TCS Joins Call to Take Action on Racism in the Workplace by Endorsing BITC’s Race at Work Charter

LONDON : Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation, announced its full commitment to accelerate positive change for Black, Asian, and minority ethnic employees in the workplace, by actively working towards the Business in the Community’s (BITC) Race Equality Campaign – The Race at Work Charter.

Launched in partnership with the UK government in 2018, The Race at Work Charter builds on the work of the 2017 McGregor-Smith Review, which found people from Black, Asian, and ethnic minority backgrounds were still underemployed, underpromoted, and underrepresented at senior levels.

Ramkumar Chandrasekaran, HR Director, TCS UK & Ireland, said: “Diversity and inclusion has been a fundamental focus at TCS for many years. We continue to initiate a series of comprehensive global programmes to facilitate real change in thinking, behaviours, actions and the way we communicate to achieve this; and we are pleased to be part of this important Charter which aims to significantly improve employment opportunities for ethnic minorities and boost the long-term economic position of the UK.”

TCS signed up to the Charter at the beginning of 2021 and is actively working towards meeting all requirements that comprise the Race at Work Charter principles. TCS has already made progress in the following key areas:

· Appointing an executive sponsor for race

Next to the global executive sponsor Dr Ritu Anand, Chief Leadership & Diversity Officer, TCS has also appointed Ramkumar Chandrasekaran, HR Director, TCS UK & Ireland, to make the case for real action, engage the workforce, and set definitive ethnicity targets.

· Take action that supports ethnic minority career progression

For TCS, diversity and inclusion at the workplace is a business priority. TCS not only provides a myriad of inclusive opportunities for continuous learning and mentoring initiatives for career development, but its dedicated Culture and Diversity Team has also spearheaded initiatives such as a ‘Plan my Career’ event, in partnership with the Black community, and Arise, in conjunction with TCS’ new Clients as Allies of Diversity programme to celebrate Black History Month.

· Make clear that supporting equality in the workplace is the responsibility of all leaders and managers

Already outlined in The Tata Code of Conduct (TCoC), TCS has gone one further step to ensure that leaders and managers across all TCS territories understand their responsibilities to safeguard equality in the workplace. Launched, in November 2020, a wide-scale initiative called Project Synthesis saw over 4,500 people managers participating in a 10-week learning programme to build a deeper understanding of their own inner diversity and engage with the diversity of their collective communities. Plans are already in place to extend this initiative next year.

· Commit at board level to zero tolerance of harassment and bullying

The Tata Code of Conduct (TCoC) clearly outlines a zero-tolerance policy of harassment and bullying in the workplace. Its TCS Champions of Equity initiative, pioneered by TCS’ CEO, aims to create a fair and inclusive culture at the workplace to actively build an ecosystem of faith, trust, and helping others succeed. TCS maintains a policy to ‘include without exception’ so that no person is left behind – and promotes The Inclusion Value model to ensure a total absence of discrimination judgement or biases within the workplace.

· Capture ethnicity data and publicise progress

TCS has started a monitoring programme across its TCS UK & Ireland workforce and is looking to capture and publish its ethnicity data by next year.

TCS Allies of Diversity Conclave UK continues to bring nationalities, genders, and generations together through virtual events and workshops to create a safe environment for everyone to be who they are and to create a culture that fully embraces diversity.

As a founding member of the World Economic Forum’s 2021 ‘Partnering for Racial Justice in Business’ initiative, TCS remains dedicated to breaking down workplace barriers, and actively raising the aspirations of ethnic minorities from within and outside the organisation to provide full support for professional growth.