The pandemic has tested the role and purpose of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Organizational leaders, DEI managers, and DEI advocates have done a tremendous job, rising to the challenge. They have put forth DEI above everything else to make their employees feel inclusive.
Offering a panoramic view of DEI initiatives after more than a year into the pandemic, Dr. Saundarya Rajesh, Founder-President, Avtar Group, welcomed the gathering on the two-day conference Working Mother and Avtar Best Practices of the 100 Best Conference centered on the theme #includefearlessly.
During the peak of the ongoing pandemic, all of us experienced loss in different ways. Some lost their loved ones, some lost patience, some lost health, and some lost their jobs. But DEI leaders didn’t lose hope. Dr. Saundarya pointed out the leaders encouraged the employees to include fearlessly. They wanted to emphasize the vulnerability and fear felt in the last 18 months. Their sustained efforts to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace continued and the efforts bore fruit.
She presented the findings from Avtar, and Working Mother’s annual gender analytics exercise Best Companies for Women in India:
- 98% of companies reported sustained and improved productivity
- 51% of them reported improved operating profit
- Innovation revenues soared by 53%
- 74% of companies reported a hike in customer satisfaction and delight
Dr. Saundarya observed that inclusion will be achieved only when DEI is practiced in medium and small-scale enterprises. It will happen only when the DEI managers get over their fears. “Fear is temporary, but regret is permanent. With sustained and continuous efforts, growth is bound to happen. To make this happen, all the employees of the organizations across levels need to work together and speak about diversity- not just gender diversity, but all kinds of diversity. All need to become the fraternity of DEI advocates,” she said.
To become a fraternity of DEI advocates, one must possess the following qualities:
Believers: The thumbs rule for manifestation is the belief. One must be a believer that every individual can rise to the fullest of their potential
Change Makers: Once the goal is set, one must invest in the goal and put sustained efforts, and reach closer to the goal.
Sharer: With belief and sustained efforts, one must also be a sharer of good things, ideas, best practices, be a tribe of perceptive influencers, and dream of a community that swells and grows where DEI becomes a lifestyle and people are fearless and include themselves fearlessly.
