Perspective study on identification of high-impact processes for advancing Diversity,Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in Indian organizations

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Inequality in India is quite a common phenomenon, the same is intertwined with social stratification and cultural influences. In a classical Indian setup, occupations are driven by social structure. Discrimination in the workplace in India is primarily also the result of structural inequalities. Organizations today are facing challenges in blending different cultures. This study gathered the views of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) implementors and identified the high-impact processes that helped them to advance their work.

OBJECTIVE:

The primary objective of this study is to understand the high-impact practices which are being followed by employees implementing DEI in Indian organizations and how the leadership is helping them in driving DEI in their organizations.

METHOD:

To achieve the stated objective, this study used a semi-structured interview technique that involves asking participants a set of questions and following them up with probe questions to further explore their responses. This interview’s target group involves executives currently engaged in DEI implementation activities. The interview questions are based on the research instrument, a modified version of the Museus Context Culturally Engaging Campus Environment (CECE) model. A purposeful snowball sampling technique with predefined criteria was used for sample selection. The semi-structured interview transcripts were open-coded to derive code lists which then were axially coded for the identification of various themes.

RESULTS:

The study found that employee hiring & retention, engaging and supporting relationships, culturally relevant and responsive programs. and transformation framework are the four dominant high-impact practices which have significantly helped Indian organizations in implementing and advancing DEI initiatives in their organizations.

CONCLUSIONS:

By identifying the high-impact practices that helped Indian organizations in implementing DEI initiatives this study adds to the current body of knowledge in workplace diversity research. This study helps policymakers and other stakeholders in promoting, supporting and sustaining DEI initiatives, which now form a part of mandatory ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) reporting to be done by the top 1000 listed companies, Furthermore, entrepreneurs and practitioners can utilize the finding of the study as a guide.

Keywords

DEI diversity equity inclusion human resource management ESG reporting Indian organizations

Mr. Volety Naga Sreedhar, is a senior corporate professional. He has about 20 years of corporate experience. Mr. Sreedhar is currently pursuing his research at Birla School of Management, Birla Global University, Bhubaneswar, India in the area of Human Resource Management. Apart from HRM, his research interests include Marketing, Information Systems. He has authored research articles and book chapters and has presented papers at conferences.

Prof. (Dr.) Parameswar Nayak Dean, Birla School of Management, Birla Global University, Bhubaneswar, India. Dr. Nayak is an ardent Professor in Human Resource Management, an academic administrator, a corporate trainer, and a management consultant. He has about 33 years of work experience in teaching (in India and overseas), academic administration, training, research, and consultancy, including about 20 years in leadership positions such as Director, BIMTECH, Bhubaneswar, Director-Academic, Amity Business School, Amity University, Noida, Dean, KIIT School of Management, KIIT University, Director, ITS Institute of Management, Greater Noida, besides his services at Delhi University, XIMB, BIMTECH, Greater Noida, BCT-IIHMR, Jaipur. He is a trained trainer with training received from IIM, Indore, XIMB, IIPA. ISHA and UNICEF. He was guest editor of two special issues of a Scopus indexed journal and edited 3 books and published 31 research papers in Scopus indexed and other peer reviewed journals and edited books.

1 Introduction

Increasing competition and globalization are forcing organizations to expand their operations to enhance their performance and profitability. The expansion of business operations made the world a global village reducing the physical distances through enhanced interconnectedness of business and people. This shift is forcing organizations to relook at their organizational process for delivering better results and satisfying their customer demands most competitively.

Globalization has phenomenon, philosophical, and process-related dimensions [1]. The phenomenon aspects of globalization lie in the interconnectedness of the human race. The philosophical aspect lies in the integrations that are happening across the world in all spheres. The process aspect of globalization is manifested through the emerging global culture, the spread of free markets, and free trade investment flows. In the current scenario, globalization has become inevitable and irreversible.

In the face of rampant globalization to increase productivity and stay competitive, companies started using technology as an aid and are trying to expand their operations across the globe. The global environment that is being created with liberalization and technology as its engines have resulted in a reduction of cross-border distances resulting in interconnected business operations and heightened the mobility of the workforce.

Organizations are like any other social structure comprise of all forms of human relationships. Organizations of the current day become boundary-less and are also expanding rapidly, due to this expansion beyond local boundaries, organizations are facing challenges related to the blending of different cultures which their workforces are bringing in. Managing of workforce with diverse cultures and backgrounds calls for change in leadership styles, communication patterns, and various other practices. These changes bring in a cultural fusion which if handled well will help organizations and employees in increasing their productivity.

In current business environments with geographical borders getting eroded, organizations for their smooth functioning, growth, survival, and success have to effectively address the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) aspects of their workforce.

From an organizational perspective, diversity refers to the co-existence of the workforce with a variety of social, cultural, economic, and demographic attributes [2]. Diversity includes observable and non-observable aspects of the workforce [3]. Diversity is about respecting, recognizing, and valuing differences arising out of ethnicity, gender, social background, age, race, color, religion, physical disability, sexual orientation, etc. [4] Hence, diversity can be termed as a demographic mix of the workforce including those who are marginalized and unrepresented [5].

Equity refers to acknowledging and addressing structural inequalities which advantage some and disadvantage others. Equity ensures fair treatment, access to resources, equal opportunity, and advancement for everyone. Equity identifies and removes the barriers which prevent some from fully participating. From the organization’s perspective equity promotes fairness, impartiality in processes, procedures, and equal availability and distribution of resources. In true spirit, Equity means everyone starts with equal access to resources and opportunities [5, 6].

Inclusion on the other hand is a culture of inviting every member of the workforce to actively participate and contribute. The inclusive culture supports and creates a welcoming atmosphere in the organization where differences can be embraced and all members of the workforce are respected in spirit and action. An inclusive environment removes any discrimination and intolerance. Creates a supportive, respectful and collaborative environment that encourages every member to participate and achieve their fullest potential [5].

While diversity is treated as an essential element of current organizations, only diversity is not sufficient. An organization that practices diversity can also be non-inclusive. Hence a continuous and sustainable practice of creating inclusive environments is very much required for organizational success [6].

When compared to the Western world India has a varied and distinct societal structure. The context in which Indian society operates is very much different from the Western world [7]. Due to these societal patterns, organizations operating in India have got a rich ground for the effective implementation of DEI.

According to the world bank prediction, India is the fourth largest economy in the world and a large number of foreign organizations are entering the Indian market [8]. This entry of foreign institutions called for cultural fusions and are resulting in diversity issues [9]. Being classified as an emerging economy, India is being placed in the category of countries that are culturally and contextually contrasting in nature and are focused on diversity but the environments and cultures of those countries don’t represent the Asian countries [10].

Indian society is categorized based on gender, caste, and race [11]. The workforce of Indian companies comprises both genders and belongs to various categories such as the general category, socially backward and disadvantaged classes, minority communities, and people with disabilities. Employment-related discriminations in India are the result of structural inequalities which always assigned a subordinate social status to fairer gender and minority groups [12]. These types of problems related to social stratification are better addressed by organizations through the aspects related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. However, the DEI implementation in Indian organizations is yet to take its roots.

Today’s organizations believe that everyone in their workforce has something to contribute and such contributions are valuable for them, hence they have a responsibility to address the traditional, historical barriers, and legacy factors that have resulted in unfair conditions for any under-represented groups in their organization.

In Indian organizations, DEI matters a lot in today’s environment. DEI implementation helps organizations to build and institutionalize fair practices and processes which allows all members of the workforce to get equal opportunities, it brings together ideas, perspectives, and people which helps in creating stronger bonds among the individuals leading to the creation of sustainable and stronger organizations [13].

The literature reviewed and the material gathered offered insight into the need for implementing DEI initiatives in Indian organizations, the questions related to what practices need to be adopted to advance DEI works in Indian organizations effectively largely remained unaddressed and unexplored. Through this study, an attempt is being made to fill this gap by gathering the views of employees who are implementing DEI aspects on the ground and exploring the high-impact practices that are being followed by them. Identification of the high-impact practices followed for advancing DEI in Indian organizations. Accordingly, the primary objectives of the study are as follows:

What practices do the DEI implementors perceive to be of high impact for driving DEI initiatives in their organizations?

How organizational leadership is driving DEI implementation and supporting the implementors within their organizations?

The above-stated research objectives will be of immense help to the organizations that are intending to take up the DEI journey as they provide a clear view and understanding of different high-impact practices that are being followed by the implementors of DEI.

2 Background and review of literature

The origins related to diversity in organizations can be traced back to 1960 which is also known as the era of civil rights in the Western world [14]. The civil rights movement brought in legal ramifications against discrimination in the workplace [15]. During the 1970s and 1980s organizations in the West started recognizing and acknowledging the fact that diversity is a necessary ingredient for a productive and sustainable organization. The shift in the implementation of diversity programs started in the late 80s with organizations focusing on HR-driven diversity programs which went beyond addressing the legal aspects [16]. The HR-driven diversity programs started becoming more broader with diverse aspects representing ages, genders, races, and sexual orientations. The diversity aspect is also combined with equity which deals with fair treatment and equal opportunities. The inclusion aspect is more to do with the feelings of being valued i.e., seen and heard. Due to these factors, DEI has taken its roots and become a focus item for organizations. Today most organizations in the USA have DEI initiatives as part of their organizational agendas [16].

There is a steep increase in the number of organizations that are adopting DEI initiatives. Around 80 to 90% of the organizations in the United States have some form of DEI initiative running in their organizations [17]. More and more Organizations in the USA realized the benefits offered by adopting DEI and started creating executive-level positions in their organizations to handle and drive DEI initiatives as a focused activity. The DEI executive-level positions continued to grow in the organizations and by the end of 2017, 47% of companies that are listed in the Standard and Poor’s 500 indexes (S&P 500) have got a Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) role [18]. In the year 2021 USA also created a CDO position in their state department.

The executive-level positions created in US organizations started dealing with DEI initiatives as their primary focus areas and started measuring the outcomes. CDOs and organizations started measuring DEI in quantitative terms e.g., percentage representation of various groups in their organizations and are their organizations paying fairly to all of their workforces.

Several models from various fields of study were adopted to measure the return on investment (ROI) related to the outcomes of DEI initiatives. The models and measures demonstrated the outcomes generated through DEI initiatives and the benefits derived by the organizations by adopting a diverse and equitable workplace [19–21].

2.1 Indian scenario

India inherits a rich ancient civilization that is highly diverse in its nature. The diversity of the country reflects in its multi-faceted history, institutional frameworks, and culture [22]. India is also one of the largest democracies in the world [23]. Due to the sheer nature of the country its civilization and diversity, it needs to address a variety of DEI issues not limited to age, gender, caste, language, regional backgrounds, religion, social disadvantages, etc., [24]. Indian society is also driven by a social stratification system with strict cultural and religious principles. A few castes dominate the social hierarchy and exercise considerable influence on other socially and economically disadvantaged castes [25]. The social hierarchy also shows gender distinction. Women are encouraged and are expected to take care of domestic duties post-marriage and childbirth [26]. The ingrained inequality and social hierarchy constitute the Indian societal framework [27]. The existence of privileged and subordinate status is regarded as the primary reason for discrimination in employment [28].

The constitution of India prohibits any type of discrimination based on the grounds of caste, creed, sex, or religion, [24]. Indian constitution also embraces certain affirmative actions to help disadvantaged groups in the form of reservations in public sector organizations [29]. However, the organizational and legal infrastructure in India is not comprehensive enough to implement the same. The principles of diversity that were emphasized for the public sector were not extended to agriculture and private sectors which are major employment creators [8]. Hence, even after affirmative measures and assurances provided through the constitution and legal framework inequalities, and discriminations are evident in Indian organizations [30, 31].

The low representation of women in Indian organizations is a common thing and gender inequalities are highly prevalent in Indian workplaces. Indian organizations started encouraging DEI concepts and started emphasizing gender diversity and equity through hiring, remuneration, and providing representation in leadership positions [32]. The World Economic Forum (WEF) gender gap report indicated that at the pace with which the diversity of the workforce is happening in India, Indian organizations need to wait approximately 135 years for bridging the gender gap completely [33] which is only one aspect of DEI.

India is a land of many languages, cultures and ethnicities. While women constitute 48.2% of India’s population their presence at the workplace is negligible and huge gender disparities continue to exist in Indian workspaces [34]. Indian organizations that have been running some form of diversity program for many years are only able to make very modest progress.

It is also an uphill task to get an understanding of the role played by DEI initiatives at Indian workplaces. Over the past few years, both the public and private sector organizations in India are taking various steps and initiatives for promoting the DEI aspects. For example, the securities exchange board of India (SEBI) which regulates the financial markets has made it mandatory to have at least one woman director on the board of all listed companies. The government of India’s recent legislations such as the Right of Persons with Disabilities bill and initiatives such as promoting LGBT right in workplaces are making DEI an infallible concept.

Indian economy will experience the potential DEI benefits when the influence of gender diversity which is critical for DEI is explored from both cultural and economic aspects [35]. Non-promotion of gender diversity in the workplace leads to huge economic losses. According to an industry report, it is estimated that a 10% increase in women’s participation in the Indian workforce will boost the country’s GDP by $770 billion by 2025 [35]. Apart from financial gains organizations that are working for the creation of DEI-enabling environments for everyone can experience their true potential through positive and measurable actions.

Learnings from the West indicated that DEI initiatives have been proven to be improving the performance and productivity of organizations. Organizations are also using DEI as a tool to build competitive advantage [19, 36]. While Indian companies like Aegis Customer Support Services Pvt. Ltd. (a Startek Company), Aristocrat Technologies India Pvt. Ltd., Avery Dennison (India) Pvt. Ltd. Biocon Ltd. Enable India, HSBC Electronic Data Processing India Pvt. Ltd., Intuit India, Mastercard Incorporated, S&P Global, Financial services, Synchrony International Services Pvt. Ltd. pioneered in DEI initiatives [37]. Most of these companies are operating in the area of information technology and financial services. Big organizational brands like Microsoft, Unilever, Google, and Tata Steel are also trying to move ahead from the concept of equal opportunity employers to DEI organizations by including LGBTQ+employees in their workforces and trying to become more inclusive organizations [36].

With the Indian economy booming and more multinational companies showing interest in establishing their offices and manufacturing units in the country, there is an urgent need to build and ingrain the DEI culture into organizational strategy and move away from standalone initiatives.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has made it mandatory for the top 1,000 listed companies to annually disclose Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-related performance information from the financial year 2022-23, Due to this the workforce social aspects such as diversity, inclusive, equal opportunity, fair treatment etc., have suddenly gained traction. While traditional or legacy Indian organizations have in place people practices and policies which are not so inclusive in nature, new-age organizations evolved beyond the conventional people practices and are providing great employees experience, but on the other hand, their leadership teams are struggling for guidance and the right frameworks to put in place sustainable, inclusive and fair opportunity and DEI practices in their organizations. Hence organizations in every industry sector are struggling to put the required DEI practices, processes and frameworks in place for advancing DEI in their organizations. The literature review conducted has also indicated a research gap in terms of proven DEI processes and frameworks that worked for Indian organizations.

Indian organizations are trying to address and adopt DEI practices by creating DEI positions in their HR departments or adding them to the roles of existing staff members by providing them training on DEI-related aspects, these small initiatives cannot influence and bring the change required. Learning from the West highlighted the importance of creating DEI roles at the executive level with clear DEI responsibilities. The benefit of having dedicated DEI professionals in Indian organizations and amplifying their high-impact practices to advance DEI work in their organization is not comprehensively captured in the literature. This study attempts to focus specifically on high-impact practices followed by DEI professionals in Indian organizations.

3 Research methodology

As DEI adoption is at a very nascent state, frameworks and models related to its implementation and practice are still evolving. Researchers started adopting the available models from various streams and are trying to study various aspects of DEI. Following this trend, The Culturally Engaging Campus Environment (CECE) model developed by Museus [38] is found to suit this study requirement and is being adopted for conducting this study.

The CECE model was developed to examine the impact that institutional environments have on the success of a student population that is racially diverse in nature. Museus through this model established that it is very important to incorporate the realities and lived experiences of the students into campus structures and their success was heavily dependent on the institution’s capability to encourage and cultivate an environment that validates the student’s background and provides them with opportunities to engage with their groups and peers both in curricular (formal) and co-curricular (informal) settings.

The CECE model has nine DEI indicators, 1) Cultural Familiarity; 2) Culturally Relevant Knowledge; 3) Cultural Community Service; 4) Meaningful Cross-Cultural Engagement; 5) Collectivist Cultural Orientations; 6) Culturally Validating Environments; 7) Humanized Educational Environments; 8) Proactive Philosophies; and 9) Holistic Support. When these nine components are found to be present in any institutional or organizational environment, the organization can be termed as inclusive and the diverse population are more likely to achieve success. The nine success indicators were further grouped by Museus into two categories namely cultural relevance and cultural responsiveness. Cultural relevance deals with the relevancy of campus environments to varied backgrounds of people and second cultural responsiveness deals with how the policies, procedures, and practices adopted by institutions are addressing the need of diverse groups.

The CECE model primarily designed for student success has been used for measuring faculty as well as administrators’ success [39]. Hence, the CECE model was selected as a tool to inform organizational stakeholders on how to develop their organizational environments with high-impact practices for taking forward DEI-related works.

3.1 Research design

The research instrument which was used for interviews was designed by modifying Museus CECE indicators to suit the organizational context and the same was administered while interviewing the participants for this study. The interviewer noted down the participant’s gender and type of his organization as part of the interview. Some of the interview questions are, How would you describe the culture and work environment of your organization; What diversity and inclusion services are you providing to your employees; What have been some of your major successes in your assignment as a DEI resource person; How do you ensure that all parts of your organizations are promoting DEI; Based on your experience and various DEI activities you have undertaken what do you think are high impact DEI activities; What resources and tools you use for promoting DEI aspect in your organization; What is your organization’s leadership view on DEI and what support you are getting from your leadership; The interview questions covered both cultural relevance and cultural responsiveness aspects.

A semi-structured interview method was used for data collection, guided by the questionnaire, the semi-structured interview helped in capturing the narrations related to the experience of the employees working on DEI initiatives and allowed probing on the aspects of their organizations that contributed to meaningful DEI implementation work. A pilot interview was done with five participants based on which the interview questions were refined and used for final data collection.

3.1.1 Sample selection

DEI adoption in India is at a very nascent state, there is no published data on the adoption of DEI initiatives by companies. According to a survey done by Valuvox [40], only 33% of large organizations have adopted DEI Policies in some form. 73% of small businesses lack awareness. 19% of midsized organizations, 12% of small organizations and 10% of large organizations are on the DEI formalization path. Most organization doesn’t have committed resources nor leadership positions created for carrying out DEI implementation of responsibilities.

Based on the above inputs, a purposeful snowball sampling technique was used for selecting the sample. The sample criteria set of this study is the participant should be either working in any of the Multi-National Companies operating out of India (Type-I), a large Indian company (Type-II) or a mid-sized Indian company (Type-III) and is a part of the department/group which is responsible for the implementation of DEI programs for his organization.

The selection of MNC companies (Type-I) for this study is based on the criteria that the enterprise or company is into either manufacturing, sales or services business in more than one country with a parent company located in the home country and operates in other countries through subsidiaries [41]. The selection of large Indian companies (Type-II) for this study is based on the Indian largest companies listed in the Forbes Global 2000 list [42] and mid-sized Indian companies (Type-III) are from the list of Forbes Asia Best under Billion 2022 list [43]. The researcher approached 100 employees working in the HR departments of the above type of companies and tried to enquire about DEI initiatives in their companies and their involvement in them. Based on the initial enquiry 50 employees sounded to be potential participants post further scanning 20 of them accepted to participate in the study. Snowball sampling yielded another 10 participants. Halfway through the interview one of the participants opted out and another participant has not responded to reach-out calls made by the researcher, which made the total sample size of this study to 28 employees involved in implementing DEI initiatives in various Indian organizations.

Most of the participants requested anonymity accordingly no personally identifiable information was collected and organizations were grouped as types. An overview of the participant profile is presented in the below table.

Table 1
Overview of the participant profile

Participant No. Gender Type of company Company category

1 Female Multinational Type-I

2 Female Multinational Type-I

3 Female Multinational Type-I

4 Female Multinational Type-I

5 Female Multinational Type-I

6 Female Multinational Type-I

7 Female Multinational Type-II

8 Female Multinational Type-II

9 Female Multinational Type-II

10 Female Large Indian Company Type-II

11 Female Mid-Size Indian Company Type-III

12 Female Mid-Size Indian Company Type-III

13 Male Large Indian Company Type-II

14 Male Large Indian Company Type-II

15 Male Large Indian Company Type-II

16 Male Large Indian Company Type-II

17 Male Mid-Size Indian Company Type-III

18 Male Multinational Type-I

19 Male Multinational Type-I

20 Male Multinational Type-I

21 Male Multinational Type-I

22 Male Multinational Type-I

23 Male Multinational Type-I

24 Male Large Indian Company Type-II

25 Male Large Indian Company Type-II

26 Male Mid-Size Indian Company Type-III

27 Male Mid-Size Indian Company Type-III

28 Male Mid-Size Indian Company Type-III

Participant No.	Gender	Type of company	Company category
1	Female	Multinational	Type-I
2	Female	Multinational	Type-I
3	Female	Multinational	Type-I
4	Female	Multinational	Type-I
5	Female	Multinational	Type-I
6	Female	Multinational	Type-I
7	Female	Multinational	Type-II
8	Female	Multinational	Type-II
9	Female	Multinational	Type-II
10	Female	Large Indian Company	Type-II
11	Female	Mid-Size Indian Company	Type-III
12	Female	Mid-Size Indian Company	Type-III
13	Male	Large Indian Company	Type-II
14	Male	Large Indian Company	Type-II
15	Male	Large Indian Company	Type-II
16	Male	Large Indian Company	Type-II
17	Male	Mid-Size Indian Company	Type-III
18	Male	Multinational	Type-I
19	Male	Multinational	Type-I
20	Male	Multinational	Type-I
21	Male	Multinational	Type-I
22	Male	Multinational	Type-I
23	Male	Multinational	Type-I
24	Male	Large Indian Company	Type-II
25	Male	Large Indian Company	Type-II
26	Male	Mid-Size Indian Company	Type-III
27	Male	Mid-Size Indian Company	Type-III
28	Male	Mid-Size Indian Company	Type-III

Source: Authors’ survey data compilation.

3.2 Data collection and analysis

The researcher pre-booked interview timing with each participant and the interview was conducted using online meetings. On average each interview lasted for 60 minutes and to retain anonymity the participant was asked to use pseudonyms or numbers instead of their real names. An interview guide was used for conducting the interviews.

The researcher intended to audio record the interviews however due to the concerns expressed by some of the participants the researcher dropped the idea. The researcher aided by an assistant has taken detailed noting of the points made by participants during the interviews and also made his noting’s with interpretations as required. After each interview, the transcript was given a unique number and stored for future analysis.

While performing the analysis, the interview transcript and the interviewer’s notes were read twice and the transcript got open-coded. These codes were then categorized and organized into a code list. The coded list was then axially coded [44] various themes were identified using axial coding [44].

The CECE model was used as a lens to get an understanding of how organizational environments that encourage and promote DEI aspects can be created. How culturally relevant initiatives and culturally responsive processes such as policies, procedures, and practices were used in advancing the DEI works in their organizations.

4 Findings

Four dominant themes emerged as high-impact themes from the coded interview data. The themes that emerged are 1. Employee hiring & retention, 2. Support and engagement, 3. Culturally relevant and responsive programs 4. Transformation framework. These four themes are in alignment with the study objectives and are also in alignment with the CECE model proposed by Museus.

4.1 Employee hiring and retention theme

All participants who participated in the study touched upon the importance of hiring practices to attract a variety of diverse talent into their organization. The participant expressed that the intake of diverse talent (women, socially backward, economically weak, differently abled, etc.,) will either support the existing organizational practices or start challenging them by questioning the status quo which will result in strengthening the practices.

All participants also held a very strong viewpoint on having a robust HR strategy related to recruitment and retention which can foster the DEI environment. 80% of the participants were quite audible about their organization trying to change the culture of recruitment and trying to shift to a diverse, inclusive and equity-oriented strategy. Participants of type-I organizations mentioned that there are clear recruitment guidelines that are available to follow. It is interesting to note that a couple of participants from type-II organizations said that they have amended their recruitment handbooks recently to include checklists related to DEI.

Most of the participants from type-III organizations said that their managements expect them to bring diversity to the recruitment process, however, they are no guidelines or inputs provided to them. One of the participants from the type-III organization said that she on her own paid and attended courses related to recruitment bias as the participant felt without formal knowledge, she is not able to bring in the diversity expected by her company. One of the participants of type-I companies said that they have in place a good dashboarding facility that represents DEI aspects in recruitment.

One of the participants from the type-II company mentioned that they are approaching and seeking help from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) who are working for the upliftment of underprivileged sections of society. The participant further narrated that when I come to know of a vacancy or upcoming vacancy, I will reach out to an NGO and seek their help to encourage the qualified member from the underprivileged sections to apply for the position. When the interviewer probed further on the success rate of such efforts the participant firmly said that “Believe me there is enough talent out there I had a lot of success and working this way has also helped me in expanding my available talent pool”.

To summarize the recruitment aspect most of the participants achieved some amount of success in diversifying their recruitment process and making it more equitable by being intentional and strategic about the diversification. The interviewer felt that type-III organizations need to focus on providing more input to their employees working on DEI initiatives through training to bridge the understanding gaps. Using external service-oriented organizations such as NGOs came as an aspect of interest.

100% of the participants interviewed are of the view that a good recruitment strategy also needs to be supported by a good retention strategy. A participant from a type-II organization mentioned that his company retention policy emphasizes a special focus on the retention of under-represented communities. Around 5 participants from type-I companies mentioned there are some forms of mentorship or campus buddy programs available in their companies that lend support to retaining individuals from diverse backgrounds. Participants from type-III organizations acknowledge that while they could successfully diversify their recruitment, they have challenges in retaining the diverse talent they have hired. This was attributed mostly to the non-availability of a formal support structure for promoting diversity. Participants from Type-I organizations pointed out that before hiring an individual from a diversified background he always takes that extra care to check whether his company can provide a welcoming environment to the prospective employee he is trying to recruit, and how fast an understanding program can be made available to the new joiner where he will be able to understand and feel the inclusive culture adopted by their company. The participants felt that the organizations need to focus on inclusion activities and adopt inclusive culture first even before focusing on diversity. Having an inclusive culture will help in retaining the diverse talent recruited.

The employee hiring and retention theme is directly connected with proactive aspects of the CECE framework. Museus outlined these proactive aspects as major factors that promote proactive organizational environments which understand the needs of the minority and under-represented members and provide them with the required support that enables them to thrive and succeed.

4.2 Engaging and supporting relationship theme

This theme speaks about how engaged are the participants in performing their DEI activities. All participants at some point of time during the interview process spoke about the importance of relationships they have with their employees and how these relationships helped them perform the DEI activities in their organizations.

A participant from a type-II organization spoke at length about the strong relationships and bonding that she has developed with her employees, and managers, across all departments of her organization, and how those relationships have helped her in successfully performing DEI activities. Relationships with employees were important to the person performing the DEI-driven tasks as they are the driving forces that push the participant to continue as a DEI change agent and create an organizational environment that is diverse, inclusive and supportive to all its employees and especially to those who belong to minority and under-represented groups. As a part of the diversity initiative, an employee from a minority religious group was recruited into the organization by a participant from a type-III organization. The participant felt that the newly recruited employee is struggling to have the food prepared at his company canteen and being a minority member, it was very difficult for him to speak about the problem of getting the food of his choice (no garlic, no roots, and animal fat). The employee is not even ready to discuss his issues with anyone as there is no other employee who belongs to his group. The new minority group employee saw the interviewed participant trying to address similar problems of others, slowly began to open up, and started expressing his dietary choice and issues he is facing with the canteen food. The participant ensured the issue is addressed to the satisfaction of the employee.

A participant from a type-I organization mentioned that they have an internal group that supports DEI initiatives and this group provides support to minority groups and helps them where ever required. This group engages closely with minority employee groups and provides space for discussions with required managers who are implementing DEI activities. As a result of this group, engagement relationships between minority employees and various departments as well as other employees in their organization improved. Everyone in the organization started committing to the success of the minority groups in their organization.

Most of the participants felt the need of involving external members and groups to take the DEI initiatives in their organization to the next level. Most of the participants also felt that external environments are crucial to support and influence their organization’s DEI initiatives, participant from the type-II company told that they are working with various colleges and training institutions and seeking help in identifying the diverse talent which they are looking for. Once the resource got onboarded, they seek the help of training institutions to fill the cultural, behavioral, and skill-related gaps. According to the participant this approach worked for their organization as the new joiners are using the inputs provided to them during this training effectively.

The detailed discussion emphasized the importance of DEI implementors in establishing sustained relationships not only with minorities group but also with all other departments including external stakeholders.

This engaging and supporting relationship theme highlighted the fact that when minority groups in organizations were encouraged and provided with the chance to develop strong bonding and meaningful relationships with other organizational members, they are more likely to feel a stronger sense of belongingness, which in turn helped them to achieve personal and professional success. This theme aligns directly with the “Humanized Educational Environment” indicator of the CECE framework.

4.3 Culturally relevant and responsive programs

60% of the participants expressed their views in favor of their organizations conducting programs that are culturally relevant and responsive in nature. Participants from type-I organizations mentioned that their company’s town hall sessions and meet-with-leader sessions helped them in giving the right perspective and sending the right message on the culture and responsiveness of their organization. These sessions instilled confidence among the minority and under-represented communities. A participant from a type-III company explained that she as a coordinator of the DEI initiative is conducting a weekly workshop with various diversified groups. During these workshops, various items related to the discomforts, policy, and required procedural changes were discussed. These weekly workshops helped to conceive ideas, processes, and procedures which resulted in advancing the DEI initiatives in her organization.

All participants during their interview mentioned the benefits of leadership interventions, committee meetings, and get-togethers that helped them in advancing the DEI implementation in their organization. A participant from a type-III organization spoke about a women’s self-help group which is a voluntary group that works in their organization, this group provides mentorship and support to new women joiners and helps them in their transition process.

A participant from a type-II company shared his experience of running a one-pager newsletter for a period of three months to educate everyone in their organization on DEI aspects. The newsletter helped in creating awareness among the masses on various aspects of DEI. Participants recalled that the topics such as workplace discrimination, harassment, and freedom of expression became the discussion points after the newsletter publication. According to the participant, the newsletter helped in spreading the basic understanding of the concepts related to DEI, and the employees in their organization are now able to quickly understand and connect with any of the DEI topics and can address the issue to the extent possible. According to the participant, the newsletter helped in advancing the DEI implementation process in their organizations.

Participant from type-III company narrated her experience saying that being a small company and with the little budget available for the promotion of DEI in the organization the HR team which is responsible for bringing in diversity has found a unique way of connecting with disadvantaged and minority groups in their organization using coffee as an instrument. The HR team member used to approach one of the minority group members and strike up an informal conversation over a cup of coffee in their cafeteria. The conversion starts over very casual topics such as movies, cricket, rain, etc. and slowly moves towards serious topics such as difficulties faced by the minority groups, what can make their life easy and get them connected to the mainstream, etc., the interviewed participant said that they have always kept the tone of the conversation as very casual and soft which made other parties comfortable. However, these conversations in some cases continued for more than a month to yield any meaningful information.

Participants also touched upon the need and effectiveness of organized training programs on topics like career advancement, handling hostile environments and situations, leading teams, leadership styles, etc. Most of the participants told the interviewer that the formal training provided by their organizations helped the minority or underprivileged groups in advancing their skills which resulted in advancing their careers.

Proactively anticipating the needs of diverse and minority groups, planning the initiatives, and developing training programs which support and improve their lived experiences came out as a crucial factor. The examples cited by the interviewed participants also emphasized the importance of responding to the immediate needs of the marginalized members and helping them with the required training which will help in advancing their careers and skills.

The importance of imparting knowledge to minorities and the importance of incorporating the knowledge from minorities into the organization and using the same for the advancement of DEI programs is the key aspect of this theme. Accordingly, this theme is connected to the culturally relevant knowledge indicator of the CECE model.

4.4 Transformation framework

All the participants spoke about creating a comprehensive transformation framework to enable DEI transformation in their organizations. All the participants indicated that the support structures which are available in their organizations are not sufficiently equipping them to advance the DEI implementation in their organization. All participants expressed the need for more support and buy-in from their senior organization members on DEI implementation aspects. According to the participants, buy-in from the top management will help in setting the right tone and makes DEI one of the organization’s priorities.

A participant from a type-I company shared, that the director of his company while speaking in a town hall meeting spoke about the importance of having a diverse culture and the need for transforming their organization into DEI friendly organization as a priority item. All the senior managers got the message loud and clear and the emphasis by the director-level person in the town hall has helped in getting the buy-in for DEI initiatives.

Another participant from a type III company stressed the need of getting the buy-in from the immediate leadership of the marginalized employee. From the participant’s experience, it is the support received from the immediate supervisor which makes DEI initiatives more effective.

Participants of this study also emphasized the need of having a transparent DEI framework with clear open communication lines for doing impactful DEI work. The availability of communication channels with senior leadership and the leadership’s willingness to hear feedback on initiatives that worked and did not work will boost the morale of DEI professionals.

Participants of Type-I company spoke about the need for either having a DEI position in the senior leadership team, or a DEI practitioner having a direct report line to the senior leadership team is crucial to advance DEI initiatives.

All the participants spoke about the need of allocating specific budgets for DEI-related works, in the participants’ views allocating budgets not only helps in speeding up the initiatives but also indicates commitment and seriousness of the organization toward DEI activities which in turn makes the DEI professionals’ job easy.

The comments made by the participants illustrate that when resources like funding are available, DEI professionals can develop their expertise and help organizations in advancing DEI activities further.

The importance of having relevant support structures and leadership support for DEI professionals was an important driving force to engage in innovative and transformative DEI work within the organization. This theme is directly related to the second objective of this study and as pointed out in the CECE framework, the availability of a comprehensive holistic support structure is crucial for racially minoritized populations to succeed and thrive.

5 Discussion

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) implementation leads to improved business outcomes [45] provides many benefits and contributes to promoting innovation, productivity, and resilience [46]. Additionally DEI implementation contributes to equality of opportunity and treatment through the employment life cycle, including recruitment, retention, promotion, remuneration, and training [47]. Apart from allowing diverse perspectives DEI implementation helped companies to effectively reach out to their diverse customer and market segments [46]. It was found that racial and gender diversities [48] along with other aspects have resulted in increased sales revenues and customer acquisition resulting in greater market share.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion aspects are linked with each other, and most Indian firms are only adopting any one of them as the key driver for achieving success. Organizations operating at a global scale have found that diversity was a key driver for innovation and is critical for their success [49]. However, Diversity Management alone is found to be insufficient to improve the business performance of the organizations [45] Organizations which are only focused on diversity are not able to address issues related to inclusiveness and equity and are being criticized for excluding members related to different identity groups and limiting their participation in the organization [50]. Hence, Inclusive and Equitable workplaces with supportive leadership will help in translating the gains further. While gender diversity and employee engagement (equity and inclusive) activities independently predict the financial performance of the businesses and employee engagement serving as a moderator for diversity performance relationships with a diverse workforce brings different insights, viewpoints and a broader skill base which will help in problem-solving innovation [51].

Organizations following Equity, Inclusion and Diversity are thought to offer chances for greater creativity, and innovation, perform financially better, will have more organizational adaptability and flexibilities, better information processing, will have employee stickiness (retention) and enhance the corporate image [52, 53]. It is found that when the workforce believes that their organization is supportive of diversity and they feel included and reported better performance. It is also observed that if 10% more employees feel included the company will increase work attendance by almost one day per year per employee [54]. DEI linkage i.e., heterogeneity and desirable work outcomes are more critical when the work involves tacit knowledge as it involves knowledge workers. Given that possessing knowledge is the privilege of any one employee or a group [55].

The most common initiatives related to diversity include training. Most organizations are focusing on diversity and inclusion-related training and several studies tried to assess the impact related to diversity [56]. Diversity programs are one of the most common areas of focus which includes a focus on ethnicity, age and race. The focus of training among European union-based companies is inclined towards disability, and sexual orientation while Asia – Pacific company’s trainings are focused towards age, ethnicity and race [49] other common DEI initiatives include demographically targeted recruitment and mentoring.

Indian labor force constitutes major categories of excluded groups that include women, Adivasis, Muslims, OBC communities and persons with different kinds of disabilities [57], It also includes other disadvantaged groups like Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT). Women’s participation in the labor force is still at a dismal rate. Employees’ perception towards inclusion revolves around team citizenship behavior [56]Indian organizations need to rebalance their focus from diversity and work simultaneously work on all aspects of DEI to fully unleash the potential of their labor forces.

High-impact practices in any area are defined as practices that can influence the outcome and lead to success. Based on the interviews conducted with the DEI professionals working in multinational (Type-I), Large Indian companies that are operating in India (Type-II), and Mid-size Indian companies (Type-III) four impact parameters a) Diverse hiring and retention practices b) Engagement and support practices c) Culturally relevant and responsive programs d) Transformation framework. are found to be influencing the positive outcomes and are aiding to the success of DEI initiatives. These four high-impact practices can be used as a foundation for implementing and advancing DEI works in Indian organizations. These high-impact practices not only act as enablers but also help organizations in moving towards setting up more comprehensive practices.

While DEI works and the benefits they provide were widely researched in the Western world, DEI as a concept is still at its nascency in India and there is little literature available on DEI professionals’ experiences and the practices they follow to achieve success in Indian organizations. The findings of this study outline the high-impact practices and how DEI professionals used these practices to advance DEI works in Indian organizations. Thus, this study contributes to the extension of literature related to high-impact practices that were followed by DEI professionals in Indian companies for implementing and advancing the DEI.

This study’s findings highlighted the benefits offered by bringing diversity in hiring and retention practices. While much work is done in organizations on fair recruitment practices and employee engagement aspects this study’s findings indicated that Indian organizations should be more focused and should intentionally design initiatives related to recruitment and retention to target minorities and, under-represented groups. This intentional targeting and recruitment are much required as a lack of diverse representation or employees in the organization is a barrier to advancing DEI.

The study also extended the literature related to retention practices by adding a combination of diversity and retention dimensions. The need for organizations to proactively implement processes and procedures and find new avenues to recruit and retain. Also prioritizing and implementing diverse hiring practices and plans for long-term sustainable retention plans will advance DEI initiatives. These findings are in alignment with the core component of the CECE Model [38].

Relationships are the heart of implementing any DEI program, Strong relationships benefit the smooth implementation of DEI policies, practices, and programs. The relationships are the basis for building communities and collaborative partnerships which can address issues and help in fast-forwarding agendas. It was noticed that sustained and meaningful relationships with various stakeholders have far-reaching impacts in terms of DEI implementation, and advancement and contribute to the success of minority employees as well as marginalized groups. It is also observed during the study that positive relationships between DEI implementors and top leadership played a significant role in the success and sustenance of DEI activities. The relationships contributed to humanizing organizational environments and creating spaces to engage. This theme is directly connected with humanized environment aspect under the CECE model.

The study observed the need for culturally relevant and responsive programs. The need for such programs got highlighted by various participants. When the training and education inputs provided through various programs facilitate engagement with real-life situations and the required skills to face them, employees benefit from them as they can effectively face and solve real-life issues and at the same time can develop personal, and professional skill-related aspects [38]. Culturally relevant programming aspects affirm and help people from diverse backgrounds. If the right anticipation can be done by the DEI coordinator on the needs of the minority groups and plan the programs addressing those requirements that itself sends a strong message that the organization cares and values minorities’ presence and minorities group’s development is a priority for the organization.

An important aspect highlighted by this study is the emphasis on the transformation framework. The transformation framework acts as a bridge and equips the DEI coordinators with the required tools and accessories for transforming the organizations. The theme emphasizes the need and importance of a holistic support framework structure which is the core aspect of the CECE model. The transformation framework and tools created need to be used by DEI professionals both as an enabler for support and assessment. Providing just inputs and putting up checklists will not help in pushing DEI initiatives. The study observed that the DEI professionals backed by organizational leadership and required resources are the ones who are very successful. Hence employees working on DEI should be made available with a transformational framework along with required support for implementing and advancing the DEI.

6 Limitations, implications and conclusion

6.1 Limitations of the study

The objective of this study is to get the views of actual DEI implementors, however, due to the nascency of the subject under research, the available sample for this research is too small for generalizing the results. This study has only thrown light on the high-impact practices that are being followed and how such practices promoted the successful implementation of DEI work in their organizations from the implementors’ perspective. The employee’s or the beneficiaries’ perspectives were not considered in this study.

6.2 Study implications

Learnings from successful global DEI implementations and their implications revealed that being a DEI organization has improved companies’ overall culture where employees are healthier and feel happier, customers feel respected and managers become more inclusive in implementing different ideas. Enabled organizations to hire the best talent from an untapped and diverse talent pool thus enabling managers to have greater access to the talent pool and skillsets [58]. A study conducted by Harvard Business Review on banks revealed that banks with diverse environments and cultures had a 19% higher innovation revenue [59]. There is a piece of evidence in favour of DEI initiatives creating an attractive environment for job-seekers around 47% of millennials who are on the job hunt are actively showing interest in pursuing jobs with companies that have adopted diversity at the workplace which indicates the need for having DEI initiatives for attract and best and brightest talent available in the market [60].

DEI initiatives are helping organizations in building engaged and happy workforce. DEI-focused organizations are more likely to have a positive and engaged workforce and their employees tend to have increased job satisfaction and trust factor.

Learning from the implications stated above, Indian Organizations can adopt the high-impact process presented through this study and tap fully into their people’s potential. Organizations may inform their customers, suppliers and other stakeholders about the DEI adoption initiatives that are being pursued and how such initiatives are helping to outpace the competition. By doing so stakeholders would be satisfied and will also come to know how their organization is respecting the unique needs, perspectives and capabilities of their employees. and how DEI workplaces can earn deeper employee trust and commitment.

Indian organizations should plan communications around various DEI activities through, seminars, or meetings to encourage, motivate and inform their stakeholders about the criticality of having an equitable workplace.

Further, this study proposes the following theoretical and managerial implications. From the theory standpoint contributions are made to the related literature of diversity, equitable workplace, and equal opportunity employers by exploring how organizations may effectively foster the concept of equal opportunity employer and workplace. Further, this study highlights the high-impact DEI process that helped in fostering DEI initiatives. The participants of this study spotlighted important insights on aspects that created a positive impact concerning the implementation and sustenance of DEI initiatives. This study further provides empirical evidence in the respective research literature from the contextualization of Indian organizations. From a managerial aspect, this study provides various insights for policymakers, DEI practitioners and strategic managers to embrace DEI practices in their organizations. DEI’s concerned management and practitioners are further encouraged to focus on the high-impact process highlighted in this study.

Indian social system and societal structure have imbalances. The purpose and objectives of this study itself establish social relevance. The very fact that participants interviewed spoke about the help being extended by NGO organizations for taking their DEI initiative forward in itself an effort in a small way to solve the social problem. With organizations hands-on working on DEI initiatives with various government, non-government and social groups the social implications are obvious.

This study helps provide inputs and information about the high-impact process to organizations and social groups. This study is also relevant for the employees who are playing the DEI implementation role in their organizations. The high-impact processes prescribed through this study help implementors by providing the much-required direction for incorporating the DEI ethos into their organizations. The details exposition of high-impact areas provides input to DEI implementors or administrators who are also responsible for designing and delivering programs related to DEI.

6.3 Future research avenues

DEI implementation in Indian organizations has just taken its roots and the sample available for conducting any study is limited in nature to generalize the results. Researchers advise conducting a similar study couple of years down the lane for generalizing the results. There is a lot of scope for carrying out evidence-based research that will showcase DEI’s effectiveness. Such, studies will inspire leaders for investing their time and resources. Future researchers can focus on exploring various mediating and moderating factors which impact DEI and the boundary conditions that need to be in place for its effectiveness. There is a lot of scope for research in the areas of DEI-related training and development for future researchers to explore. DEI research conducted in one area or one industry vertical may not translate exactly to others e.g., DEI challenges faced by the LGBTQ community or differently abled groups working in the service sectors may not translate in any proximity to the manufacturing vertical, such nuances also can be empirically explored through future research.

This study is confined to the identification of the high-impact process which helped in advancing DEI. To gauge the pervasiveness and persistence of the impact in the long run longitudinal studies can be conducted in this area in future.

Future research should focus on the problems faced by type-II and type-III companies in implementing the DEI initiatives and how they can successfully implement, sustain and advance DEI initiatives.

This study also comes with limitations, the focus of this study is on the implementation and implementors’ views of DEI, and future studies can be carried out from the viewpoint of organizations and minority groups. studies can also be conducted on the challenges and limitations faced by DEI professionals with large sample sizes.

DEI as a concept has evolved over the last decade and the focus of research on DEI aspects gained momentum, very little research exists on DEI in the Indian context. Over the past few years, several Indian organizations are looking at DEI and trying to implement various initiatives for advancing DEI culture in their organizations. By identifying the high-impact areas and key actions and initiatives undertaken by successful organizations to meet their contextual needs, others can fast-forward their DEI programs and begin to see and appreciate the outcomes delivered by implementing and advancing the DEI initiatives.

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

Not applicable and no funding was received for this study.

Author contributions

CONCEPTION: Volety Naga Sreedhar

METHODOLOGY: Parameswar Nayak

DATA COLLECTION: Volety Naga Sreedhar

INTERPRETATION OR ANALYSIS OF DATA: Volety Naga Sreedhar and Parameswar Nayak

PREPARATION OF THE MANUSCRIPT: Volety Naga Sreedhar

REVISION FOR IMPORTANT INTELLECTUAL CONTENT: Volety Naga Sreedhar

SUPERVISION: Parameswar Nayak

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