Mumbai: In a day and age when women are equaling or, in some cases, outnumbering their male colleagues at workplaces, KelpHR, a pioneering organization that builds best-in-class HR practices, is rolling out a 5-point framework enabling corporates to #EmbraceEquality at their places of work.
“In the world and our workplaces, there are always some groups and communities that are more vulnerable, more marginalized than others. Diverse workforces have different needs and unique challenges. There cannot be a one size fits all approach while managing everyone’s needs. Crucially, leaders must know that addressing these differences does not compromise the goals and ethos of the organization but makes it more robust on the whole. In the run up to International Women’s Day, we endorse this framework so that organizations can seamlessly embrace equity to make our workplaces wholly productive and happy spaces to be in for everyone,” says Smita Shetty Kapoor, CEO and Co-founder, KelpHR.
KelpHR, that aims to build safe, happy and inclusive workplaces, endorses a 5-point framework to enable companies of all sizes in creating a diverse workforce, ensuring people of similar calibre obtain the same kinds of opportunities and helping them make a concerted effort to distribute the perks and benefits offered by the organization equitably.
Here’s how organizations can embrace equity:
Define equity and declare your vision for the organization.
Build and integrate equity understanding into the DNA of the organization so that every stakeholder feels a sense of ownership. You may be a small organization, a lean, mean company in a competitive sector with limited resources, but that should not make equity an afterthought for you. You can define equity in the choices you make about whom you hire, whom you work with and the work you choose to take up.
Break the biases
Biases are always challenging to address. As leaders, we must create the right ambience for these conversations and be willing to receive feedback about our opinions and behaviour.
Your employees must feel psychologically safe enough at the Workplace to point out inequitable policies or processes. Sensitize your managers to look out for the well-being of their teams.
Consistently assess the situation
– Regularly assess the situation, educate employees, measure progress and hold managers accountable.
– Every employee has to be a custodian of the workplace culture; therefore, training and sensitization is necessary.
– What gets measured gets managed. Surveys and audits at periodic intervals will give you a sense of whether you’re heading in the right direction with your policies.
– People managers and line managers will be your best ambassadors if they are held accountable for hitting specific targets or are incentivized to go the extra step.
Emerge during times of crisis.
Difficult times show the true character of the organization. Look for difficult times or decisions made in your organization and weigh these against your vision of equity. Were your leaders able to make equitable decisions during the time of crisis? Were your employees able to toe the line when pushed to the corner? Did they stand up for minority rights? Did they make the right choice of equity?
Communicate & Celebrate
Encourage your employees to take pride in the organization’s mission by engaging and communicating with them regularly about various initiatives, events and future plans. Celebrate the small wins, recognizing employees’ actions in tight spots where they acted equitably. Reinforce the understanding that doing the right thing for equity is as important as the other business concerns of the organization.
About KelpHR
KelpHR was incorporated in 2013 with the vision to build workplaces that are safe, happy and inclusive. With the core belief that happy employees make productive teams, team KelpHR set out on a mission to enable organizations to set new benchmarks in terms of best HR practices and overall organizational performance.
KelpHR is a pioneer in simplifying the legal complexities in the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (PoSH) and, along the way, aims to demystify the less understood subject of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (D, E & I).
By 2019, KelpHR had become synonymous with safe and happy workplaces, so it was only natural that customers reached out to discuss the emotional/mental well-being of their employees.
Responding to the needs of Clients and Society, KelpHR branched out into designing effective Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) to ensure the mental well-being of employees.
