India Workplace Equality Index sends the right signal for LGBT+ inclusion

Insight

 By Ranjit Monga*

Corporate India has certainly come a long way with participation of as many as 65 companies in the first ever India Workplace Equality Index (IWEI) whose results were announced last month. IWEI is a benchmarking tool for employers to measure their progress on lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT+) inclusion in the workplace, brought in collaboration of Keshav Suri Foundation, Pride Circle and Stonewall, UK, along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) as Industry Partner.

It is an Indian version of Stonewall UK Workplace Equality Index, which has already benchmarked over 500 companies.

The IWEI benchmarked companies on nine parameters and 21 were named in the ‘gold’ category, among them are some big names like Accenture, Godrej, Boston Consulting Group, Citi, Hindustan Lever and HSBC. These are employers “who have successfully embedded LGBT+ inclusion in their policies, hiring practices, external communication, demonstrating a long-term and in-depth commitment towards LGBT+ inclusion”, according to the citation. There were 18 winners in the ‘silver’ category who have made significant achievements in promoting LGBT+ inclusion. Some of these companies are GE, Cummins, Standard Chartered. GSK, Ford, Gap, Uber, Tata steel and Wipro. There were 13 bronze winners, who have started their journey towards inclusion. Some of these are Crisil, Lilac Insights, VIP Industries and Wells Fargo.

It sends out the right signal for persons from the LGBT+ community for inclusion in their offices, thus ensuring that their right to work is safeguarded. Just a decade ago things were vastly different as I found out while trying to make my second documentary film on issues affecting the community. Having canned a few interviews with persons who were working professionals I could discern a sense of helplessness at the atmosphere prevailing in their workplaces, which were not necessarily multinational companies. This was the time just following the death of professor Ramchandra Siras from Aligarh University who was hounded by his colleagues and suspended from his job following a dramatic disclosure of his homosexuality. Some persons had unauthorisedly barged into his home and filmed him.

This incident brought into focus the issue of homophobia at the workplace and how does one survive in such an atmosphere. I had seen over the years many LGBT+ persons leaving their jobs once they reached their 30s as queries pertaining to their marital status from co-workers became too much to handle. Many became freelancers or entrepreneurs, also becoming ‘activists’ for the LGBT+ cause.

The problem was that how many LGBT people were ‘out’ in their workplaces. I would go a step further and say how many were out at home or in the larger society? Because the workplace is an extension of society.  If you are in the closet at home, then most likely you will be in the closet at the office. A friend who used to work in a top Information Technology Multi National Company at that time was one such person in the closet at his workplace. Once when he informed me that some new policies were being implemented for same-sex couples in his office I urged him to make use of them which he declined. “I don’t want anyone to know about me, my colleagues will make fun of me behind my back”, he said somewhat despondently.

An academic study of organisations conducted over the last two years by Professor Ernesto Noronha and Professor Premilla D’Cruz of IIM-Ahmedabad and Assistant Professor Nidhi Bisht of MDI -Gurgaon has found that for most gay men and lesbian women the situation has not changed much. They interviewed several employees across sectors in large as well as smaller companies in Delhi and Mumbai. Some of their interviewees said that besides being subjected to questioning, they are even offered marital alliances by their colleagues. They are unable to talk about their feelings, about their partners, their weekend plans etc. “In addition, they are asked to shoulder more responsibilities as they are single and end up being the most hard-working employees. In some cases, salary increments were denied to them for the same reason”, informs Professor Noronha.

What was encouraging to him was that within this paradigm they made small but definite attempts at coming out at their workplaces, letting their team leader or other colleagues know about being gay or lesbian by dropping small hints. “It is like they are testing waters to see if they will have support as they just want things to be ‘normal’, not wanting to be singled out”, he reveals.

Conditions in the SME sector were found to be quite bad, particularly for transgender employees. The latter are part of another study presently being pursued by Professor Noronha.

“It all boils down to what your boss thinks about you and LGBT persons in general”, says Rajesh (name changed) who is in his 30s and has switched many organisations in the last few years. “One gets isolated if you come out, as colleagues fear being thought of as gay by association”, he feels. According to Rajesh LGBT+ employees have basically three choices. First, to try and ignore the snide remarks and continue to suffer to survive, leave the job and go take up employment somewhere else, or become bolder and face the office gossip and fight for their rights. “Certainly, the situation changes completely for you if you come out or are outed at the workplace”, he adds.

Amrita Nayak, one of my interviewees from 2010 had at that time got fired from an International Non Governmental Organisation, after her boss came to know that she ‘had a girlfriend’. Since then, she has switched to the corporate world, where she says things are a lot better. “Here only one thing matters and that is doing your job well. No one wants to know about your personal life. Even though the HR persons are aware about me I do not face any awkwardness at all and am happy in my job”, she says and adds that as women grow older, they are bolder and hold on to their jobs and career quite well.

For gay men too, things have changed for the better in larger organisations. Varun (name changed) who works for a multinational says that coming out is a complex personal process, related to the support you receive at home and among friends. “Even though my company has had all the policies in place since a long time, I did not come out in my office till I got support at home”, he says.

“Even though our company has an LGBT+ network there are many who interact on it anonymously, which proves that they are at various stages of coming out, so it is how comfortable you are with yourself that reflects in your workplace issues as well”, he adds.

But Varun had a completely different experience in another multinational where he worked earlier, and which did not have any policies for diversity and inclusion. “In that company my boss came to know that I was gay and began to question my co-workers about me, causing me a lot of embarrassment. It was distressing for me and I eventually left,” he reveals.

But in his new company Varun has been lucky as his company has a strict policy and if anyone discriminates or harasses LGBT+ or any of the other diverse groups in the office, including women, persons with disabilities among others, action is taken against them.

“I don’t care if they accept me in their hearts or not, but as long as a professional atmosphere is maintained in the office, I am okay with it. The role of the senior management is very important. If they uphold these policies at every step, it provides confidence to those who are not out that they can count on their support. So, having the policies and implementing them at every step is most important,” feels Varun.

Putting in place a support group within organisations is one of the recommendations made in the study by Professor Noronha and his colleagues. A company needs to have a supportive, secure, fair and unbiased environment where a person feels psychologically safe,” he says.

This issue is related to the loss of voice of different groups like labour and trade unions within organisations, a trend visible in industry over the last few years”, says prof Noronha. “A group can take up issues pertaining to individuals like bullying, much better. “Earlier, the tendency of a person targeted was to quit as the fight against the management is a losing one on an individual level,” he adds.

“In the end what they want is things to be ‘normal’ and not wanting to be singled out, so they can get on with their careers and life,” he opines.

Having an inclusive workplace also leads to business growth for companies. This has been recognised the world over. Also, people perform better when they can be themselves. But the biggest contribution of this changing landscape would be to enable LGBT+ people, who have long been denied their right to pursue their careers, to finally have secure workplaces where they can flourish and reach their full potential.

*The writer is a documentary film maker and writer.