In an exclusive conversation with CXO Media and APAC Media, Ruhie Pande, CHRO, Sterlite , emphasizes on how organisations must move beyond diversity checkboxes and focus on embedding equity into their core values, leadership mindset, and operational frameworks.
Many organisations have DEI policies in place, yet a significant percentage of employees still report experiencing bias. A McKinsey report highlights that while 52% of employees believe their company is committed to diversity, only 29% feel included. How can companies bridge this gap between policy and lived experience?
I firmly believe that policies alone do not create an inclusive workplace—culture does. A Deloitte survey showed that despite 90% of companies claiming to have various DEI policies, only 25% of employees felt that the policies actually made a positive difference in their day-to-day work life. This gap between policy intent and lived experience is where organisations need to drive their focus.
At Sterlite, we recognise that the key to true inclusion lies in ensuring that all our employees feel heard, valued and empowered. Our Unlabel initiative was born as a response. Unlabel aims to directly address unconscious bias by fostering awareness, improving communication, and cultivating empathy. This approach moves beyond compliance to create a workplace where diverse employees feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work.
Leaders also play a pivotal role in shaping lived experiences. Regular employee feedback mechanisms, open forums, and active allyship ensure that inclusion is not just a checkbox but an everyday practice. By embedding inclusion into performance evaluations and leadership KPIs, organisations can drive real accountability and progress. When inclusion becomes an organisational priority, employees experience the culture shift firsthand, translating commitment to reality.
Research suggests that true workplace transformation comes from cultural rather than just policy-driven changes. What are the key cultural shifts that organisations must prioritise to make workplaces more inclusive?
If you want to transform workplace culture, there must be a deliberate shift from policy-driven diversity to ingrained inclusivity. A McKinsey research highlighted that diverse teams are 39% more likely to financially outperform their less diverse competitors. However, hiring diversely is only the first step. Ensuring that your diverse workforce feels safe and has the opportunity to rise through the ranks is the real test of the system.
At Sterlite, we believe in contextual inclusivity—a one-size-fits-all approach does not work across all industries. It is crucial to understand the historical and structural challenges within each sector and engage employees at every level to address their unique needs. For instance, the power sector has traditionally been a male-dominated industry. We recognised that historically at the shopfloor level, there was barely any diversity, and the systemic and societal challenges led to that. To counter that, we have implemented programs like Project Pragati, which offers structured development programs for young women engineers to groom them into future leaders. It is also important to acknowledge that intersectionality of experience also plays a role in making employees feel included, and through programs like Project Shakti, we aim to bring women from minority communities into the workforce. Both of these programs are slated to be scaled across the country.
Authenticity and transparency from leadership set the tone for DEI; when employees see genuine commitment, they are more likely to engage in inclusive behaviours themselves. One of the biggest cultural shifts is moving from performative DE&I initiatives to measurable impact. This means tracking diverse hiring and retention metrics, investing in mentorship programs, and ensuring that leadership roles reflect workforce diversity. Continuous dialogue, leadership accountability, and adaptive strategies ensure long-term cultural transformation.
Reports indicate that women and minorities still face slower career progression and limited access to leadership roles despite diversity initiatives. What structural barriers remain in organisations, and how can they be dismantled?
Despite progress in the last few years, women and minorities still face challenges in career growth due to systemic barriers. Indian women’s workforce participation remains low, significantly dropping at leadership levels. Mind The Gender Gap, a report published by the CFA Institute late last year, found that women comprise 27% and 21.7% of the IT and Financial Services workforce, respectively. However, at the leadership level, these numbers drop to 8.3% and 15.9% respectively. This highlights the need for career acceleration programs that bridge this gap.
To address this disparity, companies must move beyond hiring diversity to retaining and advancing diverse talent. At Sterlite, our initiatives like Project Pragati provide young women engineers with a structured, year-long development program to help them become future leaders in manufacturing. We also have learning programs like EmpowerHer, an interactive, skills-based six-month learning program to help our women employees become future leaders.
Moreover, leadership must redefine traditional models to be gender inclusive. Women often face disproportionate scrutiny in leadership roles, leading to risk-averse decision-making. Companies must ensure that their leadership development programs challenge these biases and create opportunities for women to grow into senior roles.
Studies suggest that visible and accountable leadership is critical for workplace equity. What leadership behaviours or accountability measures are essential to ensure long-term, systemic change?
Inclusive leadership is a proven catalyst for innovation and organisational success. Research suggests that inclusive leadership significantly influences employee creativity and engagement, more so than diversity alone. Employees feel more valued and motivated when leaders actively foster an inclusive culture.
At Sterlite, we embed accountability into leadership by integrating DEI goals into leadership KPIs and performance metrics. Senior executives participate in DEI training and actively engage in mentorship programs for underrepresented employees. Transparent leadership, where inclusion is championed at the top, ensures that diversity efforts are not just a checkbox but are embedded into leadership practices.
Companies must also cultivate inclusive decision-making cultures. This can include diverse hiring panels, equitable access to leadership roles, and a culture of open dialogue. A BCG research showed that organisations with diverse executive teams generate 19% higher revenue from innovation. This underscores the business case for integrating inclusion into leadership practices.
The key to sustainable DEI impact is continuous measurement and adaptation. Regular audits, employee sentiment surveys, and feedback loops ensure that inclusion strategies are dynamic and responsive to changing workplace needs.
Research has shown that traditional performance metrics often disadvantage underrepresented groups. How can organisations rethink meritocracy and evaluation systems to be more equitable?
Traditional performance metrics can often disadvantage marginalised and underrepresented groups by reinforcing biases in evaluation systems. At Sterlite, we understand that retaining our employees is key to building a high-performing, engaged, and future-ready workforce. To ensure fairness and inclusivity, we have introduced refined initiatives that foster a culture of transparency, growth and inclusivity.
Our Job Worth Model evaluates the market value for each role, ensuring competitive salaries that reflect both current and future demand. This approach not only mitigates attrition but also reinforces our commitment to valuing employees as essential partners in success. We have also adopted the OKR methodology and eliminated caps on variable pay, linking rewards directly to absolute performance rather than forced rankings. By moving away from traditional bell curve appraisals, we focus on individual contributions rather than relative comparisons, fostering collaboration over competition.
Recognition is also integral to our culture, with various programs such as Achievers Awards, MD Spot Awards, and Culture Excellence Awards ensuring all employees at all levels feel valued and motivated. Our talent assessment framework further identifies high-potential employees, tying rewards to both their current performance and long-term potential.
Psychological safety is a critical enabler of inclusive workplaces, yet studies indicate that many employees, particularly those from marginalised backgrounds, hesitate to voice their opinions. How can organisations foster an environment where diverse voices are truly heard?
Psychological safety is critical to workplace inclusion, enabling employees to voice ideas and concerns without fear of reprimand. Having diversity is excellent, but if people are afraid to speak up, it’s like having a gym membership and never using it.
At Sterlite, we integrate psychological safety into our culture through multiple channels:
- Leadership-led open forums: leaders regularly engage with employees in open discussions and town halls. These forums ensure that employees feel heard and valued and can voice their opinions without fear of retribution.
- Employee Resource Group: Our peer-led ERG, All Stars, provides a platform for employees to share experiences, foster mentorship, and build a supportive community.
- Anonymous Feedback Mechanisms: Employees can anonymously voice concerns or provide suggestions to ensure continuous dialogue and action.
- Bias-free decision-making: we integrate bias-mitigation strategies into performance reviews, promotions and leadership assessments.
Some studies suggest that remote work has improved opportunities for marginalised groups, while others indicate that it reinforces exclusionary practices. What steps can companies take to ensure hybrid models enhance, rather than hinder, workplace equity?
The impact of remote and hybrid work on workplace equity is complex. While remote work has increased opportunities for marginalised groups, it has also reinforced exclusionary practices for others.
At Sterlite, we prioritise flexibility, well-being and inclusivity:
- Trust-based culture: we eliminated the culture of following musters or rigid timekeeping, focusing on outcomes rather than hours. We do not track attendance at an organisation level.
- Inclusive hybrid policies: Currently, our in-office approach is guided by the specific needs of each site and team to ensure that employees have the best possible environment to thrive in. We ensure that remote employees receive equal access to career development opportunities, mentorship and leadership visibility.
- Encouraging time-off culture: While ensuring all employees – remote, hybrid, or on-site receive the best possible work culture, it is also important to encourage employees to avail time-offs and well-deserved breaks. We encourage employees to take advantage of all their leaves proactively. Rather than introducing rigid structures, we focus on creating a supportive environment where employees feel trusted to take the time they need. Our goal is to foster a culture where leave is not seen as a disruption but as an essential part of maintaining overall effectiveness and job satisfaction. By promoting the value of taking time off, we strive to cultivate a workplace where employees can bring their best selves to work, ensuring both individual and organisational success.
Studies indicate that different marginalised identities (e.g., gender, race, disability, LGBTQ+) face unique challenges in workplaces. How can organisations incorporate an intersectional approach to ensure inclusion efforts are not one-size-fits-all?
Inclusion is not a one-size-fits-all strategy; each individual’s experience is shaped by multiple intersecting identities such as gender, race, caste, disability, socio-economic background, orientation and cultural heritage. At Sterlite, we recognise that an effective DEI strategy must address these complexities and go beyond broad-stroke policies to ensure meaningful impact.
Our Unlabel initiative actively dismantles unconscious bias and fosters psychological safety, ensuring that employees feel valued beyond their demographic identity. Programs like Project Pragati and Project Shakti take into account the unique challenges women face in male-dominated industries. At the same time, our Nurture initiative recognises the caregiving responsibilities that disproportionately affect women, particularly mothers returning to the workforce.
However, true intersectional inclusion requires more than just programmatic interventions—it demands listening, learning, and adapting. Our All Stars ERG (Employee Resource Group) provides a platform for employees across different backgrounds to share their lived experiences, fostering allyship across marginalised identities. Moreover, leadership accountability is embedded into our policies, ensuring that inclusion efforts do not remain theoretical but translate into everyday actions.
By customising our approach to the needs of different employee groups and continuously assessing gaps in representation and workplace experience, we ensure that inclusion efforts are symbolic and deeply ingrained in our culture.
Many organisations struggle to measure the success of their DE&I efforts beyond hiring metrics. What are the most effective ways to track progress and hold companies accountable for long-term change?
While diversity hiring is often the most visible DE&I metric, real progress is reflected in how included, valued, and supported employees feel throughout their journey within an organisation. I recently came across Dr. Ella F. Washington’s research on The Five Stages of DEI Maturity, which outlines a structured path from awareness to sustainability. I believe organisations should assess where they stand on this continuum and tailor their DE&I measurement frameworks accordingly.
Organisations may focus on policies, compliance training, and tracking representation at the awareness and compliance stages. However, as they move toward integration and sustainability, measurement should evolve to include employee retention, promotion rates, pay equity, psychological safety surveys, and engagement in DE&I programs.
At Sterlite Power, we integrate DE&I accountability into leadership KPIs, ensuring that inclusion is an HR initiative and a business priority. Our OKR-based performance evaluation eliminates forced rankings, fostering fairness and transparency. Additionally, we regularly track the impact of initiatives like Project Pragati and Project Shakti, assessing not just participation but long-term career growth.
Long-term change happens when inclusion is embedded in an organisation’s DNA. That means shifting from activity-based metrics (e.g., number of training sessions conducted) to impact-based metrics (e.g., employee perceptions of inclusion, diversity in leadership, and long-term career progression of underrepresented groups). Regular pulse surveys, feedback loops, and transparent reporting mechanisms ensure that DE&I remains a continuous journey—one that is both measurable and meaningful.
