Mumbai: HR veteran and ex-chief talent officer of Wunderman Thompson South Asia, Roopa Badrinath who launched her diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) consultancy - Turmeric Consulting in August has curated a bespoke program ‘Pathways to Inclusive Leadership’. The program looks at the merits of a diverse workforce that is resilient, operates fearlessly, and recognises and harnesses the potential of everyone under an army of inclusive leaders across the organisation. While giving some pointers to interrupt biases, the program shines the light on the importance of acknowledging privilege and power and deploying it for the good of under-represented people. It delves into why people take mental shortcuts and how some daily workplace decisions in the employee lifecycle are impacted by unconscious biases leading to exclusionary practices. Gleaning from her vast experience in the A&M industry in helming the talent function for about 15 years across two large multi-national communications conglomerates, Roopa will be curating a series of programs that will benefit the A&M industry immensely.
The uniqueness of this program is its ability to help the leaders connect the disparate dots into a cohesive narrative. The program helps leaders establish the link between business success in a VUCA world and DEI; how DEI and ESG are indelibly connected; reflect on the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) DEI Charter for change, Global Media Charter, Planet Pledge, Sustainable Marketing 2030, UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and World Economic Forum’s audience representation maturity framework. The program also sheds light on the role of biases, identity, intersectionality, identity-based stereotyping, privilege, and power in pursuing inclusive leadership.
Commenting on the uniqueness of the program, Turmeric Consulting founder and principal consultant Roopa Badrinath said, “Just having a diverse workforce without embedding inclusion into the DNA of the organization is like putting the cart before the horse. The dividends of having a diverse workforce can be reaped only with an inclusive culture. Creating an inclusive culture requires the ongoing commitment of employees at all levels more so the leaders to drive a cultural shift.
‘Pathways to Inclusive Leadership’ aspires to rouse the collective conscience of all people leaders in creating an inclusive culture where diversity and equity thrive, creating a sense of belonging and leading to deep employee engagement which in turn results in positive business outcomes.
“While the industry has been conscientiously working on improving representation across levels, it might be missing out on a critical aspect to make diversity thrive. And that is Inclusion. Inclusion fosters an environment of mutual respect where differences are valued and welcomed. On the other hand, Equity ensures that all individuals have access to the same opportunities while being treated fairly,” added Badrinath.
