As a global company whose founding premise is that “Amway business is for everyone,” we believe that DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is critical to our success. The ways we think, talk and act on DEI are essential to our organization’s growth in an ever-changing world. And amid that growth, what remains constant is our commitment to creating a culture where everyone is actively welcomed, valued and empowered to succeed regardless of their background. Amway’s vision for DEI is to actively encourage everyone to be their authentic selves and share their diverse perspectives. Unleashing their full potential and sparking solutions that will make a difference in the lives of our employees, communities, Amway Business Owners and their customers. Shantanu Das, CHRO, Amway India, takes us through the finer aspects of the DEI strategy that is slowly evolving into a strategic move for companies as a competitive advantage.
How is your firm racing towards a more inclusive future?
DEI is critical to our future and it will enable us to reach our vision through increased employee engagement, business innovation and the ability to attract and retain diverse top talent.
We believe diversity leads to an innovative and agile organization adept at responding to the evolving needs of business. It’s a core part of our business strategy and embedded in our day-to-day executions. Hence, promoting diversity through hiring and having a broad mix of employees representing different genders, ages, culture is essential in building a balanced environment for professional growth. At Amway, there is relentless focus on making employees aware of DEI through intensive training sessions and experiences which starts from the top leadership.
Give us some examples of how your firm is building an inspiring work culture.
We have a DEI Council with representation from across the organization with a defined charter to focus on DEI. We also have Inclusion Network Groups which are self-organizing communities aimed at building impactful, inclusive community fostering professional growth by developing engaging networks, events and activities. The Women Inclusion Network aims at empowering women to reach their full potential while the Amway Young Professionals Network aims to enable young professionals with opportunities and encourage personal and professional development. We have a strong female presence across levels bringing great value, mentorship and inspiration. Many of our benefit programs are aimed at supporting women through life’s various special stages to ensure a better work-life balance. We have Career Counselling programs to guide and encourage women at our Manufacturing Plant to take the next step towards their career growth with access to a certified counsellor who can guide them on their career decisions. To build accountability among leaders and consciously work on increasing the women & young professionals’ representation in their teams, we publish a quarterly D& I scorecard. The scorecard shows the function’s health across parameters around gender across grades, attrition, young professional representation, top talent etc. We also have a well-defined Campus engagement program to hire the best talent from Campus to add value to business in the long term. Under this, we have various program like MT, GET, BT, SIP wherein fresh talent is hired from Tier I, II & III institutes and this has significantly impacted the cultural DNA of Amway has been awarded as one of the Best Workplaces for Women in “The Economic Times Best Workplaces for Women 2021” and has also been awarded as ‘India’s Best Workplaces for Women 2021 in Large Companies Category Top 100’ by Great Place to Work. These awards are a testimony to our focus on inclusive People practices and reiterates our belief that D &I not only contribute to creating a culture that retains and nurtures talent but also has a key impact on the Company’s growth and success.
