Bosch India – Celebrating diversity in various forms

Diversity is more than just reaching a target or a milestone in the male–female ratio at the workplace. It is more about giving equal opportunities to employees to grow, learn and develop, so that they are able to fulfil their ambitions and dreams. Companies try to bring in various fancy themes and interventions to enhance diversity, but they fail. However, diversity is not that complicated or tough to achieve. It should be there in the DNA of a company’s culture, which is defined by its people.

To celebrate diversity in the organisation, the Bosch Group recently observed the Bosch International Diversity Day worldwide. Every country celebrates the day in its own way. Bosch India, which employees around 31000 people, celebrated this day by starting an online social -media campaign to tell the world what diversity means for Bosch India. As part of the campaign, five videos were posted and promoted on every social media platform, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

The campaign was initiated with an aim to tell the world that at Bosch diversity was not only about gender diversity, but meant a lot of other things. Through this campaign, the Company was able to tell the world about different businesses that the Group had, such as cyber security, power tools, smart agriculture, automotive business, healthcare and home appliances where people can weave their careers. It also showcases the diverse roles in the organisation where people can look forward to building their careers.

Bosch India has a number of practices, which support diversity in campus hiring, mentoring of women and offering them a flexible working environment.

The Bosch International Diversity Day was conceptualised by the global diversity team to promote and spread awareness about diversity amongst its employees.

The campaign showcases five different types of diversity practised within Bosch — diversity in gender, career, business, age and culture.

In the videos, five employees from different departments and roles describe their journey in the organisation representing and explaining diversity at Bosch India.

Diversity in business: The first video shows different portfolios of the Bosch India Group, such as cyber security, smart agriculture, power tools, home appliances, and so on because people rarely know about these businesses of Bosch. It shows that Bosch India offers a large pool of opportunities for people, in its different businesses. , which clearly represents diversity.

Diversity in gender: In the video about gender diversity, Kanchan, an employee at Bosch India who works in the procurement and supply chain business, states that she never felt that the company had a gender bias culture. In fact, she never felt limited amongst boys. She explained that once she had to work from another location for 25 days, but she never felt uneasy. Rather, she achieved several milestones in her career.

Diversity in career: In another video, Nagesh who works in the two-wheeler engineering division, describes his journey at Bosch India where he worked for so many years in three different roles without changing the organisation. He joined as a software engineering in the trucks, tractors and cars engineering group. After that, he moved into a corporate role where he got the chance to understand the business of Bosch India. Inspired by this, he started a new business for Bosch in two-wheeler engineering. This shows diversity in career— Bosch India gives people the opportunity to work in different roles and shape their career in their own way.

“Diversity is an integral part of our organisation and is reflected in the wide range of businesses, products and services that we provide. In addition, the talent in these businesses are diverse teams of women and men from different cultures, generations with different competencies and perspectives working together and harnessing their full potential for the success of Bosch. The campaign that started this year on Diversity day is a step in that direction”

Diversity in culture:Yet another video showcases Vikas, who works in the manufacturing unit and has lead various culturally different teams at Bosch, which helped him to shape his leadership skills. He recalls that one time he lead a German team for a while and after that he was transferred to Germany to work in the production department. There, he had to face two challenges, a new role and a culturally diverse German team. But still, he managed to overcome this hurdle and deliver. This speaks volumes for Bosch’s diverse culture, which allows its people to grow as leaders and as human beings.

Diversity in age: The last video showcases Udit Bhatia, a young project manager in the connected mobility services, who describes how he joined the company through a junior manager programme, where he was mentored by a very senior person, who was at a VP level. Udit says that his mentor was always available and easily accessible at all times. He goes on to explain that Bosch India gives an opportunity to work with very experienced employees, learn from their experiences and express ideas freely in front of them. Bosch has diverse sets of teams, where young people lead experienced and aged people and the other way around. There is a reverse learning process which takes place at Bosch India.

“For us at Bosch, diversity is an important element in ensuring our long-term success. It is an integral part of our organisation and is reflected in the wide range of businesses, products and services that we provide. In addition, the talent in these businesses are diverse teams of women and men from different cultures, generations with different competencies and perspectives working together and harnessing their full potential for the success of Bosch. The campaign that started this year on Diversity day is a step in that direction,” says Suresh BR, country head – human resource, Bosch India.

The Bosch International Diversity Day works as an awareness campaign for its employees and it has given some positive results in terms of the number of women at the plant level and corporate level. Bosch India, which has a strong presence in the southern region of India, has helped bring people on board from various other regions in India. The campaign has also helped employees become more sensitive and overcome biases. The training centre sensitises managers to lead diverse teams.

Apart from the social-media campaign, which was run this year, Bosch also conducts a series of events and workshops to promote and spread the awareness of diversity in the organisation, across its plants and locations to celebrate diversity in different forms. During the diversity week, several events, workshops and round-table discussions are held, where people from various backgrounds come together and celebrate diversity in various ways. This is the first time that the company organised a social-media campaign to tell the world what diversity is at Bosch India.

This campaign has given the Company an opportunity to showcase different businesses and roles which people do not know about. Most importantly, it highlights the fact that diversity is part of its DNA.

Diversity is not achieved through fancy HR practices, but by first understanding the very concept itself. Bosch India is determined to stand for diversity and work to change the mindset of people within and outside the organisation.