Celebrating Diversity & Inclusion

Today (21st March) is World Down Syndrome Day, not many people know about it though. Down Syndrome a.k.a. Trisomy21 is rare natural phenomenon due to an extra chromosome in the 21st pair hence the connect to today date (21-3 or 3-21). This leads to some developmental challenges for the person but it also magnifies many awesome aspects like love, care and compassion. 

I am sure some of you would have come in contact with these beautiful souls, I am blessed to be parenting one such awesome girl - Navya. When she was born in 2008, Doctors asked us to plan for another child as she was not going to be "normal". Thankfully we ignored that advice and focused solely on Navya's development. It was a bit challenging to begin with but thanks to rock-solid support from our families, friends and schools that we have been able to get her the opportunities she deserves. However as she grows up and aspires to be a pilot or own a cafe, we are getting a bit anxious on how the society will accept her as a professional.

I am sure Navya is not alone in this, there are millions of people like her who need the opportunities they deserve. And things are improving everyday with so many governments and organizations (eg McDonalds, LemonTree Hotels) taking affirmative actions for the real "inclusion" but a lot more needs to be done. Most organizations are still focused on gender diversity and ethnic inclusion.

One of the important question we need to address is whether it makes business sense to include "differently-abled" people in the work-force. I don't have any research to prove it but a small experience to share.

In my previous role with Hindustan Unilever Ltd. in India, I was responsible for logistics operations and was approached by an NGO "Enable India" to hire differently-abled people in our operations. I was hesitant at the start but asked one of my team members Ms. Subhashree Pradhan to evaluate the possibility. She diligently worked with Enable India team and one of our co-packers to start a pilot. It was not just about providing the physical infrastructure but also about sensitizing the existing "normal" people in the operations to work with new joinees with different abilities. Hats off to the entire team who came together in this initiative and we were able to integrate new members very quickly. The performance of the site improved significantly as well. During one of my visits, I tried to understand the reasons for this improvement. The site manager very confidently told me that the new members are more focused than others and deliver higher output in the same time. This has a rub-off effect on others and the overall performance of the site went up. This was indeed a "win-win" situation.

I am fully aware that this was possible due to the personal commitment of every member involved in this initiate and may not be equally successful anywhere else. But I hope this experience will help others take the first step and try to provide the "opportunities" to our "differently-abled" friends.

I humbly request you to please support and lead inclusion of all kinds of diverse people in your teams and work-places. Thank you so much for your time and attention.