KOLKATA, INDIA — Over the years, steel manufacturing company Tata Steel has been known for its spirit of pioneering, one that goes beyond just products and solutions. The company’s history of many “firsts” in human resources within the manufacturing sector includes 8-hour workdays, maternity leave, gratuity upon retirement, and a 5-day work week amongst others.
In order to bring an exclusive focus on Diversity and Inclusion, Tata Steel launched MOSAIC in the year 2015. MOSAIC defines the path the company has taken to build a people culture that both celebrates and encourages diversity and inclusion. It has a five-pillar approach that covers recruitment, sensitization, retention & development, and infrastructure & celebration. The focus areas for MOSAIC are gender, persons with disability, affirmative action, and LGBTQIA+.
Tata Steel has set a target of creating a 25% diverse workforce by 2025.
At its Noamundi iron mine, a 22-member all-woman team is already engaged in drilling, dumper, and shovel operations across shifts. As an equal opportunity employer, Tata Steel respects the uniqueness of individuals and is putting its best foot forward, to shape the workspaces of tomorrow.
Having broken the glass ceiling time and again, Tata Steel has onboarded 97 transgender persons in various roles to date. Such initiatives further reinforce Tata Steel’s belief in strengthening the organization by embracing a variety of identities, thoughts, and perspectives. In 2019, Tata Steel also introduced a policy for LGBTQIA+ employees, urging them to enlist their partners with the Company, so as to enable them to avail all HR benefits.
Following in the footsteps of Tata Steel, Tata Pravesh, a brand of steel doors and windows, has endeavored to open the doors of the mind through its thought-provoking films for World Environment Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, World AIDS Day and most recently, Women’s Day. Through these films, the brand attempts to change the way we look at the world around us. Tata Pravesh also felt that the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ persons within the workforce at Tata Steel would be revolutionary and merits being showcased to the world through a film. This initiative has been lauded not just because it is innovative, but it is also a progressive way for such employees to enter mainstream society, be embraced by all around them, and made to feel a part of the larger corporate family.
Humility has always been deeply ingrained in the fabric of Tata Steel’s history. Hence, instead of highlighting how progressive Tata Steel is as a company, the film “Raahi”, conceptualized by creative agency Wunderman Thompson Kolkata, is purposefully set to a neutral corporate backdrop. It tells the story of an LGBTQIA+ individual, shunned by society but who is accepted by colleagues. The film signs off with the strong social message, ‘Acceptance can open doors’, encouraging us to open our minds – ‘#KholoMannKeDwaar’ – allowing the winds of change to air out our prejudices.
Lit up and shot beautifully by Happy Rabbit Films, the film encourages us to inculcate a sense of belonging in the workplace and make our LGBTQIA+ colleagues feel accepted, making them proud of us. It makes us stop for a moment and take cognizance of our biases, so we can work towards eliminating them.
Jaya Singh Panda, chief diversity officer, Tata Steel Ltd., said, “As a company, our objective has always been to drive diversity and build a benchmark workplace. The inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in the Tata Steel workforce is a step in that direction. The film urges us to accept everyone and create an inclusive workplace where equal opportunity is provided to all.”
“We need to be sensitive towards our LGBTQIA+ co-workers and make them feel welcome at the workplace. This film encourages us to make them feel at home as our colleagues. It teaches us to build relationships based on love and respect, regardless of gender, so that no one ever walks alone,” said Arjun Mukherjee, VP & senior ECD, Wunderman Thompson, Kolkata.
CREDITS:
Client: Tata Pravesh – a brand of Tata Steel
Agency: Wunderman Thompson Kolkata
Project Head: Vijay Jacob Parakkal, Sr. VP & Managing Partner
Creative Team:
Arjun Mukherjee, VP & Sr. ECD
Anurag Acharya, Creative Director II
Kaushik Roy, Creative Director I
Partha Chowdhury, Sr. Creative Director
Nuzhath Enayath, Sr. Copywriter
Bidisha Chandra, Jr. Art Director
Account Management:
Nilanjan Sarkar, Client Services Director
Production house: Habby Rabbit Films
Director: Dibyendu Bose
Editor: Arghyakamal Mitra
Music director: Hanif Shaikh
VO: Richa Nigam
