1March 2020

India’s Tech Industry:

Women for the Techade

Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) is not a novel idea for organisations of today and it has been a boardroom topic for some time now.

Various studies have categorically established the business impact of having a diverse and inclusive workforce. It is now a leadership

mandate and has pushed D&I initiatives from a Good-To-Have to a Must-Have.

India’s technology industry has been growing its D&I mandate and this is evident from the fact that the industry boasts of over 35 per

cent women workforce at about ~1.5 million, a growing number of Persons with Disability (PwDs) and LGBTQI+ are being on-boarded

and trained for operations and client facing roles. And this journey continues.

Promoting diversity and inclusion is a core value for technology companies and NASSCOM. It is in this context that we have been

conducting the annual D&I summit and recognizing companies that are leading the way in ensuring a more equitable workforce.

This report highlights the D&I trends in India’s technology industry and showcases some of the diversity pillars from companies that

were shortlisted for the D&I Awards 2019. It also highlights the impact of these programs on the workforce and the organisations. I

hope you find this report useful. Please share your comments and feedback at: research@nasscom.in.

Debjani Ghosh

President, NASSCOM

Foreword

MethodologyApplications were screened based on the analysis of data in the questionnaire. This was presented to an independent jury for shortlisting the organizations. About 44 unique organisations participated.

The below approach was followed by MERCER & NASSCOM for the shortlisting process:• Data sufficiency & data validity checks• Data analysis for shortlist for the Jury Round - quantitative and

qualitative parameters

The following quantitative checks were performed:For Gender Inclusion:• YoY Increase in women hiring in the last 3 years• Increase in women population at Executive and Senior Management

levels for the last 3 years For Persons with Disability:• YoY Increase of PWD headcount (as % of total population)

NASSCOM Diversity & Inclusion Awards 2019 - Participants Profile &

MethodologyAs part of the NASSCOM Diversity & Inclusion Awards to recognize organisations doing stellar work in empowering their workforce with gender friendly policies and initiatives, this document highlights key trends across 44 organisations that applied for Diversity & Inclusion Awards, 2019.

Together, these represent >35% of the total employee base. These are split evenly into 22 GCCs (Global Capability Centres) and 22 service providers.

Some of the qualitative parameters considered for shortlisting were: Impact, RoI/metrics, unique practices, governance, sustainability

Jury Members

• Arvind Laddha – CEO, Mercer India• Shanthi Naresh – Partner, India Business Leader, Career, and Regional

Practice Leader, Mercer• Krishna Kumar Natarajan – Co-Founder, Mindtree and Chairman

Nasscom Foundation• Sandhya Vasudevan – Managing Director & Group Chief Operating

Officer, Deutsche Bank• Mukta Arora, Managing Director , Elanco Innovation and Alliance

Centre, Bangalore• Achyuta Ghosh – Head of Research, NASSCOM

TABLE OF CONTENT

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION IN INDIA’S TECHNOLOGY

INDUSTRY: KEY HIGHLIGHTS

INDIA’S TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY: A PROFILE

FY2020

DIVERSITY DRIVING INNOVATION IN INDIA’S

TECH SECTOR

GENDER DIVERSITY: A PROFILE

DIVERISTY FRAMEWORK AND CASE STUDY

SUMMARIES

DETAILED CASE STUDIES: PERSONS WITH DISABILITY

DETAILED CASE STUDIES: GENDER INCLUSION

PRIORITIES FOR THE COMING DECADE

India’s Technology Industry: A Profile FY2020

USD 191 billion Total revenue

4.36 million employees

USD 54 billioneCommerce revenue

18,000technology companies25 unicorns1

USD 147 billionExport revenue

665 millionInternet users2

1) # of unicorns as on Dec 2019; 2) As of Sep 2019Source: DIPP, TRAI, NASSCOM

Diversity & Inclusion in India’s technology industry: Key highlights

1. 35% share of women in total technology industry base for FY2020

2. 6% CAGR of women employees over FY2017-2019

3. Women accounted for 44% share of total net hiring in FY2020

4. Being groomed for leadership roles – 2X growth in number of women at Executive level

GENDER INCLUSION

• Companies leveraging technology to eliminate bias during recruitment and hiring

• Returnship programs: Key to companies’ retention strategy for women returning to work after a break

• Career Intentionality: Encouraging women to consciously invest in career goals

• Programs cover broadly four areas: retention & engagement, return-ship programs, maternity support, career development

PERSONS WITH DISABILITY (PwD)

• Enabling inclusion of PwDs, increasingly a leadership mandate• Partnership model with specialized PwD vendors to recruit

and hire PwDs• Training and awareness sessions to sensitize the larger

workforce• PwDs being groomed for operational and client facing roles

Multiple initiatives across the industry

WOMEN IN STEM

Gender Diversity driving Innovation in India’s Tech Sector

FY2004 FY2012 FY2017 FY2020

20%

30%

Gen

der

Div

ersi

ty R

atio 33%

35%

T

FY2004 FY2012 FY2017 FY2020

166

852

1,3131,527

• 1.5 million women employed in tech sector in India – largest employer in organised private sector

• Women participation in tech workforce at 35%, almost 1.5X for India Inc. – 23%

• 6% CAGR in women employees – 1.2X of industry employee growth

‘000 nos.

1. Structured gender diversity programs have enabled diversity ratios to improve by 10% over the decade

2. Diversity Programs broadening from policies and practices to personalised interventions

3. Gender diversity now CXO priority in large firms

1.5 million strong women workforce leading India’s diversity agenda

% share

India’s Tech Sector Women Workforce

Source: ILO, NASSCOM

44% share of women in net new hiring in FY2020

90,000 women hired in FY2020

~ 237,000 girls enrolled in UG and PG courses in Engineering & Tech in FY2019

10% female co-founders in Indian tech start-ups

2X growth in Executive Level in last 3 years

20% firms implementing Career Intentionality – encouraging women to consciously invest in career goals

60%+ medium and large firms have formal diversity programs in place

Source: AICTE, NASSCOM

Hiring, Career Progression and Entrepreneurship – Key Priorities

Retention and Engagement

Return-ship Programs

Maternity Support

Career Development

Reskilling and Upskilling Programs

Accelerating the diversity agenda: Key Pillars

• WE @ Cybage: W for “Wellness” and E for “Engagement”

• Gratifi™: Rewards and recognition platform to make informed decisions about the type, the frequency and quantum of rewards

• Childcare reimbursement policy (INR 15,000 per month per child up to 6 years for eligible team members

• Cost of infertility and autism treatment

• Networking platforms

• Rewards &

recognition

• Representation of

women leaders

• Work from home

facilities

• Childcare

reimbursement

Cybage

ThinkSys

Wells Fargo

• New transparent hiring policies• Extended maternity leaves• Work from home facilities • Late-night cabs for safe commute

~2X women employee in FY2019• Self Defense Workshop • Sabbatical - upto 2 years• Reduced hours: Associate can choose to work

50% or 75% of the time

Productivity up by 10% over the past two years

• Vaahini, a platform enabling women to network -periodic engagement activities, on-ground events, etc.

110,000+ women members (internal + external)

Accenture in India

RBEI

Key initiatives

Retention & Engagement

Real Returns Program• Re-entry of talented professionals back into the

workforce• Invest in leadership programs to strengthen

female leadership pipelineo RISE, a development program for junior

female talento Project Greenlight: Progressing high potential

female employees to the next level

Credit Suisse India Accenture in India

ThoughtWorks

• The free Certified Technical training program is a 3-4 week bootcamp to sharpen participants’ programming and testing skills through hands-on sessions

2,200+ registrations

• ‘Returning Mothers Program’: Aids new mothers seamlessly transition back to work

>95% of new mothers’ retention

• ‘Career Reboot Program’: For women returning to work after a career break

Aimed at women who

wish to return to work:

• Post maternity break

• Career break

• After an extended

absence

Programs include:

• Career guidance

sessions

• Technology skills

workshops

• Hiring programs

Vapasi

Key initiatives

Return-ship Programs

• Child care facilities

• Parenting workshops

• Flexible work

arrangements

• Maternity Counselling

Special benefits:

• Reserved car parking

• Footrest at

workstation

• Access to mothers'

room

• Home pick & drop

• Network of child care facilities• Monthly virtual parenting workshops• Flexible work arrangements• Maternity Counselling Helpline

Significantly reduced post-natal & overall women attrition

• Maternity & child raising leaves: 6 months + 6 months (paid)

• In-house day care at subsidized cost• Adoption Leave 6 months for child <1 year• Managing the spirit Of Motherhood (M.O.M):

Leadership, HR & Counsellor Support for work-life integration

Lower attrition of women - YoY by 2 percentage points

Accenture in India Robert Bosch

Wells Fargo

New Mothers Connect Program• Include preferential seat on shuttle service,

reserved car parking, preferential work station, access to mothers' room, etc.

• Benefits: Childcare reimbursement, flexi-work, transportation, extended leave, etc.

97% of women returned to work

Key initiatives

Maternity Support

• ‘Insight’: For women senior managers with potential for MD roles

• 3R Approach: Right role, Right Client, Right Sponsor for high potential women to accelerate their advancement to leadership

John Deere

• L1 mandate ensures there is representation of women leaders in upper echelons of leadership

30% of women in HCL board

Mercedes in Mech (MiM) scholarship program• For women in Mechanical Engineering

58 women placed as Graduate Engineer Trainees

Sutherland

Career Intentionality Program• For 150 High Performing and High Potential

women to prepare a roadmap for managing career objectives

• Group Mentoring for holistic development program for these 150 women

• Grooming women for

leadership roles

• On-the-job-learning

• Rotational assignments

• Skill building sessions

• Programs to identify

high potential female

employees

HCL

MBRDI

Accenture in India

Lakshya Program• Enable women employees to reach their

full leadership potentialKnow Your Business • For women to have deep connect with

business competencies: ‘business acumen’ & ‘speak business language’

71 women in managerial / technical leadership positions

Key initiatives

Career Development

An analysis of the nominations for PwD case studies indicate a strong focus and leadership push towards inclusion for the differently abled. While some companies are choosing to focus on a particular disability (e.g., hearing/vision impaired), other firms are working on inclusivity over a wider range of disabilities (autism, hearing & speech disability, vision impaired, orthopaedic disabilities, etc.) Given below is a snapshot of various programs initiated by companies:

Allegis Group

Accenture in India

RR Donnelley

Flipkart

Accessibility

Career Development

Partnerships & Focus areas

Awareness & Training

Accountability

IMPACT

• Annual hiring targets • Leadership endorsement• Established a Council of

Leaders

• Policy to include induction programmes for PwD hires

• Of recruiters, hiring managers, internal facilitators, employees

• Workshops ensure all rounded readiness for Inclusion programs

• Volunteering as a platform to create more awareness

• Sensitized employee base through connectivity programs

• Classroom & on-the-job training in collaboration with sign language interpreters & NGOs

• PwD specialized empaneled vendor partners

• Organizations like EnAble India • NGOs • NGOs

• Career path framework specifically for PwDs

• Leadership development programs

• Skill trainings & employability orientation workshops for potential talent

• Time-bound career growth charts, including ‘fast track’ career paths

-

• Products to enable hearing impaired to listen to music

• App for visually challenged to navigate

-

• Ramps for people to enter the training area

• Assistive rest rooms• All facilities have wheelchairs• A/V alarms for emergencies

-

• ~95% of PwD employees work directly in upfront business functions & client facing roles

• PwD Hiring Team has placed >350 PwDs across companies till date

• 99 PwDs have found full-time operational roles

• 55 of them placed in RRD

• 360 speech & hearing impairment employees as of 2018

Persons with Disabilities: Mainstreaming the differently abled

Case studies: GENDER INCLUSION

MBRDI

1211109

8765

4321

Accenture: Ambition 2020Be the Most Inclusive & Diverse organization in the World

In 2017, Accenture made a landmark announcement, committing to achieve a gender-balanced workforce, with 50 percent women, by 2025. Today, Accenture India Gender Mix is over 40% women

Attract, Retain, Grow• Vaahini, a platform enabling women to network, with women

members (internal + external) periodically engaging to inspire each other

• ‘Returning Mothers Program’: Aids new mothers seamlessly transition back to work. Resulted in >95% of new mothers’ retention

• ‘Career Reboot Program’: For women returning to work after a career break . Involves career guidance sessions, simplified selection process, technology skills workshops, etc.

External Mentoring• NASSCOM’s W2RT: Master Technology Architects from

Accenture mentor in Future skills• Katalyst: Engineering Girls Mentoring Program for under-

privileged girls from colleges studying STEM• Startup Mentoring Ecosystem with Accenture Ventures

Ecosystem – ~40% women-led startups with meaningful impact to technology are mentored

• Client conversations: Engaging with clients on building their I&D practices

Career & Leadership Development• ‘Insight’: For women senior managers who are high potential for

MD roles – includes face-to-face, virtual learning modules and mentoring from senior women leaders

• 3R Approach: Right role, Right Client, Right Sponsor for high potential women to accelerate their advancement to leadership

• Programs for Mid to Senior Career Women: On-the-job-learning, rotational assignments, coaching & mentoring, skill building sessions

• High-Tech Women program: To obtain Technology Architect certification

• ‘Intentionality of Careers’: Skill building modules for all women, guiding them to invest in meaningful career goals

Maternity & Caregiver Support• Enhanced maternity benefits significantly reduced post-natal

& overall women attrition• Network of Child Care Facilities• Monthly virtual parenting workshops• Flexible work arrangements incl. telecommuting, flexi-shift,

sabbaticals• Maternity Counselling Helpline: Provides support or face-to-

face counselling for handling stressful life challenges

Credit Suisse India: Creating a culture of belonging

Credit Suisse AG is one of the world's leading financial services providers and is part of the Credit Suissegroup of companies. Our strategy builds on Credit Suisse's core strengths: its position as a leading wealthmanager, its specialist investment banking capabilities and its strong presence in our home market ofSwitzerland.

Credit Suisse is committed to providing equal employment opportunities and creating an inclusive culturewhere everyone irrespective of their differences feels valued and supported in their professionaldevelopment, leading to better business results. Actively seeking diversity and inclusion is a key tenet ofour Conduct & Ethics Standards and an integral part of our strategy.

At Credit Suisse India, we are proud of our achievements in the gender diversity space. We invested earlyon in our flagship Real Returns Program, supporting the re-entry of talented professionals back into theworkforce after an extended absence. We invest in leadership programs with the objective ofstrengthening our female leadership pipeline. These programs include RISE, a development program forjunior female talent and Project Greenlight for progressing high potential female employees to the nextlevel in their career by providing them with visibility and support.

Our policies and benefits reflect our commitment to creating an inclusive culture and continue to shapeand solidify our Employee Value Proposition in the talent market. These include provision of flexibleworking options, parental support benefits, manager sensitization trainings and campaigns to ensure asafe workplace like “Draw the Line” and self-defense workshops.

At Credit Suisse, each person plays a vital role in our success. The collective experiences, ideas and hardwork of our people are what shape our culture and drive the future of our business.

Whoever you are. Your talent is what counts.

Cybage: BALANCE FOR BETTER | Bringing life to work (1/2)

Balance for Better is a project promoting the idea of a gender-balance through inclusivity and diversity. Cybage is determined tocreate a transparent, unbiased, capability-driven ecosystem in theworkplace.

Cybage recognizes all its employees across levels going beyondgender, age, race, background, ethnicity and hierarchy. Theemployee strength and diversity in the workforce makes Cybage notonly a global but a vibrant organization.

Foundation

• Diversity & Inclusion• Leadership &

Accountability• Competency & diversity

intelligence• Gender focus

Future Initiatives

• Champion sense of security• Work Hour Flexibility• Organize Skill Development

Programs• Enhance the Work-life

balance• Provide Healthcare and

other Benefits

Compassion, Flexibility, Inclusivity and the right amount of Imagination

EMPLOYEES:2016 -2019

%

Male 66.33

Female 33.66

Inclusion & Diversity at Cybage• 33+% women representation – among the highest in the country• 18% ex-Cybagians returning for organic reputation of being one of the

best places to work• 26% are in the company for an average tenure of 9.9 years

• Cybage’s workforce already comprises 89.3% Millennials & Gen Zs• Cybage aspires to achieve a male:female ratio of 1:1 at the workforce• A consistently low attrition rate especially among the women workforce

• Cybage has received wide publicity and recognition and acceptanceboth externally and internally for its Gender Equality policies, practicesand process

o Social Media rates Cybage amongst Top 3 Service Companieso Cybage is rated among the most recommended companies

according to Glassdoor at 84%

Cybage: BALANCE FOR BETTER | Bringing life to work (2/2)

Program Outcomes: The equality and diversity structure at Cybage applies toevery aspect of the workplace:• WE @ Cybage: WE truly thrive on enriching lives and focusing our energies on

the “WE” factor of our employees - W for “Wellness” and E for “Engagement”.Being mindful of this delicate balance and ever-changing priorities in life, the“WE” factor is the pulse that drives everything Cybage does through, feelinghappy and finding life meaningful - both important and related

• Decision Mines™ is a part of Cybage’s DNA and the data-driven and scientificmethod of operational excellence eliminates bias, thereby making diversityand inclusion a part of its core value system. Cybage excels in removing guesswork in decision-making

• Gratifi™: is Cybage’s employee rewards and recognition platform. Gratifi™combines the power of choice with the science of data-based decisions. Manyorganizations may not look at their reward and recognition programs toprovide ROI. Using the powerful data engine behind Gratifi™ we are able tomake informed decisions about the type of rewards, the frequency of rewardsand the quantum of rewards

• Other initiatives exclusive for Inclusivity and Diversity: Work hour flexibility;Focused training and development programs; Promoting higher education;Wellness programs, Counselling sessions, Chat & Chai with CEO; 360-degreeAppraisal feedback system, Expressing gratitude and felicitating employees forlongevity in service; Annual Bash – gathering of 8000 employees and theirfamilies; CybageRun for cause – “Run a mile; educate a child”; Sports activities,Hobby clubs, Technical events, and much more.

• Wellness Programs • Whistler Blower Policy• Health Awareness

Programs• Zero Tolerance• Cybage Health & Safety• Policy on Human Dignity

CONSIDERED TIME FRAME

YTD DEC 2019

No. of Sessions 526

Female Participation Ratio

54.76%

Male Participation Ratio 45.24%

Over and above these initiatives, Cybage’s philanthropicarm CybageKhushboo has been consistent andprogressive in adding to women empowerment throughinitiatives like scholarship programs, skill development,good Governance; adult literacy, digital literacy, healthand hygiene.

• Policy that ensure Safe Environment

• Disciplinary Action Process• Conveyance for women • EML (Extended Maternity

Benefits)• Bias-free Hiring

Programs & Policies for Women Employees

Diversity & Inclusion @ HCL

Talent Attraction Talent Growth Talent Retention

L1 mandate ensures there is representation of women leaders in upper echelons of leadership. This is a bonus linked parameter for our first line leaders

Providing growth opportunities

to the underrepresented

workforce

ASCEND and Stepping Stones

are the career development

programs for women leaders

and focuses on mentoring them

for their aspired roles

Promote employee retention

Facilitating work life balance

with initiative like:

Telecommute, in-premise day

Care centers, Flexi Hours,

Medical Benefits, Career

Counselling for Parents, Tutor

assistance

Equal Employment Opportunity Policy: The biases in hiring process are kept at bay through an internal tool and sensitization of our hiring managers

Networking & Advocacy

programs

Stakeholders:

1. Board Members

2. CEO

3. Senior Leaders

4. Clients

5. Women leaders

Momtastic: An initiative to help all the young mothers and to be mothers to have a smooth transition

Male Allies: The men support women from the aspect of their career growth, promotions, work life balance and sensitizing their teams on unconscious biases

Proactive Retention Discussion, Exit Analysis, Unconscious Bias and Inclusion Workshops

At HCL, we view Diversity as a ‘Differentiator’ – which is representative of diversity in beliefs, behaviors and skills within the organization. Ourworkforce represents the culmination of 140+ nationalities coming from many of the countries we do business in – where all work together tobuild a culture that respects inclusion. HCL’s Diversity and Inclusion strategy focuses on Talent Attraction, Talent Retention and Talent Growth.These 3 strategies work in tandem to ensure a unified experience in promoting gender diversity, cultural diversity and inclusivity across theenterprise.

Lakshya Purpose:The employee resource group, Lakshya has been formed with an objective to promote a strong business case for gender diversity.

To enable women employees to

reach their full leadership potential

Engage employees to create an

environment of exposure, education and experience thereby

making John Deere an inclusive workplace

Experiential Skill-based Volunteerism

Diversity & Inclusion Trailblazer Award2019 Launch

Know Your Business Innovative route for women to have deep connect with business competencies: ‘business acumen’ & ‘speak business language’

15% Women have seen Promotional/ Lateral Movements

in managerial level

71 Women in Managerial/Technical Leadership Positions

INITIATIVE

METRICS

Regional D&I Award

PANKH Diversity Development Program #PowerYouHave Series Maternity Comfy Kit

AWARDS2019 WE LOCAL Sustaining Benefactor Award John Deere India

A program for women designed to bring them close to Indian farmers and community at large. Phase 2 concluded in late 2019 enabling contact with 200 plus farmers

MBRDI (A Daimler Company): Mercedes in Mech (MiM)

Mercedes Benz values diverse opinions and lifestyles of their employees. At MBRDI, they give people the power to drive innovation and shape the future of the company. They believe that diverse teams can bring a more comprehensive approach to tasks and challenges and thereby help to solve them.

Diversity Goal @MBRDI:• To increase the ratio of women in R&D.• Committed to creating a work environment that is conducive to attracting, motivating and retaining the best and brightest women employees

Only 2-3% of women in India opt for an education in Mechanical Engineering. The goal at Daimler is to encourage women to take up courses in Mechanical, Automotive and Industrial Engineering.

To address this issue, they have created the Mercedes in Mech (MiM) scholarship program for women in Mechanical Engineering. Through their network of 10 engineering colleges (Bengaluru, Mysore, Pune, Belgaum & Coimbatore), they offer an annual scholarship of INR 100,000 to eligible women, who are then placed as Graduate Engineer Trainees (GET) at MBRDI on successful completion.

They offer multiple interventions for women employees through this initiative such as mentoring, talks by women leaders, behavioural & cultural interventions

Robert Bosch: Winning With Women @ RBEI

2016 - 2019

Women diversity: 26% to 32%

Women in managerial roles: 14.5% o 16.3%

Diversity Hiring: 31% to 39%

Womentoring Winning with Women Medley Samukshitha Diversity Week Diversity Quiz

Fine Balance Self Defense Workshop Womantara Women friendly Policies

Shine Series Women Acheivers‘

Award Business Award for

Diversity

Pathways to Success WIN – Building business

acumen and future orientation

Potential Vs PerformanceWorkshop

Learn Empower Appreciate Develop

Shaping our cultureOUR JOURNEY

Activate & Include everyone• Reduced Attrition

• We have observed a downward trend in the attrition percentage of women employees YoY by 2 percentage points

• Increased Innovation• YoY increase of 50% in the number of patent filing from 54

in 2016 to 101 in 2018 by Women associates • Increased Productivity

• Productivity increased by 10% over the past two years• Cost saved in hiring due to reduced attrition• High agility, innovation, process improvement, digitization

and automation• Over the years we have observed an increase in the

engagement score of 3 points YoY due to improved work policies for women associates

Outcome

By Diversity we mean the variety of ways of thinking, experiences, perspectives, and life plans of our associates.

Sabbatical

• Upto 2 Years

Maternity & Child Raising Leaves

• 6 months + 6 months (paid)

Safety Measures

•Safety call after 7 PM

•Eye Watch App

•Family accompany for late night travel

Reduced Working Hours

• Associate can choose to work 50% or 75% of the time

In-house Day Care

• At subsidized cost

Adoption Leave

• 6 months for child less than 1 year

Managing the spirit Of Motherhood (M.O.M)

•Leadership, HR & Counsellor Support for work-life integration of new mothers

Women Wellness

•Counselling

•Physical Health checkup

•Financial wellness

•Positive parenting

Support the Support

•Communication skills for support staff

•Scholarship and educational support for children of support staff

Sutherland’s Inclusion and Diversity Agenda

Our workforce has thrived in an environment of diversity of thoughts, experiences and

backgrounds. We celebrate our diversity and embrace it whole-heartedly.

Sutherland is an equal opportunity employer. It is our policy to engage in personnel

decisions, including those related to recruitment and hiring, and to administer our

personnel policies without regard to race, color, religion, creed, age, gender or sex

(including pregnancy), national origin or ancestry, disability, veteran’s status, genetic

information, or any other legally protected characteristic.

There is no place for disrespect for cultural differences or insensitive stereotypes. We

promote a positive work environment by conducting ourselves professionally and helping

each other achieve our goal of One Sutherland Team, Playing to Win.

In India, Sutherland has over 18,000 employees and to remain vibrant and diverse

workforce we have picked up 3 priorities for the current fiscal year which are:

35% Of the workforce with women 1.5% Of the workforce

with PwDs* 1% Of LGBTQ ally

One of the key issues Sutherland is trying to address is improving the gender diversity

across managerial levels. Our frontline diversity has a healthy mix of approx. 40%

women.

Several initiatives to retain and attract more woman workforce into Sutherland have

been launched over the past year. Our fervor on hiring continues. Team Recruitment has

gender diversity targets both for external hiring as well as internal job rotations.

Every month across all Sutherland sites, leaders regularly meet bright women for Round

Table discussions. These discussions have hovered around varied topics.

Looking at the need to develop more women managers, the discussions now are

centered around propagating the concept of Intentional Career Pathing. Career

Intentionality is the extent to which a professional deploys intention to ensure that her

career is a strategically planned one.

150 High Performing and High Potential women who are currently in individual

contributor roles are going through a program designed by our external partner on

Career Intentionality.

We believe this will help women in preparing a roadmap for managing career

objectives as well as developing specific skills like Understanding self, Negotiation

skills, Power Networking, etc.

The next element in this program is the concept of Group Mentoring to create a holistic

development program for these 150 women. As an HR culture, it is imperative that we

apply the Diversity Lens in all Talent decisions, be it Performance Ratings, Promotions,

Internal Mobility, Career Development Programs etc. Through this, we are able to

emphasize to managers time and again to be cognizant of unconscious biases. We are

clear never to compromise on the meritocracy in any of these talent decisions.

Out of the 150 women, those also enrolled in the W2RT program will have mentor

specifically from IT/Tech Services who will assign them IT projects as a means to develop

themselves to transition from BPO to IT functions.

The India leadership is committed to gender inclusion goals and these are included in the

annual goal framework for all leaders. To ensure continued focus, the I&D Steering

Committee comprising of the Country Head, Country HR Head, Functional heads,

Regional Business Leaders, Regional HR Leaders help us push ourselves and keeps us

honest to our goals.

ThinkSys: Excellence in Gender Inclusion Program: General Recruitment

In short, as stated by Emma Watson, “It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideals.”

Inspired by the works of NASSCOM and its attempt to promote inclusivity and bring all ecosystems into a single picture, we adopted measures that ensure that our female employees get the work-life balance they need, and which was quite overdue. As presented in our presentation on “Excellence in Gender Inclusion Program”, we introduced:

• New transparent hiring policies• Extended maternity leaves• Work from home facilities, and • Offered late-night cabs to ensure a safe commute for our female employees as well as to make the office environment more comfortable and

welcoming for them

Additionally, our Human Resource team worked closely with our managers and leads and hired talented and skilled employees, who helped us improve productivity and retain various clients. As stated earlier, the changes were quite evident in the office demographic, as there was a drastic increase in

female employees hiring, from 18 female employees in FY 2017-18 to a total number of 35 female employees in FY 2018-19.

With these ideas and new policies at the foundation, our organization witnessed an optimistic and a demographically equal environment where our employees, irrespective of their gender, vocalized their opinions and ideas freely, without any fear of restriction or conflict. In conclusion, with appropriate policies and changes in place, ThinkSys is on its way to becoming the organization, we always dreamed of being.

Contributing our share into creating an equal world, where Men and Women shoulder equal rights, opportunities, and pay, ThinkSys started this practice in the year 2017 and inaugurated the year 2018-19 by introducing some much-needed changes in the organization. This year, we concerted efforts to make our workplace gender-inclusive by elevating women at every level of the organization, through hiring, developing, mentoring, and promotion. Moreover, our leader and managers took every necessary step to ensure our workplace was and continues to be welcoming, supportive, and understanding to our female employees, where they get the recognition and rewards they deserve.

Started in 2014Conducted 8

batches in 201910+ batches

planned in 2020Conducted across 6

cities in India

Targeted for Women

technologists

VAPASI is ThoughtWorks’ signature women returnee program for women technologists on a career break. The free Certified Technical training program is

designed for women who are keen to get back to tech. Designed to address the gender gap in the tech industry, the 3-4 week bootcamp focuses on

sharpening the participants’ programming and testing skills through hands-on sessions. It is tailored for Developers and Quality Analyst. This initiative is

part of the #TalkTechToHer campaign at ThoughtWorks.

The Training program was hosted across all our offices - Bangalore | Chennai | Coimbatore | Hyderabad | Gurgaon | Pune

Key Metrics

● 12 successful batches: 10 Developer | 2 Quality Analysts

● 2200+ registrations

● Paid internships are offered to select candidates post training

● Holistic approach that includes retention focus, inclusive policies,

advancement & opportunities and an inclusive safe workplace culture

Highlights:

● VAPASI was awarded “Most Innovative Returnee Program”

by JobsForHer DivHERsity awards at AccelHERate 2019.

● VAPASI was featured in AVTAR's Annual Research Report-

VIEWPORT 2019 as SECOND Careers of Women

professionals-The India story.

ThoughtWorks: VAPASI – Women returnee program

Wells Fargo: Gender Inclusion pillar – taking it to the next level (1/2)

At Wells Fargo, Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) is a core value and a business imperative that lets it take advantage of the innovation and creativity that comes

from multiple perspectives. Its robust D&I ecosystem comprises of D&I function, Enterprise D&I Council, regional D&I council, and Team Member

Networks. The regional D&I council is sponsored by an executive sponsor from the Enterprise and locally by the Managing Director, Wells Fargo EGS

(India). It is focused on four focus areas or pillars – Gender, LGBT+, Diverse Abilities (or persons with disabilities) and Veterans. Each pillar is chaired by

senior leaders of Wells Fargo EGS (India) who are accountable to manage the outcomes.

The Gender D&I pillar program is built on three work streams that focus on all stages of a woman team member’s lifecycle – Attract & Hire, Develop &

Grow, and Retain. With continued focus on gender inclusion, Wells Fargo has been recognized as one of the Working Mother & AVTAR 100 Best

Companies for Women in India (BCWI) for three consecutive years in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Attract and hire work stream

It focuses on hiring and attracting the best women talent through diverse slates in sourcing and hiring funnel, Glide – career continuity program,

sponsorship & participation in external conferences (e.g. Grace Hopper Celebration in India, AVTAR, NASSCOM, Interweave) and advocacy by speaking

in various external events. Wells Fargo has partnerships with gender-focused recruitment agencies (e.g. FLEXI Careers India) and conduct specialized

recruitment drives.

Glide, career continuity program is a highly customized, six-month hiring program designed exclusively for women rejoining the workforce after a career

break. Women with 8 or more years of experience, who have been on break for 2 years or more are eligible to apply. Unlike an internship or program,

it is a ‘Career Continuity Program.’ The selected hires are on-boarded as full time employees from Day 1 and is designed to provide a phased approach

starting with part time to full time job and an initial transition period. The holistic program is designed to upskill technical competence, build soft skills,

impart knowledge of business perspectives, provide knowledge transfer through a structured program, monitor performance to assess gaps and

overcome challenges, frequent feedback (initial 6 months), mentorship through networks/buddy systems and various opportunities through

leadership connect sessions. The program has been successfully running for three years with a combined intake of 65 hires.

Wells Fargo: Gender Inclusion pillar – taking it to the next level (2/2)

Develop & Grow work stream

Wells Fargo has a strong Women’s Team Member Network (WTMN),

its employee resource group that supports the gender diversity

agenda. It focuses on strengthening women team members’ value

proposition and empowering them through supporting network and

learning interventions. This is reinforced through the women team

members joining hands to organize the International Women’s Day

and WTMN anniversary celebrations, one of the biggest internal

events with a participation of over 3,500 women team members

annually.

The WTMN framework considers the four phases of a women’s

professional career journey—young professional, professional mother,

mid-to-senior management and women in leadership. The learning

interventions include physical safety, emotional wellness, financial

wellbeing, cyber security awareness, parenting sessions for all

genders, career intentionality, and Lean In Circles. 35+ targeted

programs were conducted with an overall participation of 1500+

women team members in 2018.

To encourage the culture of innovation, Hackathons are conducted in-

house and participate encouraged in industry events. ‘Women of

Wells’ won a Special Jury Award at the first-ever women-only

hackathon hosted by Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association

(HYSEA). This team also won first place at NASSCOM’s Women in

Technology Hackathon with their “Life Savior” application.

Retain work stream

Acknowledging that support infrastructure plays a critical role in

women’s career intentionality, Wells Fargo has market leading

benefits—childcare reimbursement policy (INR 15,000 per month per

child up to 6 years for eligible women team members and male team

members who are single parents), cost of infertility and autism

treatment and a comprehensive maternity management program

called the New Mothers Connect Program.

The New Mothers Connect Program provides a conducive

environment for new mothers for women team members during and

after pregnancy. The various conveniences available during this phase

include preferential seat on shuttle service, reserved car parking,

preferential work station, additional desktop, footrest at work station,

access to mothers' room with comfortable furniture and refrigerator.

The benefits include childcare reimbursement, transportation - home

pick & drop for 60 days, CareNine program – online and telephone-

based maternity support program, extended maternity leave,

parenting sessions for all genders and flexible work arrangements.

The robust maternity management program has helped in enabling

97% of women team members return to work post-maternity.

Attrition is taken seriously at Wells Fargo. While exit interviews are a

norm, it also engages a third-party agency to conduct exit interviews

with alumni to analyze the reasons for attrition and take appropriate

measures.

Wipro Limited: WoW (Women of Wipro) Framework : Unique Life Stage Based

Approach

01 02 03

Exposure, Fuelling Ambition,

Defining Moments .

Early Career

Stage01Flexibility, Opportunity to

grow

Early – Mid

Stage02 Empowerment, Making a

Difference

Mid – Senior

Management03

Cap

abili

ty &

Me

nto

rin

g En

able

me

nt

Ecosystem :Key Enablers

TAILORED TO NURTURE/GROOM WOMEN AT EACH STAGE OF THEIR LIFE & WORK AS NEEDS & EXPECTATIONS OF WOMEN EMPLOYEES ARE DIFFERENT

Case studies: PERSONS WITH DISABILITY

4

3

2

1

An Equal Opportunity Employer

• Has an exhaustive list of 60+ types of disabilities aligned with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act as well as the United Nations recommendations

• ~95% of Accenture in India’s PwD employees work directly in upfront business functions & client facing roles

• Accountability – Annual hiring targets are agreed upon per entity

• Partnerships – Work with PwD specialized partners to source and hire PwDs

• Innovative External Engagement - Hosted a 2-day convention in collaboration with the NCPEDP , called the National Convention for Youth with Disabilities (NCYD).

• Founding member of CII India Business Disability Network (IBDN), set-up in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Employers’ Federation of India (EFI).

Bold Leadership

• Disability Inclusion Sensitization for all - Create an inclusive environment for PwD employees

• Bay Walks – On-ground awareness for various PwD programs and initiatives

• Celebrating Abilities - Of PwDs who have scaled great heights

• Recruiter/ Hiring Manager Sensitization – Through training

Awareness & Sensitization

• Accessibility Council & Fund – To provide assistance to enable an employee across Transportation, Workplace Adjustment and Assistive Technology

• Employee Self- Disclosure – Of their disability and its type

• Emergency Preparedness – Manage and support PwDs during emergencies

• Medical Insurance Benefits - Coverage for assistive devices and autism

Disclosure & Enablement

• Career Path Framework - Ensure the career development of PwD employees

• Abilities Unleashed Leadership Program - For PwD employees to develop as future leaders across businesses

• Proactive interventions – Analytics based identification of at-risk PwDs and proactive retention interventions

Development & Growth

1 2

3

4• BleeWatch - Helps the hearing-impaired listen

to music - as haptic feedback• Drishti – AI powered app narrates the physical

environment to the visually challenged• Dhwani – Persons with Hearing and Speech

Disability participate in 'Skype for Business' calls, listen to webcasts and converse with co-workers

• iBuddy – Mobile App for Persons with Vision Disability - for indoor navigation

5 Innovative Tech-Accessibility

Accenture in India’s Disability programs and practicesFive-pronged strategy

AWARENESS READINESS DRIVES

We conduct workplaceSensitization workshops and help ensure all rounded readiness forInclusion programs

SPECIALISED INCLUSIONHIRING TEAM

Leveraging our expertise in Talent Acquisition, we set up the PwD HiringTeam in collaboration with EnAble India

Allegis: Inclusive Hiring and Retention Practices for PwDs (1/2)

Timeline: A Paradigm Shift How We Did It?

TRAINING &PREPARATIONINITIATIVES

We invest in skill training and employability orientation workshops forpotential talent and help them access opportunities

CSR INITIATIVES

We believe CSR initiatives enable character buildingin our employees and used volunteering as aplatform to create more awareness around the PwD community

PARTNERORGANIZATIONS

We have partnered withorganizations like EnAble India to strengthen theirEmployability programs for persons with disability

Allegis: Inclusive Hiring and Retention Practices for PwDs (2/2)

Train and Hire Program

• In last 5 years, we have partnered with non-profits & third party vendors to successfully run Train & Hire Programs with the support of internal & external stakeholders

• 5 batches Train & Hire conducted internally to recruit PwDs in the roles of recruiters, Back Office Operations, HR functions

Trained 63 candidates, 27 placed internally, 24 placed

externally

Where Are We Now• Majority of our PwDs are

undergoing natural career progression cycles

• Leadership Development Programs: Two employees with vision impairment have moved into leadership level programs

• All business groups have PwDs working under them and mostly on the revenue generating side

• Normalization of the term disability firm-wide is now impacting our customers and suppliers as well

Attrition is lower than non PwDs across all groups

How Do We Sustain It?

• Annual Train and Hire Programs for Recruiter-level roles

• Launch of the Garv Se center in collaboration with EnAble India

• #InclusiveIndia Movement • Employment Life Cycle Support –

Hiring to Retention • Volunteering at:

o Skill levelo Awareness Creation level

Flipkart’s eDAB (Ekartians with Different Abilities) –

A step towards inclusivity Effort was also focused on alignment with stakeholders across various teams like -

Operations, Design, Tech and Product, Planning, Finance etc.

The program had the following intent:

a. To create a sustainable & all inclusive work environment across assets.

b. To hire Differently Abled Workforce on identified roles while keeping the operational

metrics healthy

c. To measure the impact created on the EKART performance & ecosystem

After the pilot’s success, a policy was drafted and designed to include comprehensive

induction programmes for PwD hires, and classroom and on-the-job training sessions in

collaboration with sign language interpreters and local NGOs. When it comes to last-mile

delivery executives, Flipkart provides specially designed badges & flashcards to help those

who are hearing and speech impaired to communicate with ease. And, in order to ensure

the safety of PwDs, Flipkart has mandated an emergency feature on their smartphones.

Upon achieving positive outcome it was decided to launch the programme in other delivery

locations. Hiring for Warehousing also began in 2018 and was a major success. The hiring

was scaled up to 360 PWDs in 2018. Today the program spans across 90 locations in 10

states. The program aims to onboard 600 differently abled employees by March 2020.

This was our attempt in providing an equal platform for the differently abled and, at the

same time, challenge stereotypes surrounding their special needs. The initiative has been

widely welcomed by customers and other stakeholders, and Flipkart aims to keep this

endeavour going.

One busy morning at Flipkart’s HSR delivery hub, a team of delivery experts huddle on to

discuss how to provide a delightful experience to the customers. This is silent discussion

through sign language among Nandeesha C, Abhijeeth and Ningaraju from the eDAB team

— eKart’s differently abled Wishmasters. Despite their challenges, these Ekartians with

Different Abilities (eDAB) run their last-mile duties with clockwork precision. But how did

they end up working with eKart? Therein lies a tale.

In April 2017, Flipkart launched the program eDAB (Ekartians with Different Abilities) as a

pilot. With a view to provide sustainable professional and economic growth opportunities

to People with Disabilities (PWDs), the Design and HR Team at eKart came up with the

idea of hiring differently abled Wishmasters with speech and hearing impairment.

The pilot was initiated within eKart Delivery Operations business with the hiring of 16

PWDs. eKart launched a three-month pilot to test the waters. Representatives from the

partner NGOs worked closely with the hub teams to understand the processes, roles,

responsibilities and expectations of Wishmasters.

With the support of the two NGOs, the project took off and 16 differently abled

Wishmasters were inducted into the workforce across six eKart hubs in three major cities

— Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. The eDAB team had begun their journey.

As a precursor to the pilot, groundwork to study process feasibility, identification of

suitable roles, customization of SOPs & due diligence was done. Pre & post hiring

sensitization of hubs, interaction with ground teams, NGO visits, structuring proper

onboarding & training for new joiners was undertaken to ensure the program’s success.

PwD Best Practices at RRD: Inclusion as an Imperative

RRD includes PwDs at all levels, acknowledging their value as business enablers

Project Udaya, RRD’s flagship inclusion initiative, was established to train, recruit, and provide equal employment opportunities to the orthopedically

challenged since they formed majority of the vast untapped alternate talent pool. However, before attracting this talent, RRD took several steps to ensure

their smooth assimilation into the workforce.

Lead

ersh

ip

Go

vern

ance

Measuring Progress

The measures of success of participants,

established at the outset, include:

• Competency/skillsets

• Placement

• Project Completion – All candidates are

evaluated over a four-month period for

their skills and competency. Only the

candidates who achieve the benchmark

score are certified, and those who need

further support are provided remedial

training

• Promotion/Career Growth

• Experiential Learning – The programme

includes a 30-day internship, which

offers the candidates hands-on learning

experience and exposure to a corporate

environment

RRD set up a council of leaders comprising senior

operations leaders, head of HR, and head of learning &

development that help create impact as well as

establish the values that guide decision making

• Principal stakeholders

• Program manager

• Operations teams

• Support tea - NGOs, L&D, Facilities & Admin

• Recruitment & Talent engagement team

Polic

ies • Allocation of a special allowance of INR 2,000 per month, in addition to regular salary, to manage challenges while

commuting to work

• Custom career path development: There are time-bound career growth charts, including ‘fast track’ career paths for

exceptional performers

• Changes to the entire RRD infrastructure to ensure accessibility in all areas of our facilities

Imp

rovi

ng

Acc

essi

bili

ty

RRD accounted for on-ground realities and modified its

infrastructure to ensure better accessibility:

• Built ramps in the basement to enable people to enter the training

area unhindered

• Designed and built an assistive rest room for PwD employees

• Equipped all facilities with wheel chairs

• Contracted dedicated resources to help/support PwDs

• Procured specialized, state-of-the art evacuation chairs exclusively

for the use of PwD employee evacuation during an emergency

• Installed audio and visual alarms for emergencies

• Engaged and sensitized the larger employee base through

employee connectivity programs

Rec

ruit

men

t

So far, the program has seen 113 candidates

across six batches. 99 have graduated and

found full-time operational roles. 55 of them

have been placed in RRD.

• 55 per cent of RRD’s existing PwD

employees have witnessed career growth

and some of them are managing teams

• The candidates are sourced through a

consortium of NGOs, which partner in the

screening/selection process

Beyond Diversity focus on Inclusion

• Leadership diversity

• Cognitive diversity

• Generational diversity

Policies and Practices

• Leverage the next-gen Future of

Work programs that enables

work to be location agnostic

Skilling in Emerging Tech

• To ensure gender gap does not widen

• STEM programs in schools and colleges for girls

• Reskilling initiatives at company level

• Women coder hackathons, AI scholarships

• Mentorship programs for women coders

Gender Equal Workforce

• Biases in hiring

• Analytics to drive performance management

• Remove gender pay gap

• Increase paternity leave

Leverage technology to remove:

D&I in Tech: Key priorities for the coming decade

NASSCOM Initiatives: Enabling Gender Inclusion

Upskilling Women in Tech

Multicity Initiative to build the diversity ecosystem on policies,

programs & practices

Skilling women graduates in

cyber security: DSCI Initiative

Felicitating Women

Entrepreneurs

Disclaimer The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. NASSCOM and its advisors & service providers disclaim all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. NASSCOM and its advisors & service providers shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein, or for interpretations thereof. The material or information is not intended to be relied upon as the sole basis for any decision which may affect any business. Before making any decision or taking any action that might affect anybody’s personal finances or business, they should consult a qualified professional adviser.

Use or reference of companies/third parties in the report is merely for the purpose of exemplifying the trends in the industry and that no bias is intended towards any company. This report does not purport to represent the views of the companies mentioned in the report. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favouring by NASSCOM or any agency thereof or its contractors or subcontractors.

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About NASSCOMNASSCOM is the industry association for the technology sector in India. A not-for-profit organization funded by the industry, its objective is to build a growth led and sustainable technology and business services sector in the country. It has over 2,500 members. NASSCOM Research is the in-house research and analytics arm of NASSCOM generating insights and driving thought leadership for today’s business leaders and entrepreneurs to strengthen India’s position as a hub for digital technologies and innovation

Authors

Ashok Pamidi

CEO

NASSCOM Foundation

Diksha Nerurkar

Dep. Director-Research

NASSCOM