Discovering Inclusive Workplaces - Series 5 Taking the journey forward with the next inspiring story of Keshav Suri

Taking the series of Discovering Inclusive Workplaces forward,  I recall my meeting with Keshav Suri a few months back at the  Q-RIOUS Event held at The Lalit, New Delhi. I came across a very cheerful and enthusiastic leader who happily shared his journey including some of the workplace practices & policies for their employees and how a leader like him is role-modelling within the Lalit Group of Hotels. 

Keshav Suri is the youngest Executive Director at The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group. He is involved in the Group’s expansion, quality management, building marketing strategies, operations and F&B revenues. An alumnus of St. Columbus School, New Delhi, Keshav Suri graduated in Law and Business from the University of Warwick. He obtained a Master’s Degree in International Management from Kings College, London followed by an LLM Degree from School of African & Oriental Studies (SAOS), London. He has won several international awards and honours such as Attitude Pride Award and LGBT+ Future Role Model by Yahoo Finance Outstanding and about 15 national honours including Change Maker by Hindu Business line, Culture Icon of New Hood by Men’s XP and Agent of Social Change by GQ and Tycoons of Tomorrow by Forbes India to name a few. 

The story is not limited to only awards as Keshav is also one of petitioners to revoke Section 377 in the Supreme Court of India. The Group has provided opportunities to more than 100 queer people and has established itself as one of the most safe places in the country. In the wake of the landmark judgement scrapping Article 377, which decriminalized the LGBTQ+ community, the hotelier and activist Keshav Suri, launched his namesake Keshav Suri Foundation (KSF), hosted by the Lalit Suri Hospitality Group in partnership with FICCI on the 13th October, 2018, at The Lalit New Delhi.

The Foundation’s launch witnessed the first National Dialogue: ‘Queering the Pitch – Agents of Change’. The dialogue brought together thought leaders from Corporate India, NGOs, content creators, political and legal fraternity & their roles as Agents of Change in Queering the Pitch.

Excited about the endeavour, Keshav Suri said, “We are glad that Section 377 has been read down. However, we have merely scratched the surface. Building off the success of the It Gets Better campaign, the Keshav Suri Foundation will illustrate HOW it CAN Get Better in the Indian context. The Foundation aims to provide employable skills to the community and sensitize organizations on more Diverse & Inclusive practices.”

Keshav clearly practices  some of the below workplace practices at the Lalit Group of Hotels making this a Inclusive place to work which is a welcome change for employees who work there & a high inspiration to other industry players  : 

A.    Nurturing a Transparent and Trusting Culture by treating every employee with dignity, is very critical as per Keshav. They also value their employees and endeavour to develop and reward performance. They strongly believe every individual working with them possesses certain strengths and the organization should strive to leverage them by including them in their growth journey.

B.    The Lalit Group of Hotels has been created as a Safe, Gender-agnostic Place and their message to the world is PureLove  welcoming everyone without any discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual preferences, religion, physical abilities. The respect for  everyone’s choices and celebrate diversity also extends beyond their workplace to the entire ecosystem.

C.    Keshav believes that being inclusive is the need of the hour. It brings creativity, drives originality of thought, helps us understand our customer better. It is important for an organization to be inclusive – as a brand we understand our clients better and as an employer your employees are happier and loyal as they bring their whole self to work. The LaLiT, has made numerous efforts to help, skill and empower people from the marginalised communities such as differently abled, acid attack survivors, LGBTQ+. 

D.   Removing Workplace Discrimination remains one of the most challenging issues facing the LGBTI community. India is one of many countries that lacks protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex workers. The Lalit Group is one organisation that has implemented pro-LGBTI policies. Keshav states  “Change has to be from top down. There are enough leaders who can bring about a change but they don’t”.

E.   Inclusion at Workplace as per Keshav has to be experienced and be visible in all activities. Thus, Elphie, dressed in rainbow colours, is their mascot for the celebrations of Inclusivity and Diversity. Elphie welcomes all, without any discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, gender or sexual preferences. The rainbow colour denotes that The Lalit Group is a Gender Neutral Company and perfectly complements our theme of Inclusivity.

F.   Keshav is one leader who rarely focusses only on hiring as the only parameters to include diversity  rather, he has focused  on building the workplace culture which attracts the best of talent from hospitality industry irrespective of their religion, caste, gender or sexual preferences who feel like a family and inspire the world around them into the greater depths of the Inclusion. I also observed Keshav as a leader who is down to earth with employees and other stakeholders & ensures requisite respect for every individual that he comes across truly living the workplace Inclusive Values Leading From Front by himself as a role model. I am sure he is a true inspiration of aspiring leaders from diverse communities and an  architect of the Inclusive Workplace Culture in various other organizations who have been connected with him.