AIM 8

Promote gender parity, diversity, and inclusivity

At Vedanta, we are proud of our organisational culture that promotes inclusivity and diversity among the workforce. The diversity of experience, expertise and perspectives makes us more capable as a team and prepares us better to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Inclusivity makes each employee feel that they are a valued member of the team, thus encouraging them to bring their best to the table.

Key material issues

Diversity and equal opportunity

SDGs impacted

Sub-goals5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere

5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life

5.c: Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels

GOVERNANCE

Our culture encourages innovation, creativity, and diversity, allowing our employees to advance both professionally and personally. We have always put people first, giving them equal opportunities, ensuring their wellbeing, and encouraging their growth.

Our goal is to achieve gender parity throughout the organisation, from senior leadership and decision-making bodies to the BUs and enabling functions. We have formed the Group Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Council to advance our diversity agenda. The council’s mandate is to ensure that our DE&I goals are integrated into the ESG framework in accordance with the organisation’s broader business strategy. The DE&I council overseen by Group HR-ManCom is responsible for reviewing and revising policies, developing diversity dashboards, partnering with special colleges and search firms, forming employee resource groups, and so on.

The People Community of Practice drives implementation of Aim 8 across the Group.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

We believe in creating a workplace representing people of all genders, ethnicities, regional affiliations, age, who bring a variety of perspectives and experiences. Irrespective of their backgrounds, we give equal opportunities to all and ensure there is no discrimination. Ensuring gender parity is also a key focus area.

With a goal to achieve gender parity by 2050, we are making conscious efforts to strengthen our women workforce and provide them with equal opportunities. We maintain a healthy diversity ratio across the organisation. To achieve our target of increasing women’s participation in our workforce, we have revisited and renovated existing processes to make it more favourable for women leaders in the Company. We have realised that increasing women’s presence on the shop floor is critical to this overall plan. Our overall women workforce has increased by 10% as compared to the pre-pandemic level, while percentage of women in the leadership/decision making positions have also increased significantly.

On the talent management front, we have dedicated initiatives for promoting a healthy diversity mix. V-Lead, our flagship mentoring programme for women, is working with 100 women leaders who are being groomed to take on greater responsibilities. They are being anchored by the senior leaders with an objective to catapult them to CXO positions across the Group..

In order to drive continual progress and increase the gender diversity across our businesses, the following KPIs have been incorporated in the ESG framework:

In decision- making bodies** Leadership roles Enabling roles (HR, Finances, etc) Technical/ Shopfloor Overall
2030 target 30% 40% 50% 20% 20%
FY2022 status 29% 34% 29% 10% 11.64%
Governance Body Diversity FY2022*
Male Female Total Male Female
ManCom 217 94 311 70% 30%
ExCom 355 110 465 76% 24%
Total 572 204 776 74% 26%

*Number as on May 2022

Number of Transgender in workforce FY2022
Business Partner Employees 4
Full-Time-Employees 0

#Balco hired 3 more transgender business partner employees in April2022, taking the count to 7.

Strategy to achieve the targets

Transgender hiring at our business

We do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. In fact, we ensure that people of diverse sexual orientation are welcomed and integrated into the workforce. To this end, Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO), India’s iconic aluminium producer, has hired seven transgender employees. Gender- sensitisation workshops were held for the entire workforce prior to their induction in order to ensure that they did not face social and psychological challenges and were guided by our Code of Conduct towards the creation of a cohesive and encouraging work environment for all.

OTHER PROGRAMMES PROMOTING WORKPLACE DIVERSITY

Making it easy for women to make career choices

Our human resource practices are guided by Vedanta’s value of Care. From flexi-hours to support for new-parents, we try to create a workplace that is accommodative of the various stages of our employees’ lives. More than 92% of the women who take maternity leave choose to remain employed with the company 12 months after they return to work. They face no backlash, nor do they have diminished responsibilities. This helps working women balance their career and personal responsibilities. New mothers are mentored by a ‘Buddy’, usually a senior woman colleague, who has gone through the same phase and can guide the new mother in taking decisions at the workplace. We also put extra focus on fast-tracking women employees’ career growth and are on our way to implementing a Buddy programme dedicated to them.

There are also initiatives like Tarang, She-Leads, Pragati, Diversity Mentoring Programme and workshops with the Vice Chairman and Sector CEO Leadership to help women leaders get acquainted with leadership roles and fast-track their career after their return from a break owing to family choices. We have organised the best day-care centres for children and try to make things easier for women by delivering meals, groceries, and medications to their homes.

We have boosted the number of wellness programmes for our female workers, including webinars and virtual activities. These sessions have enabled many of them to deal with pandemic-related worry and anxiety. These sessions have also been extended to their families to assure their wellbeing.

92%

RETURN TO WORK RATIO (12-MONTHS
AFTER RETURNING FROM PARENTAL LEAVE)

Parental leave distribution FY2020 FY2021
Male Female Male Female
Number of employees who have taken parental leave 600 103 545 102
Number of employees who were in continuous service for
the next 12 months after returning from parental leave 		551 88 492 94
Retention* % 92% 85% 90% 92%

*Numbers presented are for the preceding fiscal year, so that we can calculate number of employees who continue to work with us 12 months after taking parental leaves.

**Parental leave distribution data has not been assured by Ernst and Young Associates LLP

INTEGRATING THE SPECIALLY-ABLED

Premises/offices accessed by people with disabilities (PWDs) are equipped with enabling infrastructure such as ramp, walkways, braille-enabled elevators, text-to-speech software for the visually impaired, washrooms with special facilities as per requirements of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. As the next step, we are working on a roadmap in accordance with the legal guidelines and creating a barrier free environment for specially-abled persons.

Employees with Disability Business Partner Workforce with Disability
Male Female Male Female
20 1 18 0

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