Avtar Sets on a Mission to transform 1,00,000 companies to Equitable Workspaces
A unique initiative launched by Avtar Group, India’s pioneer in the space of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, the Business is Good (BIG) aims to increase Women’s Workforce Participation in Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities by ensuring that 5,00,000 women enter the workforce by 2027.
The campaign was launched on Monday and top honchos from different industries across the country, came together to vouch for DEI which has triggered a growth in their businesses. Some of the key participants were Amit Gossain, Managing Director, KONE Elevator India Pvt Ltd, Satish Pillai, Managing Director of India, Nielsen IQ, Daisy Devassy Chittilapilly, President, Cisco India & SAARC Deepak Iyer, President, Mondelez India Foods Pvt Ltd, Siva Padmanabhan, Managing Director, AstraZeneca India Pvt Ltd, Chandan Barve, Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, ASC, Sun Life India Service Centre Private Limited and Chandrakant Nayak, CEO & Country President, Dow Chemical International Pvt Ltd (Dow India).
Contrary to the World Economic Forum’s projections that suggest that it would take 100-plus years to close the gender gap, Avtar & Seramount Best Companies for Women in India is set to achieve a 50: 50 gender balance with equal representation of men and women by 2027. According to the study, women’s representation at the 100 Best has grown from 25% in 2016 to 34.5 in 2021. Following the projections, the 100 Best Companies will get to a 50-50 gender balance by 2027.
“Through innovative practices and deep commitment, the Best Companies for Women have put themselves on the fast track towards achieving gender balance as early as 2027. These companies have reaped the fruit of rising the gender diversity bar in their operating profits,” said Dr. Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President, Avtar Group in an exclusive media interaction yesterday launching the BIG initiative.
As per India’s largest diversity analytics exercise that Avtar hosts – the 100 Best Companies for Women in India, 62 companies recorded an increase in operating profit, 73 companies recorded greater innovation revenue and 81 companies recorded an increase in customer satisfaction, during a time frame that gender diversity grew by over 2%. “We are extremely proud to have partnered with many of these organizations on their DEI Maturity Journey; seeing them move the needles as they moved up the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Maturity Curve (DEIMC © – a proprietary measurement model developed by Avtar, that assesses the ability of an organization to leverage diversity, promote equity and nurture inclusion,” added Dr. Saundarya.
Avtar launched the “Business is Good” campaign and initiative to ensure that 100,000 businesses by the year 2027 become diverse, equitable and inclusive. This will be achieved by large corporates who have visibly seen the benefits of DEI. The top leaders at these role-model organizations will be part of the initiative driven by Avtar, in which they will share not only their own business benefited from DEI, but also how their companies instilled this culture.
Satish Pillai, Managing Director of India, Nielsen IQ, said that DEI is not a hard concept to incorporate even though it may be time-consuming. “If you believe it’s important for survival then that’s the way to move forward. None of the employees should feel like they don’t fit in. It’s hard to keep your eyes open and notice all this, but DEI is still the easiest system to install in a workspace.” He stated that DEI is the reason behind their success and hence it has contributed to 100% of the company’s growth.
As a kick-start to the campaign, Avtar had organized an insightful and in-depth Focus Group Discussion for CXOs today, where they brought in their perspectives on DEI Daisy Devassy Chittilapilly, President, Cisco India & SAARC, added that powering an inclusive future for all is Cisco’s future, “Practicing DEI is the right way to do while carrying out a business. This should not be a separate checklist for companies to organize.” According to Daisy, DEI forms the fundamental of the company and hence has contributed to almost 100% of the company’s growth.”
Managing directors, Chief Executive officers of role-model organizations, will be part of the initiative driven by Avtar, in which they will share not only their own businesses benefited from DEI, but also how their companies instilled this culture. Avtar’s BIG initiative comprises focused group discussions, meetings with top leaders, white papers, and much more.
