Women's Day - Shilpa Sinha Harsh, Senior VP, CSR and D&I, HGS

Shilpa Sinha, Senior VP, Global Corporate Communications, CSR and D&I works for the social responsibility, diversity and inclusion for Hinduja Global Solutions. Here she talks about achieving these goals in her role.

How do you strategise for inclusion and diversity in your organisation?

Shilpa - At HGS, we are committed to a diverse workplace (gender, disability, sexual orientation, race, age, nationality, attitude, experience etc.) offering an inclusive environment for every dimension of diversity. We embrace differences and encourage our colleagues to bring their whole self to work.

We strategise our Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) policies with -

• Sensitisation and training modules
• Strategic messaging and communication campaigns
• Targeted hiring strategies that have a direct impact on company’s bottom line

What is the % of women in senior leadership positions in your organisation? 

Shilpa - Overall, female employee headcount is over 45% as of December 2021, in India.

 What are the new CSR activities you are planning? 

Shilpa - In order to create a meaningful impact, HGS believes in providing sustainable, long-term support to all our social projects and partners. In line with this we have continued our plan to support interventions across the areas of education, health, skilling, welfare of PwD and water to positively impact over 100K lives.

We shall also continue to dedicate our time and effort for the benefit of the communities through Work to Give – HGS’ flagship employee volunteering program. It’s encouraging to see that despite the challenges posed by the pandemic in the last two years, we have witnessed over 20,000 volunteers who have continued to reach out to the community members through virtual outreach events and we plan to sustain and grow this engagement.

What are the challenges you face in your role? How do you resolve them?

Shilpa - Well, getting a seat at the table and retaining the seat are two different things. It is important to ensure longevity in the roles we are given, to ensure long-term impact and to bring about significant, sizeable change during our tenure. This comes with its own challenges – it is imperative to get the buy-in from every decision maker, and many come with their own perspectives. Overcoming this is a key first step to any long-term change.

Then, it’s about living up to the very standard you have shown to your peers and contemporaries. Everything you do has to be performance and metric-based, with a clear and direct positive impact on the business. This can come if the entire team you have hired is aligned with your goal and does their bit to get there. This requires doing a thorough SWOT analysis of your team, playing to their strengths and helping them cope with their weaknesses.

It is impossible to find a solution that satisfies every team member or colleague. However, you can very well try to land on options that are amenable to all. This requires constant communication, being open to ideas, being open to letting go of your own perspective when needed and listening to your instinct.

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