India Inc focuses on ERGs to drive inclusion of LGBTQIA+ employees

Awareness campaigns and events in partnership with non-profit organisations (NGOs) are among the major initiatives these days.

Companies are banking on revamped Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) for playing a pivotal role in coming up with initiatives for the LGBTQIA+ community at the workplace.

These initiatives which include hire-to-train model, internships, and retention tracking aim to create awareness among the workforce to build an inclusive workspace.

Instead of making Pride Month an internal activity, corporations are increasingly moving towards changing the societal impression about the community. Awareness campaigns and events in partnership with non-profit organisations (NGOs) are among the major initiatives these days.

Close to 70 percent of LGBTQIA+ members believe there have been no significant efforts in the direction of their inclusion, according to a 2022 survey by HR firm Randstad. Among those who believe changes have been significant, about 70 percent of respondents work with MNCs.

Major firms including Infosys, Flipkart, Wells Fargo and IBM among others have set up special groups to track the HR development of their LGBTQIA+ employees and address the challenges, if any, in real-time.

ERGs in focus

Last year, Wells Fargo India & Philippines piloted a train-and-hire model, teaming up with PeriFerry, a non-profit that offers upskilling and career training for transgender individuals. Through this initiative, about 13 transgender persons were onboarded as full-time employees in its technology vertical.

To further enhance the workplace experience for the LGBTQ+ community, Wells Fargo has an established and active ‘Pride Employee Resource Network’. The network offers opportunities for community connections, development, and safe spaces for conversations, apart from awareness-raising initiatives outside the company.

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IT bellwether Infosys’ employee resource group - iPRIDE – makes diversity and inclusion more intentional through education, communication, and mentorship interventions, Shaji Mathew, Group Head of Human Resource Development at Infosys, told Moneycontrol.

Infosys scored 100 percent on the Corporate Equality Index Score (CEI) in 2022 for LGBTQ+ inclusion – up from 95 percent in 2021.

Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s CEI is the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees.

Tracking numbers, offering open spaces

On par with women-centric initiatives, companies are also focusing more on the numbers – actively tracking and deliberating course correction if it dwindles. HR experts say this gives some understanding of the effectiveness of campaigns and outreach by leadership on the ground.

Tech major IBM, which leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to track metrics such as LGBTQ+ hiring numbers, promotions to senior roles, and retention rates, said it is witnessing a “positive upward” trend in all three categories.

“Our policies are designed to be gender-neutral and inclusive of all genders, offering benefits such as caregiver leave that extend to same-sex partners,” Prachi Rastogi, Diversity and Inclusion Leader, IBM Asia Pacific, told Moneycontrol.

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JPMorgan has a PRIDE business resource group, which comprises allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community. It began a transgender internship program, a 20-week program supported by its Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, which comprises 8 weeks of classroom training with the non-profit partner followed by 12 weeks of internship with JPMorgan Chase & Co in India corporate centres across lines of businesses.

“In both our 2021 and 2023 internship batches, the firm has onboarded most of the interns as full-time employees,” said Gaurav Ahluwalia, MD and Head of HR, India Corporate Centers, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

To tackle the challenge of acceptance and bias, firms in India are pushing for experiential discussions by providing space for the community to share their journey.

Flipkart’s ERG called ‘'Flipkart Pride Collective' hosts a monthly connect event called ‘Circle of Change.’ This platform allows for open dialogue, enabling employees from the community to listen, share their experiences, and provide support to one another.

Since its launch in 2022, Chief People Officer Krishna Raghavan said the ERG has been instrumental in creating a safe space for LGBTQ folks and has seen a positive trend of more people joining the group.