Managing Diversity-

The 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!!!
Diversity is Omnipresent

Diverse ideas for diverse needs

Supplier

lo bal
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 Education
differences 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 REACTIVE DIVERSITY

DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
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!!!!