Inclusion & Diversity — the opportunity & the transformation

I shared the below story with some folks who said this warmed the cockles of their heart….hope it strikes a chord with you too.

A few months ago, a young lady joined our housekeeping agency and was assigned to our office in Chennai to carry out regular office cleaning and support activities. She was one among the few that regularly took care of various office housekeeping tasks all through the day.. So what’s special? Let me take you through her story.

With a demeanor so friendly, with a disposition so polite and kind, with communication skills pretty polished and with that remarkable sparkle in her eye whenever she walked into my room to serve coffee or tea, it was very hard to miss that she was cut out for a different kind of job. Her infectious smile, courteous approach and smartness in the way she assessed how busy one was before interrupting, gave away her intelligence, hidden talent and untapped potential.

On probing a bit, I realized that she comes from a very small village in Southern Tamil Nadu, which is located at a distance of over 600 kms from Chennai. This is a village which has only 2 schools, and she considers herself lucky to have been able to study in one of those schools. She hails from a very conservative family, who were against letting her go out of the village to pursue her higher studies, due to concerns about her safety and also due to the social stigma attached to it.

She had this burning ambition to get an Engineering degree (which she could not pursue owing to lack of support from her family, as that meant she would have to move to a new city, which her family was totally against).

She then settled for a course in one of the institutes in the village, and got a Diploma in Computers with 93% score to her credit, and she recalls with pride that she was only one among 4 in her class to make the cut!

Being steadfast in her goal to become self-reliant, she took up a job as a machine operator in Schneider Electric, where by sheer dint of her hard work, she made a mark, her performance was noticed, and she was promoted. However it was a contract job so she had to look for an alternative one after the contract got over.

Her next job was that of a supervisor at Chennai Metro, which went well for a few months, but she had to leave that job as well due to late night shifts, again something which is taboo in many households across India. Being stifled by these limitations, she had to settle for a job which was well below her qualifications, capabilities and experience, much against her wishes. This is how she became a house keeping worker in one of the agencies.

The opportunity

I saw a spark in this young lady that made me believe that this could be the eureka moment for our team, where we could do our bit to really walk the talk in terms of upholding our values of promoting Equity, Inclusion & Diversity. We noted that she comes from an under-represented section of the society and was representative of many girls like her who are held back by societal norms, and denied opportunities to higher education and economic empowerment. I was keen to explore the possibility of her fitment for a suitable role in our Chennai office. I discussed this with the HR Head who, being equally passionate about Inclusion & Diversity, put the lady through tests and interviews to see if she had the skills and aptitude to support with administrative work, and lo..! she passed these in flying colors. I do recognize this is not the destination, but only a start of what I believe is going to be an exciting and fulfilling career for her.

The offer

We then offered her a role of Administrative Specialist in the department which we felt was just a starting point for her to get into a corporate career. She will work with a senior member of the team and support the department in administrative activities to ensure the needs of senior management are met. Needless to say she looked at us disbelievingly and asked “is this for real?” She was on cloud nine when she realized she had got an offer for a desk job. She feels very grateful for the opportunity and says she feels proud to call herself an employee of KBR. She is highly committed to make the best of this opportunity.

The transformation

With this change in role, the young lady said she felt very proud to wear the company ID as an employee on day 1 of her employment with KBR. She was happy and emotional at the same time, as she felt it was very different to wearing an ID as a member of housekeeping staff. After an initial period of settling in, she quickly took to her job as fish to water and is already making her presence felt with the way she is delivering her role and responsibilities, and conducting herself with confidence and maturity. Ask her what is her goal in the next few years and she says without batting an eyelid, “I want to lead a team — be it in projects or functions”. Her perseverance and determination are truly inspiring. She is pursuing English speaking course in the evenings, and taking conscious efforts to brush up on her communication. Truly a great discovery from an unlikely place..

She recently shared her story with some of the senior leadership team. Moved and wowed by her story, the team appreciated and applauded her drive, self-belief and hard work. She has more admirers and supporters now to help her realize her dream!

Sharing the before and after pics to show what it means to her and to us as people espousing the cause of social equity, and Diversity & Inclusion. More than ever before, we are committed to creating an environment where we see more deserving women and people from different socio-economic backgrounds join our workforce to make the workplace truly diverse and successful.

It is gratifying to see how efforts like these can play a role in transforming the lives of women in our society, especially those from under-represented sections of the society, but who are no less capable than the rest.

Small drops of water make an ocean…