Godrej was founded in 1897 in an India aspiring to freedom. We were forged in the years of our independence and swadeshi movements, and draw our values from independent India's constitutional ideals of liberty, equality, freedom and justice. These ideals shape our philosophy of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
We do not tolerate any form of discrimination on the basis of nationality, race, colour, religion, caste, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, or marital status and allow for equal opportunities for all our team members. We subscribe to the CII-ASSOCHAM Code of Conduct for Affirmative Action.
We focus on diverse cohorts among women, LGBTQIA+ people, and people with disabilities. We aim to be intersectional in how we engage with these groups, as well as other historically excluded groups. Through our policies, our public communications, and our social responsibility endeavours, we strive to uphold the Godrej values of trust and respect at all our workplaces. We commit to ensuring that everyone at the Godrej Industries Group is confident about bringing their whole selves to work.
At the Godrej DEI Lab, we work on empowering inclusion within the group, help build DEI ecosystems across corporate India, and aim to bring ideas and innovation related to DEI to the mainstream. In addition, every company within the group has a DEI team with specific goals to enhance representation and inclusion. At all companies, employee-led groups create safe spaces for diverse cohorts, and enable them to thrive. A group DEI Council mentors and advises the Lab as well as business teams.
We understand that we are only as good as what we do next. Through our ongoing efforts, and those we will undertake in the future, we strive to constantly improve how we do business, and how we live in the world.
Women comprise 48% of our total workforce, reflecting our concerted efforts to cultivate an inclusive workplace. In management positions, women hold a 31% share, while in senior management roles, the representation stands at 23%. We aim to achieve a 30% representation of women in senior leadership roles, aligning with our commitment to diversity. Our initiatives include –
DEI fundamental workshops
Recognising the importance of leadership buy-in, the initiative began with comprehensive DEI fundamental workshops for all leaders across Sales and Manufacturing functions. These workshops served as a springboard for broader awareness, equipping leaders with the knowledge and skills to champion inclusivity within their teams.
Women in sales
Aarambh is an affirmative hiring programme initiated in 2022, with a view to increase gender representation in our Sales function. To achieve a larger goal of 100 Women in Sales by 2025, Aarambh is a specially crafted program that involves a Trainee model of hiring women who are Freshers/from a non-FMCG sales background and making them ready as Field officers for sales stint across the country. 25 Sales trainees have been hired through this programme, a variation of the Aarambh trainee program has been launched in the form of an internship program to increase scale of hiring from this pool.
Women in manufacturing
Women GeT is our affirmative hiring program for women in our manufacturing. In FY23-24 we hired 11 Women GeT in manufacturing units across. Given there is usually a shortage of women talent, finishing a Masters course with a Supply Chain/ Manufacturing background, the GeT programme was initiated with the objective of hiring women engineering graduates from IT and other engineering colleges such as Chemical & Electronics among other engineering streams to groom them into junior-management roles in our plant operations.
Inclusive factories framework
As part of building lighthouse factory operations in the country, we have created a framework around building and sustaining inclusive factories. Work has commenced for two upcoming greenfields projects in India, where the commitment is to hire a gender-balanced workforce at white-collar, blue-collar and contractual levels, along with at least 5% of employees coming from the PwD & LGBTIQA+ community. This philosophy has led to the teams thinking about accessibility and inclusive design from the civil & design stage to machinery procurement, accessible technology, re-think safety workflows, map hiring & talent attraction processes, followed by the integration journey.
LGBT+ inclusion
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is evident in our comprehensive Equal Opportunity Policy and Gender-neutral Anti-sexual Harassment Policy. These policies are designed to protect the rights of all team members, including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBT+). We extend medical benefits, such as hospitalisation cover, to domestic partners of our employees, allowing any team member to designate their spouse/domestic partner as a dependent, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. This inclusive approach also covers same-sex dependents, individuals with AIDS, and those undergoing fertility treatments. Moreover, our Adoption Policy is structured to support a gender-neutral primary caregiver. We provide support to team members who wish to undergo gender transition through our Gender Affirmation Policy, which offers reimbursements for non-cosmetic surgeries and hormone replacement therapy. Additionally, we are actively reviewing our amenities and infrastructure to better cater to the needs of LGBT+ team members. As a proactive step, we have established two gender-neutral washrooms at our headquarters, Godrej One, in Mumbai.