Instances of India Inc showing greater consciousness

FARHAD FORBES is on a mission: to transform his engineering-products company into one whose workforce truly represents India. A few years ago, the director of Forbes Marshall found that though scheduled castes and scheduled tribes formed a quarter of the country’s population, they accounted for only 6.8% of Forbes Marshall’s workforce. Forbes decided affirmative action, rather than reservations, was the way to fix this demographic kink. The company adopted a four-point plan put forth by the Confederation of Indian Industry: direct employment, improving employability, developing entrepreneurship, and primary and secondary education. “The philosophy was to provide extra inputs to the underprivileged to make them more competitive,” says Forbes.

For almost 40 years now, Forbes Marshall had been shaping entrepreneurs. When people approached the company for jobs, it would instead provide basic vocational training in areas like carpentry and welding. It would absorb some of them or help them set up independent units. In the last few years, the company has stepped up its handholding, helping them in areas like company registration, provident fund-related work and managing people. “If we raise their education and skill standards, it widens the talent pool we have access to,” says Forbes. With this in mind, Forbes Marshall has started sensitising its employees to supplier diversity. Simply put, all other things being equal, if the company has to choose from two vendors, it will prefer one from an underprivileged background. Mentoring entrepreneurs too has taken on a new lease, with a greater focus on minorities, especially women.

Ref : THE ECONOMIC TIMES MUMBAI – THURSDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2010