CEAT pushes for gender diversity in manufacturing

Against the backdrop of global debates surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), CEAT , a flagship company of the RPG Group, is stepping up its efforts to implement women-centric and diverse policies in the traditionally male-dominated manufacturing sector. With a goal of achieving gender diversity of 25% on the shop floor and 20% at the leadership level (general manager and above) by 2027, CEAT aims to surpass the industry average of 6-8%, its CHRO, Somraj Roy told TOI in an exclusive interaction

At present, the company’s overall gender diversity is 17%, while it’s around 9% in senior leadership roles.

"We’ve been proactive in hiring, sometimes building a bench even without immediate vacancies. We’re also exploring talent from diverse backgrounds, including women from defense sectors, and those from EWS (economically weaker sections), as well as a focus on socioeconomic diversity. For us, diversity is not just gender or with people with special abilities, but also educational, economical. For instance, we are hiring talent from underrepresented regions like Dharavi (one of the largest slums in Mumbai), and remote geographies in the north-east and up north like Ladakh’’, Roy said.

DEI has been the company’s focus since a long time, and over the past five years it has come up with robust policies to achieve its goals strategically. ``In 2019, our DEI percentage was 11%. We have now reached 17% through consistent efforts on hiring and building inclusive practices’’, he added.

The company’s total employee strength is around 8000 employees, including management and associates.

Women remain significantly underrepresented across industries, including the manufacturing sector. According to Statista, urban female labor force participation in India was just over 22% for the year ending June 2024, compared to 59% for urban men.

Perhaps in one of the industry-firsts, the company has a progressive work-from-anywhere policy tailored to employee categories which has been in place pre-Covid. Shop floor managers have five-day workweeks with work-from-home options.

To address the gender gap, several companies are increasingly offering policies for women returning to work, which include flexible work options, mentorship and re-skilling opportunities.

Further, in Sept last year, Ceat floated a menstrual wellness leave policy `Shakti’, among the first few companies to allow women to take time off without approval.

Several companies including L&T now offer menstrual leave, to foster a more inclusive and supportive workplace.

Meanwhile, in a unique initiative four years ago for all employees, he said, the company moved from external rankings to measuring internal happiness, on parameters including connection, culture, growth, value, job satisfaction, and work-life balance.

"The feedback shapes policies like our Shakti Policy, and unconscious bias training. It also ensures that our policies resonate with employee needs’’, he added.