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They are still a minority in the boardrooms and in the higher echelons of the Indian IT industry. That's the bad news. The good news is that this is changing. Diversity is the new buzzword in corporate India, with the IT industry leading from the front.

Says C Mahalingam, senior VP, HR, Symphony Services, "Diversity has a fairly wide connotation and could include anything from age, gender, orientation, culture, race, religion and even thought." Typically, diversity refers to the demographic description of the people working for an organization and human resource policies to correct gender and other imbalances. Issues may include age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities, qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, parental status, religious beliefs, work experience, and job classification.

But there is one rider here: this phenomenon is more in evidence at multinationals than in Indian corporates. Diversity as a concept is not new and has been practiced for decades together in the West. Most multinational companies, both IT and non-IT have consciously practiced diversity for a long time now back home. Explains Mahalingam, "MNCs have already seen the benefits of practicing diversity." Says Anita Guha, chief diversity leader, IBM India, "Our strong commitment to diversity is a part of IBM's global philosophy."

Interestingly, diversity today is being practiced in an active as well as a passive manner. Put simply, there are certain aspects of it that companies like to practice and talk about openly and certain others, for example, orientation, that remain under cover but are practiced under the garb of being an equal opportunity player-which is a fair call at the end of the day. Says Prithvi Shergill, head of Human Capital Strategy at Accenture, "What you can observe is what we call "visible" diversity. Visible diversity is generally things we cannot change and are external, such as age, race, ethnicity, gender, and physical attributes." Accenture, for example, focuses on the larger concept of 'Inclusion' which encompasses "invisible" diversity, that includes attributes that are not readily seen, such as work experience, marital status, educational background, parental status, income, religious beliefs and affiliations, geographic location, or socioeconomic status. Adds Shergill, "However, it's the combination of these attributes, both visible and invisible, that defines an individual's "personal" diversity. No individual's personal diversity is exactly like another's. So, when we recognize, value, and embrace inclusion and diversity, we are also recognizing, valuing and embracing the uniqueness of each individual."

It all Makes Sense
The practice of diversity brings along with it several benefits, difficult for the industry to ignore. This is more applicable in the case of multi national IT companies which have seen the business benefits.

	"The focus on diversity should be sharper at the entry and exit points of an organization" -Akila Krishnakumar, CEO, SunGard Offshore Services
	"Our strong commitment to diversity is a part of IBM's global philosophy" -Anita Guha, chief diversity leader, IBM India

Today the IT industry is under a lot of pressure to recruit, given the pace of growth in business. This pressure is only going to mount with the passage of time. Attracting the best talent, irrespective of the differences that may exist between individuals, is one of the primary drivers of practicing diversity.

Secondly, it has become a business imperative for companies to create a workforce that reflects the marketplace. Says Guha of IBM, "It helps us understand our customers better."

Finally, at the heart of diversity is the variety of ideas that get generated from people with different backgrounds. This results in out-of-the-box solutions. Says Louis Hall, COO, Xansa India, "Diversity is a key competence to create a culture of innovation."

Finally, acknowledging diversity at the workplace is largely about respecting differences between one individual and another. Says DK Shrivastava, sr VP, HR, HCL Technologies, "Recognizing diversity means creating a workplace that respects and includes differences; recognizes the unique contributions that different individuals can make, and creating a work environment that maximizes the potential of all employees."

There are three aspects of diversity-inclusiveness, work-life balance and creating a harassment-free work environment. While most corporate houses have policies on one or the other, what is clearly lacking today is a more holistic policy on all the aspects of diversity. Says Mahalingam, "Isolated policies exist here and there but there needs to be a well-articulated and holistic policy."

Tackling Gender Bias
Gender diversity is probably the most recognized form of diversity. And with organizations making constructive efforts to create an environment of inclusiveness on this front. Women now occupy a much larger-though far from equitable-percentage of middle management berths than was the case even a few years ago. There are both push and pull factors behind this. The felt need to appear politically correct is undoubtedly playing an important role as far as large IT companies are concerned; but the economic pull of the fairer sex is making the process irreversible now.

Take for example Genpact. The GE legacy naturally creates space for a large number of best practices from GE into the BPO. GE launched its GE Women's Network (GEWN) in 1997 in India. GEWN provides opportunities for women to engage with GE leaders and learn from their experiences.

	"Diversity has a fairly wide connotation and could include anything from age, gender, orientation, culture, race, religion and even thought" -C Mahalingam, senior VP, HR, Symphony Services
	"Diversity is a key competence to create a culture of innovation" -Louis Hall, COO, Xansa India

A variety of fora are used, including seminars, workshops, networking dinners and regional mega-events. Participants share information on job opportunities and exchange views with successful role models. GEWN is a part of Genpact as well.

The concept of diversity in the workplace was born in the US, so it's not surprising that American companies are driving this trend in India. "Gender diversity helps employees become more tolerant of each other and prepares them to be a part of the global team," says IBM's Guha. Diversity also helps in a highly competitive environment where customers are also diverse and demand the same of their vendors. Concurs Binoo Wadhwa, director, People Success, Sapient India, "Diversity brings in different leadership styles that complement and balance one another and enrich a company's talent pool."

Women currently account for 40% of IBM India's strength. For Sapient the proportion stands at 31%, while it's 33% for Xansa India and SunGard Offshore Services. The goal for Xansa is to take this figure up to around 38% over the next one year, which is the proportion of women employees that the UK-based parent has on its rolls. Says Vijayalakshmi Sankar, director (Chennai and US Operations), Xansa (India), "I have found Xansa to be a gender neutral organization with a culture that champions women to play strategic roles."

A focus area for most IT companies in India today is to bring more women into the hard-core technology space. IBM, for example, has identified four women-only colleges while Cisco has tied up with engineering institutes across the country to train women who are then hired by the company. IBM also offers special incentives to headhunters to get qualified women professionals into the organization.

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