Aegis Customer Support Services (a Startek Company)
Industry: Information Technology /ITES
India HQ: Mumbai , Maharashtra
Employee Strength: 9,529
Best Practices:
Aegis has committed to a target of employing persons with disabilities equal to 1.5% of their global workforce this year. In India, they have tied up with Sarthak, a not-for-profit working towards training and employment of persons with disability, along with other global and local employment exchanges as well as Vocational Rehabilitation Centres (VRC). Hiring efforts have also expanded to include university/college campuses, rehabilitation institutes and hospitals. Aegis also has an internal employee referral program called EmployAbility. They have continued to improvise their workplace infrastructure to address the needs of persons with disabilities with measures such as wheelchair ramps, specially designed restrooms and so on.
Aristocrat Technologies India
Industry: Information Technology/Gaming
India HQ: Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Employee Strength: 947
Best Practices:
Aristocrat Technologies India conducts Friday Box Office where two senior leaders watch a movie along with an audience. These movies are chosen and curated around various themes pertaining to DEI and LGBTQ+. A healthy debate is then encouraged and all opinions are welcomed. For the company, hiring is a critical area for creation of a workplace for all and all hiring processes are required to report DEI metrics at every stage. Fair and scientific psychometric tests for aptitude as well knowledge are conducted to ensure that no one is at a disadvantage due to recruiter bias. All hiring managers are required to investigate for inclusive behaviours through behavioural event interviews for roles above the managerial level.
Avery Dennison (India)
Industry: Manufacturing and Production/Materials
India HQ: Gurugram, Haryana
Employee Strength: 592
Best Practices:
Avery Dennison (India) runs a programme called ReADvent which is aimed at hiring candidates returning from career breaks and providing them necessary support for seamless integrated into the system. The company has also been working towards hiring and assimilating qualified persons with disabilities, starting with manufacturing and corporate sites. A detailed feasibility study has also been conducted and the required infrastructural changes have been made. Affirmative hiring of persons with disabilities has begun. To create an inclusive environment and ensure that such candidates get the full opportunity to thrive, there are adequate sensitisation programmes planned for supervisors and able-bodied colleagues.
Biocon
Industry: Biotechnology & Pharamceuticals
India HQ: Bengaluru, Karnataka
Employee Strength: 8,172
Best Practices:
Biocon introduced BioWin, a contraction of Biocon Women Initiatives, in 2017 with a focus on engaging and empowering women in the workplace. One of the major objectives was to improve the gender diversity ratio through unbiased hiring and retention. BioWin has supported the launch of various policies and practices that enhance safety, work-life balance, career development, productivity and performance of women employees in the workplace. Some of the actions BioWin has taken include increasing maternity leave and child care for up to 52 weeks, improved talent acquisition strategy to support women engineers along with a women in leadership programme and a career programme for women who have taken a career break.
Enable India
Industry: Non-Profit and Charitable Organisations/Social Development
India HQ: Bengaluru, Karnataka
Employee Strength: 105
Best Practices:
Persons with disabilities form almost half of Enable India’s workforce. So, any training program—be it technical, behavioural, process-related or soft skills—is conducted keeping in mind the needs of persons with disabilities and other diverse groups. Sign language interpretation for the deaf, description and tactile experience to the visually impaired, interpretation in the local language through a transmitter for those who do not understand English are some ways in which they support holistic learning. A disability inclusion fund has been created to support employees who require a caregiver. Enable India has also launched Mission1000, a community initiative driven by Disability NGOs Alliance. It provides 1,000 opportunities in 1,000 days to persons with severe developmental and multiple disabilities.
HSBC Electronic Data Processing India
Industry: Information Technology /ITES
India HQ: Hyderabad, Telangana
Employee Strength: Approx. 25,000
Best Practices:
HSBC Electronic Data Processing India ensures that they are able to create an inclusive work environment for specially abled employees. They have clearly outlined policies that make their infrastructure accessible for diverse groups of employees. Support ranges from signage, reflective warning strips, voice modulation system in lifts, being cognisant about the height of cafeteria equipment, including coffee machines and microwave tables and other commonly used areas and equipment. The infrastructure is designed keeping in mind the requirements—all the way from the parking lot to various areas that any employee could gain access to.
Mastercard Incorporated
Industry: Information Technology/Software
India HQ: Pune, Maharashtra
Employee Strength: 4,410
Best Practices:
Mastercard is making a headway in inclusivity through various awareness campaigns and encouraging employees to understand and adapt to inclusive language. For example, creating a glossary for LGBTQ+ education and awareness, an emailer series covering topics such as vulnerability, unconscious bias, speaking, preconceptions, building relationships, trust and so on. Another programme that they’ve started is Project Pronoun. True to its name, this initiative aims to help members in the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans and non-binary people, by allowing them to have financial products with their self-identified chosen first name. This new feature can play a part in reducing the discrimination many members of the trans and non-binary communities face when purchasing items with a credit card.
Intuit India
Industry: Information Technology/IT Services
India HQ: Bengaluru, Karnataka
Employee Strength: 1,065
Best Practices:
The company has a programme called Intuit Again for women joining workforce after a career break. The programme focuses on easing their transition back to work. Intuit ensures that all its employees have access to a DEI dashboard that reveals real-time gender and ethnicity data to make inclusion and belonging a top priority. It diligently monitors the progress of its programmes to ensure focus on attracting, retaining and developing a diverse workforce. In Intuit, as a global mandate, they also have DEI targets that are not just live and visible to every leader but are also reviewed and managed every quarter for every business unit.
S&P Global
Industry: Financial Services
India HQ: Hyderabad,Telangana
Employee Strength: 7,672
Best Practices:
S&P’s signature programme REACH—Recognizing Employees of All Abilities, Celebrate and Harness—was founded in 2007. REACH seeks to create an environment that empowers employees with disabilities to reach their full potential and positively affect markets and communities. The programme has been instrumental in fostering a safe environment where everyone can bring their true, whole selves to work, advocating an inclusive culture for people of all abilities. S&P also runs a podcast series - Conversations @ Spectrum, the employee resource group for LGBTQ+ employees, to raise awareness about the community and create an ‘all-inclusive’ culture.
Synchrony International Services
Industry: Financial Services & Insurance
India HQ: Hyderabad,Telangana
Employee Strength: 4,328
Best Practices:
To support its visually impaired employees, Synchrony has audio updates in the premises. For new hires with visual impariment, desktops & laptops that are magnifier-enabled or have the JAWS software are shipped. For employees with hearing impairment, the transport team provides a cab messaging facility. The transport app has an SOS button which is integrated with ‘HAWK EYE’, a Hyderabad City Police initiative launched to seek help in case of emergencies. Synchorny is also a pioneer in launching a Veterans Network to work towards veterans’ welfare by driving initiatives inside and outside the organisation. The network works towards hiring veterans to support them as well as bring diversity to the work culture.
