PROMOTING WORKPLACE INCLUSION

With increasing mobility and search for better opportunities, society is witnessing a change that is unprecedented. One major influence has been that of management and technical education that has transformed the workforce dramatically. A visit to any workplace will bear witness to the sea change that has been brought about. A typical workplace today is a socio-cultural mosaic in which the workforce is a highly diverse mix of religious and cultural groups. It is rather commonplace to find a shop floor with manager of one religion coming from one region of the country leading a workforce of several different religions coming from different regions. Not that it was not so in the past. Only the incidence has risen tremendously, so if the past was an exception, the present is the norm.

With persons of different religious and cultural identities working under one roof, organisations and managements find themselves on a sticky wicket as they feel the need to convert the workplace into a melting pot. This, however, is easier said than done. The responsibility of the management, especially, the CEO has therefore increased as he/she has to ensure that the diverse groups do not feel excluded. Imagine a workplace in a remote corner of a country dominated by a particular religio-cultural cohort with several small groups of different religious and cultural backgrounds. And imagine the feelings of such groups who may find themselves as odd minority groups who are not able to gel with the majority culturally and socially.

Fortunately, workplace legislations have evolved to a great extent with laws being enacted to ensure fairness in ostensibly all matters of technical and regulatory aspects. But what about the psychological inclusion, which is so very important to ensure that the minority groups do not feel alienated as this alienation may, rather will, lead to indifferent attitudes, ultimately affecting the quality of both performance and workplace relationships? It is this issue that has become a major concern for CEOs and top managements, particularly organisations where employee strength is large and highly diverse. Especially the PSUs where the corporate management is under Government mandate to be objectively fair.

While many strategies can be formulated by the human resource management departments to bring about, rather promote, workplace inclusion, the role of the top leadership, particularly the CEO, is crucial. It is the initiative from the top that makes all the difference. A case in point is the PSU Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) in Tamil Nadu. A corporation under the Central PSUs, NLC has a large workforce comprising religious, linguistic, and culturally different cohorts. Dr SK Acharya, the present CEO, is a hardcore HR man and has worked out an innovative way to ensure workplace inclusion of the culturally diverse groups. Though he has not been there for long, his grooming in human psychology enables him to take a decision that is proving enriching. Earlier, each cultural group would celebrate its festivals in its own way. The present CEO has made the different religious and cultural festivals a company affair and the NLC management celebrates 14 different festivals for different groups. The expenses are borne out of the funds earmarked for these occasions, which Dr Acharya believes is a small investment to ensure workplace inclusion and create universal brotherhood. This facilitates social camaraderie and strengthens national integration. This can be emulated.