The seventh edition of Avtar and Seramount’s Best of the Best Conference held recently featured a string of informative dialogues about best practices that companies must adopt to make a smooth glide to inclusion and one such session presented two experienced DEI leaders from IBM and ZS India, who spoke about topics linked to DEI –– LGBTQ+ Inclusion and Allyship.
Prachi Rastogi, a D&I leader from IBM, APAC, and UKI, cast a spotlight on the targeted steps IBM has taken to help LGBTQ+ individuals in the workforce feel a sense of belonging. And Prashant Gupta, Senior Director of Operations and DEI Lead at ZS India shared insights about allyship and its basic tenets and how it is practiced at ZS. The crisp panel discussion that followed the presentations by these two leaders was moderated by Amita Kasbekar, Principal Strategist, LGBTQ+ Practice, Avtar Group.
LGBTQ+ Inclusion at IBM:
Prachi Rastogi began by speaking about the rich history of IBM and the four strategic priorities of the company:
- Advocacy: IBM’s intention to drive systemic change that creates opportunities for diverse communities
- Leadership accountability: Harnessing data transparency to enable clarity, action, and greater accountability towards driving a more inclusive company
- Allyship: Assisting every IBMer to develop inclusive behaviors
- Employee experience: Supporting all IBMers to bring their authentic selves to work.
Prachi also shed light on the self-ID program at IBM, where data on employees’ sexual orientation and gender identity is collected and managed discreetly and securely. This declaration, Prachi added, was voluntary and can be self-removed at any time. Some of the benefits of this program are that it makes workforce diversity more visible, is symbolic of the employer’s recognition and value to achieve SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression) diversity, and puts LGBTQ+ inclusion on par with the inclusion of other strands of diversity like gender or race.
Prachi added that it is not the HR’s responsibility to implement DEI. “It is the business leaders’ responsibility. We use a lot of data at IBM, and we hold leaders accountable for attrition, who is getting hired, etc. by linking D&I goals to our executives’ incentives,” she said.
Allyship at ZS:
Prashant Gupta began by stating that questions such as “Is she a diversity hire?”, “Why separate leadership programs for women?”, and “Why don’t we celebrate men’s day?” are bound to come up, especially among men, but with awareness and best practices, this mindset can be changed. He explored the meaning of gender allyship and spoke about the EACH program – Empowering Allies and CHampions at ZS, which takes participants on a journey of 4Es:
- Evaluate – Improve self-awareness through research
- Education – Interview 3 women at work and home
- Engage – Create your plan and take action
- Elevate – Grow your impact as an ally
Prashant expanded on the concept of allyship and listed everyday actions of allies in the workplace: Amplifying voices of women in your team; Challenging gender stereotypes; Coaching more women; Purposefully distributing high-impact opportunities to women; Rotating office housework. He ended his presentation by stressing that allyship at all levels will help embed DEI in the core fabric and culture of an organization.
The session ended with a panel discussion that covered a variety of DEI-centric matters, including challenges in DEI implementation, the importance of having the right policies and practices in place to achieve inclusion, the barriers women face in the workplace, and why raising awareness is key.
