overrepresentation of any group and try to control it through recruitment.

India is blessed with so many languages, religions, etc. No country could be as diverse as India. Therefore, the execution of a diversity program should not be a big problem.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

I am an HR professional with a BPO in Coimbatore. As you have mentioned "A Project On Improving The Gender Diversity In My Organization," this is possible in practice only in a BPO or IT/ITES. However, in manufacturing or production-based organizations, it is difficult. It is not just enough for the management or HRD to decide. Transformations need to be initiated right from the grassroots level.