Our Approach & Commitment
Nurturing inclusivity is an intrinsic part of Wipro’s culture, it has remained a key focus area for the organization and is a strategic enabler to ensure a holistic business growth. At Wipro, our client portfolio is diverse in composition, in terms of locations, culture, industries and technologies they deploy. In order to address the increasing complexities of such a diverse clientele, it is imperative to cultivate a workforce, which can generate a rich mosaic of ideas that enhance innovation resulting in higher revenues & greater customer satisfaction
There is a visible, deep organization-led strategic commitment to experience inclusivity as a ‘way of life” and nurture a sense of belonging within teams. This is further strengthened, with the CEO as the Executive Sponsor of the Diversity & Inclusion (D &I) Council. This makes D & I a mainstream business driver and a must-have trait, rather than a stand-alone / aspirational initiative. As signatories to UNGC and U.N. Women’s Empowerment Principles, we express our commitment to becoming a responsible business leader and role model.
Policies & Principles:
Wipro is committed to being an equal opportunity employer and diversity and inclusion principles are embedded in our organizational values, culture, policies and processes. Our commitment towards non-discrimination and meritocracy is explicit in our COBC and Global Diversity and Inclusion Policy.
Our commitment to D & I is also extended to our Suppliers through the Supplier Code of Conduct and we encourage engagement with qualified suppliers owned by persons of disabilities, women or minority communities.
Wipro is an equal opportunity employer and merit in qualification, performance & capability form the sole criteria for selection, remuneration and promotions for new applicants and existing employees alike. We believe that number-based targets / percentages to increase diverse workforce can impact meritocracy and deviate from our holistic approach of ensuring meaningful employment across different functions and levels. We have therefore consciously refrained from integrating such targets into the goals and objectives of leaders and relevant teams.
Focus Areas
Our Diversity & Inclusion Program was formally launched in 2008 to give shape and direction to our commitment.
An overview of key initiatives across our various inclusivity pillars are shared below. For detailed description of initiatives, please refer Sustainability Report 15-16
| Inclusivity Pillar | Objective/ Description of key initiatives | Key Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Our efforts here are all inclusive –and focus on providing an enabling work environment. For example: WoW or the Women of Wipro program has various initiatives following the research led insights from a life stage based approach for women (e.g some of the key initiatives here are WoW Career Mentoring, Women in Technology, WoW Speaker Series, Day Care Centres) |
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| Persons with Disabilities | The CREATE (Career, Recruitment, Engagement, Accessibility, Training & Enablement) framework was adopted to promote those with different abilities across areas. Our self-identification form allows employees to request for reasonable accommodation while being assured of Wipro’s commitment to non-discrimination |
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| Nationality/ Culture Sensitivity | Today we have a strong ‘local national’ footprint in our international geographies- via both organic & inorganic growth. Our initiatives in this area have strengthened our efforts towards nurturing a culture inclusive workforce through various sensitization interventions. |
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| Under Privileged | There has been a committed focus on collaborating with colleges/universities in small cities to drive opportunities for jobs and thereby increase recruitment. This has included collaborating with NGOs/Foundations which impart skills trainings to graduates from underprivileged societies. They work towards improving the competency, professional skills and employability of youth and prepare them for various roles- which makes them job ready for Wipro or other organizations in the industry |
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Across all our focus areas, one key aspect has been to address biases right from the time of hiring. In 2016-17, our interview certification online module was updated to include the following - addressing various aspects of inclusion/bias
- How to carry out a gender-sensitive interview?
- How to conduct an interview for a disabled/ differently abled candidate?
- What are the acceptable and non-acceptable questions you can ask/cannot ask in an interview
Governance
Diversity & Inclusion is an independent function in the organization led by a Senior Leader. We understand that the success of transformational initiatives depends on how much the larger organization believes in the strategy and the strength of the initiative and its success in trickling down to the lowest levels in the organization. With this in mind, our D & I charter and agenda is supported cross-functional project teams and senior leaders assume leadership of individual diversity pillars. Focus areas/goals are reviewed on a quarterly basis by the D & I Council which is chaired by the CEO.The D & I council is composed of Senior Leaders/Executives with representation from gender, geographies and ethnicity.
D & I Awards 2016-17
- Wipro won Innovative Policies & Practices for Persons with Disabilities Award 2017 by Zero Project, Vienna.
- Wipro won “Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion” award at SHRM India HR Awards 2016
- Wipro was awarded a runners Up in “Diversity & Inclusion” in the Corporate HR Best Practices category at NHRD HR showcase 2016 event
