Diversity & Inclusion; Challenge's for India Inc - Part 1

Part – 1 (Gender Diversity Challenge)

I believe that, “diversity breeds 3Ps – Performance, Progress and Prosperity” the more diverse a team, organization, society, city or a country – the more rich, progressive and prosperous it is likely to be. Diversity is a reality that exists in the world, in which, we live and one cannot deny it. The key lies in including and leveraging the existing diversity. Let’s define diversity in simple terms, to me; it’s the uniqueness that people bring to the table. Uniqueness of thoughts, education, religion, ethnicity, country, culture, language, gender, generation, etc. Consider all these elements, and you will agree that, India is by far the most diverse country – it’s diverse and rich from every point of view. Hinduism is the major religion, but the highest number of Baptist residing in a country after USA is in India. Highest numbers of Muslims reside in India after Indonesia. On ethnicity, language, race, etc it’s very diverse. With a sex ratio of 1.06 its gender balanced. Consider age or generational diversity – with 50% of its population below the age of 25 years and 65% of it below the age of 35 years, India is one of the youngest nations of the world and is likely to remain so for a long time to come. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India)

“At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time” : By Friedrich Nietzsche

Then what’s wrong with us? Why the corporate, government and the educational sectors amongst others are – found lacking and are challenged for creating a more diverse workplace. Is the problem that of diversity? Or that of inclusion? Lack of inclusion means, when one fails to include or leverage on the diversity that exists in their eco system. Well, in my opinion the problem is on both counts. For India Inc the challenge is mainly on two fronts; one is clearly Gender related; how to get more women talent in your organizations and second is related to having the mindset and capability of managing the increasing generational diversity in the workplace (younger people at work). Let’s discuss the two separately – Part 1 (Gender) and Part 2 (Generational).

Gender diversity challenge: Indian private and government sector is largely male dominated with few women employees working in them and even fewer at senior levels of the organizations. Some industries such as Banking, Hospitality, Media, ITES have made a steady progress and are relatively better than others. However, overall there is a serious gender diversity gap that exists in India Inc. So what are the top three myths, issues and challenges and their potential solutions? In my opinion, they are as follows:-

1)      The first issue – that, there isn’t enough women talent out there!! Well, this in my opinion is the biggest excuse that recruiters and hiring managers make and the only solution in my opinion is, that the senior management strongly role model and demand and make people sweat to source, assess and get good women talent, which is very much out there. Set gender diversity goals and targets for your company to achieve and link them to senior management pay/bonus. There is a gap in supply of women talent, especially when it comes to engineering and MBA talent. Top MBA and engineering colleges of India have a dismal 20% average women student intake in every batch (Source:http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-03-06/news/31127350_1_iim-kozhikode-gender-diversity-women-students ). But the good news is that the ratios are improving and fast. However this gap in supply cannot be cited as an excuse by companies whose diversity ratios are well below 10%. If you’re serious about diversity in your company, one should be able to source and hire at least 20% to 25% women talent from these institutes every year or for every batch of fresh talent that your company recruits from these top institutes. Lack of qualified women talent is indeed a challenge, but is also a mindset issue – coz we tend to use this lack of talent as an excuse. Once goals are set, which are SMART and linked to pay the excuse starts to vanish and things start to improve. I am fully aware that, companies and leaders are creating awareness and are putting enough pressure on these institutes to improve their student intake diversity ratios. In defense of these institutes, one must say that they are doing their best to improve without compromising with the merit and quality of students they admit.

 2)      The second myth is that, women cannot do frontline sales and service oriented jobs, especially in certain industries such as healthcare etc. I say, give me a break, and when you argue hard with people who possess such a discriminatory mindset – they soften their stand and then say, okay, “I stand corrected; women probably don’t want to do sales jobs as the conditions for doing these jobs are often hard and tough”. This in my opinion is a huge mindset problem and to my surprise it exists with men and women equally in organizations who making staffing and hiring decisions. Well the reality is that yes women compared to men or vice versa have their comfort zones and there are certain “dos” and “don’ts” applicable to both. For example, women folks do not feel safe and secure to travel or venture out on their own during early mornings or late nights – it’s a fact and we all know the reasons for it. Now if a country cannot guarantee safety of its women – it doesn’t mean that, women can’t or don’t want to do front line sales or service jobs. Medical devices and diagnostics industry requires its sales and service people to be on call during emergencies – but, let me also ask how many such emergencies are there. And if and when the emergencies come up, can an organization not make a suitable plan to ensure safety of its employees and/or have them covered by others who are comfortable doing it? I have seen this being effectively done by many good companies. Also it’s my experience and belief that if a woman isn’t comfortable doing a job – let me assure you a man won’t be comfortable doing it for long either. Therefore, this mindset and myth that women can and want to do certain jobs needs to be addressed and choice be left to women – the recruiters and staff planners need not make these decisions on their behalf.

 3)      The third myth is that women employees aren’t stable enough (in tenure) as they depend a lot on their husband/spouses career and hence if the spouse moves and change their location the women (your employee) follow them. Also women take a lot of time off as they have to run and attend to their family emergencies, especially involving their kids. Well, I find this one – the biggest mindset problem in a male dominated organization and it’s a serious one. For those who have seen their mother, wife, sister or daughter work and balance a life as well, will appreciate and realize how regressive this mindset is. I have seen a large number of male colleagues leave the company and move locations because their spouses have re-located due to her progressing career. I am seeing increasing number of male colleagues take time off to attend a PTA meeting at their kid’s school or attend to ailing in-laws or other family emergencies. Yes by the nature of certain things women may be required to be at home a little more as compared to men. For example whilst on a maternity leave, or when the kids are small, etc. and this is a life cycle need of a family as compared to a need of the women alone. But the diversity and its benefits of having the women work for your organization outweighs her need to be continuously present at the workplace! (Not sure if continuous presence at workplace always helps – a subject for next blog I guess!)
I suggest the following common solutions for the abovementioned points and for enhancing Gender Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in your organization:

• First and foremost make sure the top management is committed and the tone at the top is right. Create a common understanding and awareness on the advantages of doing it and the disadvantages of not doing it. Evolve a clear value proposition for enhancing and maintaining gender diversity in your organization: To build ownership for D&I in your organization people should be able to clearly understand and connect strongly with the organization’s objectives and intent.
• Formal D&I policies and councils are important but what’s more important is having the right and shared guiding principles which will enable a conducive culture. As they say, “Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast”. Well even in case of D&I its very important that you have a clear plan and the required interventions for building the right culture for the diverse talent to revel and thrive in. Culture building isn’t easy and it takes time, also there are experts who can help you with this. Don’t try to do everything on your own. Do seek expert help if and when needed.
• If the right culture exists then the talent that you have attracted will contribute and stay engaged. Attract women talent and whilst you work towards achieving the set D&I goals and targets make sure that merit is never compromised whilst hiring talent. It’s important to ensure that diversity hiring doesn’t become a tick mark exercise.
• Seek to understand the needs of the women talent in your organization and then make policies in support of their genuine lifecycle needs. Benchmark practices and policies of best in class organization and then evolve policies and practices to match or better them.
• Set clear and stretch goals to achieve your D&I objectives. Reward and recognize achievers formally/informally to motivate them and create role models out of them – for sake of continuous improvement and learning.
• Authentic leadership, commitment and sincere efforts towards creating a diverse and an inclusive workplace, goes a long way in creating a culture and an employer brand, which attracts diverse talent and diversity in turn breed’s the 3Ps – Performance, Progress and Prosperity. So it makes a lot of business sense too!!

“What we have to do… is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities”: By Hillary Clinton

Also posted on www.yashmahadik.com

Don't try to change people.Change thinking instead.

Can we ever change other people’s behaviors or habits? Should we even try to? I have always believed that every person is unique and they have their own temperament, way of thinking, behaviors and habits. It’s this uniqueness that makes us diverse and rich as a community.

I also believe that each one of us has the capability and power of changing ourselves and no one else possesses that power. Yes, others can support and help you change. Which way? In my opinion by doing the following two things (Feedback & Coaching):

1)      Firstly let’s understand and appreciate that no one can change the other, you can only influence others. You can influence them by telling them what you feel about their behavior and what impact it has on you and others. When you explain this to them in a descriptive and objective manner – it’s known as objective feedback. Therefore, I say, “give objective feedback, without being judgmental” if one accepts the feedback and understands it - a seed of change is sown. Giving objective feedback is an art and it has three basic steps; a) describe the “situation” the setting (a specific meeting in what one did and siad, what was expressed by the coffee machine, or whilst making a PPT etc), b) then describe the exact “behavior” (words used, expressions, body language etc), c) then describe the “effect” that behavior has had on you and others (felt offended, felt left out, felt motivated, engaging or one was politically incorrect in their expressions etc). The three steps, “Situation – Behavior – Effect” if described and explained well are likely to make the feedback objective and hence the chances of it being accepted are very high.  One notion about feedback is that it’s often connoted with a corrective action. Well, feedback also works powerfully for re-enforcing good and positive behaviors! So, do give positive feedback also.

2)      Feedback is the basic step before coaching. It could be one to one feedback or 360 degree feedback in terms of an employee in the corporate world or a video recording of a sportsperson actions/movements in the sports world. Feedback and Coaching helps. Without being certified or qualified - most of us are actually coaching others intuitively and on almost every day basis. We coach our spouse, children, friends, subordinates, peers, etc. and in return they are all coaching us. Coaching is an art and a science and its getting its deserved recognition as a professional competency and capability (thanks to the world of sports and corporates). David Rock is a pioneer in researching and showing to the world how, neuroscience of coaching clearly demonstrates how brain-based coaching works in practice, and how the power of the mind can be harnessed to help an individual learn, change and grow. In his book “Coaching with the brain in mind” with Linda Page (http://www.slideshare.net/toff63/coaching-with-the-brain-in-mind) they have explained the art and science of doing this well. His first book which i read “Quite Leadership”, which, I loved; he has suggested that, if you can change ones thinking then you can change ones behavior and habits. His suggestion follows the simple behavioral science rule first popularly propagated by Stephen Covey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Covey) , which explains that, “if you want to change someone’s behavior or habit then first change their thinking. Coz, how you think is how you feel – then - how you feel is how you react and behave. So if you can influence you’re own or others thinking then you can ultimately change your own or others behaviors and habits. As they say, a coach is like a mirror and they truly believe that the solution is best found by their coacheee's themselves. An effective coach doesn’t tell you what to do, but makes you think differently and hence makes you behave and do things differently.

In conclusion, I say, try and change/influence your or others thinking and you will probably see a desired change. Giving feedback and coaching is an art and do learn it from the experts - giving feedback and coaching has evolved as a concept and science, which is based on wide and deep behavioral sciences research.

This blog is alos being posted @ http://yashwantmahadik.wordpress.com/ please share your views and comments with me. Thanks

Practical Problems of Talent Management

As a practitioner of human resources management for several years (with the privilege of working for and with some top-notch companies and leaders in India and abroad), I have seen the concept and practice of Talent Management grow and evolve into what can be described as one of the most important and critical functions of HR and Business management today. Mckinsey and Company is clearly credited with dramatically increasing the popularity of Talent Management as a practice with their research outcomes, first published in 1997 under their popular article series "War for Talent" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talent_management). Since then many research companies and business organisations have done further research and have published their findings. In 2007, a decade after McKinsey's pioneering research, Economist Intelligence Unit in association with Corporate Network published their survey report establishing that, "Talent Shortage and lack of qualified staff remains the biggest worry for most CEOs and business leaders of Global and Local corporations across the world. All these surveys and findings have established that shortage of talent is likely to be the biggest derailer of growth and economic prosperity.

Now for years, most companies, and their leaders are focusing on attracting, managing and developing their talent and stay ahead of the challenge. As the practice of Talent Management continues to gain importance, alongside increases its complexity and other practical challenges, which are leaving most leaders and their companies grappling with a question,"how to attract, manage and develop talent effectively for achieving their organisations objectives/goals and grow their companies"?. Based on my personal and professional experience and exchange of ideas with some other prominent leaders of the corporate world, I present some practical problems of talent management and some thoughts on enhancing its effectiveness.

What is your philosophy and strategy of Talent Management? this question to my mind is the biggest problem or challenge for most. Many tend to confuse talent management with leadership development. If the philosophy of the company is to focus on only top 100 or 300 or 500 leaders and build processes and practice around attracting, developing, engaging and managing these leaders then what about those individual contributors, middle/lower level leaders and early in career professionals who have a high impact on the company's business results and its future. Talent management in my opinion should encompass and focus on all critical and important positions and people in the organisation.  Becker, Huselid, & Beatty, In The Differentiated Workforce, the authors expand on their previous books – The HR Scorecard and The Workforce Scorecard – and recommend that you manage your workforce like a portfolio – with disproportionate investments in the jobs that create the most wealth. http://www.thedifferentiatedworkforce.com/ their work has highlighted the need for any company to first have a clear and an business aligned - "Workforce Strategy", Then should come your HR Strategy which should be aimed at executing your workforce strategy. Many organisation have taken the approach of defining all employees of their organisation as Talent and have developed their processes and practices accordingly. Defining the philosophy, clear objectives and scope of Talent Management strategy in any organisation is key and hence getting that right is so important. Not easy at all and hence it remains a practical problem and a challenge.

Are your processes, technology, tools and practices of Talent management simple? this is another big problem or challenge. Having simple and efficient HR processes which are enabled by a robust enterprise wide technology backbone is a dream of any CHRO and his/her organisation. There are many benefits and advantages to having the right enterprise wide HR processes and technology but there are many challenges to it. Richard D Johnson and Hal G Gueutal in their article, "Technology for Competitive Advantage", published by SHRM Foundation Executive Briefing have presented potential challenges that could have legal, ethical and financial implications for the firm if not managed correctly. Many of us have faced these challenges and continue to face them. The biggest practical challenge we face is that employees and managers find the technology very cumbersome and the dovetailing with other process isn't that robust, especially when you don't have a good enterprise wide HRIS with best in breed bolt-ons. Hence having a simple and robust talent management process and technology is very important. Having HR processes which are competency based and strongly linked with each other and are user friendly is a must. Tools and practices depend a lot on the process and technology and vice versa. Its easier said than done and hence remains a practical problem and a challenge.

Is your top management committed to Talent Management?

EIU & Corporate Network survey report on talent shortage has clearly highlighted how lack of top management's commitment and seriousness towards building talent is an area of improvement. Many and most talent management strategies and initiatives need a sustained (over medium to long term) investment and commitment. Be it culture/employer brand building initiative's for attracting and engaging talent or be it investing in learning journeys of talented employees - all this requires investments and commitment. When companies and leaders are busy managing and delivering results on a quarter to quarter basis with the sole objective of pleasing the street, more often than not the investment and commitment in talent management takes a back seat and especially in a recessionary or weak economic environment leaders tend to become more short term and cost focused and look at talent management as a cost rather than investment. Michale Dell wanting to turn his company private was recently quoted as saying that he wants to re-build Dell and in doing so he wants to stay off the short term pressure from the street and its analyst - as he wishes to make some long term decisions which may not pay instantly in short term - this says it all! Isn't it? Investing in building talent and culture is a long term thing and ensuring that the top management stays committed is a practical problem and challenge. However there are some companies and leaders who have shown their un-wavering commitment and seriousness and hence have remained perpetual and prosperous - hope we all learn from them as they are the true role models of Talent Management.

The above are my personal opinions and a hypothesis, which, I test every day with my own experience and with experiences and wisdom of my other HR colleagues. Please do share your thoughts and comments as I am eager to learn from you.