Inclusion at Scale

Understanding HCL Technologies’ Diversity & Inclusion Best Practices 

Certified Top Employer HCL Technologies is a global technology company that helps businesses adapt to and excel in the digital age. With four decades of experience, 187 000 ‘ideaprenuers,’ and operations in over 50 countries, the company’s technology products and services are enhanced by its long history and extensive network. At the core of their longevity and management of such successful, large-scale operations is a commitment to fostering a positive workplace environment. 

A robust diversity and inclusion programme is a key part of their company culture. “Inclusion at Scale” is an internal programme that translates their diversity and inclusion goals into continuous education, practical application, and awareness initiatives. Featuring four phases, the programme entails micro-learning opportunities, conversation guides, performance management processes, and an LGBTQ educational series about key issues in the community and allyship. Ultimately, the programme’s goal is for these diversity and inclusion practices to become the default, part of business as usual. 

The programme’s guiding philosophy believes that unless inclusion is a priority, exclusion happens unintentionally. Diversity is a seat at the table, while inclusion is a voice at the table. It is essential to treat these two values equally and that they work in partnership. With these values firmly in place, employees have a safe space to share their unique skills and ideas. 

HCL’s desire to foster a safe and healthy work environment and continuously improve their products and services motivates the company to prioritise this initiative. Diverse teams outperform homogenous groups in innovation, creativity, empathy, and other key metrics. Productivity increases, subsequently increasing revenue. Additionally, an inclusive environment makes employees feel valued and that their contributions are taken seriously. They feel more invested in the company’s future. High employee satisfaction is a powerful recruitment and retention tool, meaning there will be more talent to choose from as the company grows. 

The benefits are not only internal. Having a diverse and inclusive team better enables a company to connect with potential and current clients. When employees have a similar background to the client, they understand cultural nuances at play in the relationship. Customers feel more respected and understood. Just as employee satisfaction increases because of these values, so does customer satisfaction. With so many internal and external benefits, these practices are clearly relevant to everyone and not limited to certain groups or minorities. 

Watch this video to hear Debasis Sarkar, Vice President of Human Resources, Head HCL APAC & Middle East and Enterprise HR Head HCL Technologies, share more insights about the company’s diversity and inclusion philosophy and the impact of their programmes. He describes three key actions all employees are encouraged to take, the importance of learning nudges at all levels of leadership, and other best practices from HCL’s Inclusion at Scale programme.

Winning the Battles for Talent



I think it’s time that we stop saying we’re in a war for talent. Not because the fight is cooling off, but rather, because it is intensifying. It is worth changing our perspective on the concept itself; its real form is not that of a war, but of continuous battles for talent. Organisation’s ability to attract, engage and stay committed to and excited about the talent they need is not something we win or lose at once. It is a process of continuous improvement – a thrilling one at that – in which the areas of people management play a decisive role.

Maximising the Employer Brand Strategy

88% of companies worldwide certified as Top Employers have an employer brand strategy that incorporates their employee value proposition as a core element. Naturally, all organisations offer some kind of value proposition to their employees.if they didn’t, it would be difficult to attract anyone, or keep them in the company for that matter – but here we are talking about effectively addressing the challenge of identifying, developing and communicating what you can offer to the talent you require, both during the hiring process and once they are in the company. A value propositon is something that makes the organisation unique, makes it a company that professionals want to belong to, where they want to work and thrive. That, undoubtedly, is a competitive advantage that sweeps away any competition.

Optimising the Candidate’s Journey

The best companies want to make sure they deliver on what they promise, and they achieve it by embarking on a process of listening and continuous improvement. That  is why 89% of Top Employers design and review the key stages of their talent acquisition process so that they are aligned with the pillars or key characteristics of their employer brand. What’s more, 70% of Top Employers systematically measure their employer reputation among their potential candidates – their target market for talent – while 70% also map their candidate’s journey, allowing them to optimise it. They outline what the experience will be like, both from their perspective and that of the candidate, and work with the information they collect from surveys to implement a process of continuous improvement at each focal point. The aim of this is to improve the candidate’s experience so that the hiring process is agile and reflects the pillars of the employer’s brand, making the company more attractive.

Measuring the Experience of Newcomers

These steps are not limited to candidates; they are also aimed at employees, both existing and new. 79% of certified Top Employers measure the experience of new employees, but it is interesting to note that 40% also focus on discovering whether the perception of the employer brand the employee had before joining the organisation has matched their actual experience in their first few weeks of company life. This is very insightful information. It reflects the fact that they are companies with a daring attitude, that are very committed to people, and that thrive in the spirit of continuous improvement. The results they capture inevitably lead to action, and either they change the experience or they will have to change the employer brand.

The best companies will need to work to build trust in their employer brand with the aim of maintaining their commitment to their promise of value throughout the talent life cycle of the organisation. 85% of companies certified as Top Employers ensure that there is a clear alignment between the employer brand and the perception and experience that employees have. They are consistent and coherent brands that work to ensure that no disparity arises between how they consider themselves to be and how they really are in the day-to-day life of the company.

The EVP at the Core of the Employer Brand

An employer brand strategy should have the employee value proposition (EVP) at its core. This is, after all, what gives it consistency, because it brings together the tangible and intangible benefits offered to employees and is aligned with the pillars of the employer brand, related especially with the current and aspirational values of the company.

80% of Top Employers are clear on the fact that, for an employee, a good value proposition must include an effective listening process. For this reason, they actively involve representatives from different groups of employees in defining their value proposition, evaluating their needs, aspirations, and current work experiences. Best practices in this respect shows us the relevance of segmenting employee samples and analysing whether there is a gap between the company’s vision and that of the employee – something which is usually the joint work of management and human resources.

Mapping the Employee Experience

Of course, the EVP, the heart of the employer brand strategy, is certainly not the result of a one-off exercise; the best companies – 72% of Top Employers – increase their value by regularly assessing it, and they continue the systematic exercise of listening to employees. 46% of them use effective tools like employee experience mapping, which details the employee’s perception at every touch point of their journey in their relationship with the company.

Final Thoughts

Talent battles are continually being fought. Socrates, with very good judgment, left us with this reflection: “The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear”. Consistency between what we say we are and what we really are is what builds trust in the employer brand. The best companies invest time, resources, and enthusiasm, as they embark on a process of continuous improvement to achieve what they promise.

Mental Health Q&A: Bentley



In advance of #WorldMentalHealthDay, we caught up with Emma Humphries from certified UK Top Employer Bentley. Emma is co-chair of its wellbeing network BeAccessible – in this interview she reveals more about the network, how it contributes to positive change within the organisation, and how mental health has moved up the organisation’s priority list.

Tell us about yourself and your organisation?

I’m Emma and I work as a Technical Analyst here at Bentley Motors. Bentley has a proud 103-year history of building the most sought-after luxury cars, and we’re also on the most ambitious journey with our Beyond100 plans to become exclusively electric and end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030.

At the heart of Bentley are our 4,000 colleagues. Whilst those numbers might sound big, we’re a tight team with generations of families working here, which makes Bentley a very special place to be. I am proud to follow the footsteps of my late Grandfather who joined the business the day it opened its gates, followed shortly after by my Nan. Since then, there has always been members of my family throughout Bentley’s history; my father, working mainly in Security, and my three brothers working in Purchasing, Maintenance and Finance.  When I finished college, I knew I wanted to be a part of the Bentley brand and family. I’m proud to have just completed my 25 years of service, working predominantly in Logistics – a department and family that is full of drive and passion.

It’s our people that bring our vision for Diversity and Inclusion to life with our colleague led networks. I co-chair one of those networks, known as BeAccessible. It was launched following World Mental Health Day in 2021 and our ambition is simple; we support colleagues in all aspects of health and wellbeing to ensure our workplace is inclusive, and aim to create an equal environment for colleagues with disabilities. Other colleague networks include BeProud, who advocate for our LGBTQ+ community, our BeUnited network who represent colleagues of ethnic minority, our BeReady network, who support colleagues with a background in the army or other recognised force and our BeInspired network which brings together those with an interest in increasing the proportion of female colleagues across all of our business areas to accelerate our progress towards Bentley’s Beyond 100 goals of 30% women in management by 2030.

How has Bentley’s mental health strategy evolved over the past year, in what we all hope is a post-pandemic world?

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted us all in different ways, and we quickly realised that we could not deliver a one-size fits all approach to mental health. With the support of our Head of Diversity & Inclusion, the BeAccesible network established a Positive Mental Health Workstream, and evolved our strategy to have a range of touchpoints for colleagues in a way that works for them, whether that be at work or in new home office.

So, our multi-tactic approach means colleagues can get access to face-to-face peer group support through our regular Time to Talk sessions or get more tailored and personalised support through a trained Mental Health First Aider. But we have also evolved our strategy to focus on day-to-day mental health through BeFit walking programmes, BeFit fruit giveaways etc, as well as the opportunity for colleagues to join our allotment community to enjoy the outdoors because we know helping colleagues with positive habits can help mitigate the impact of mental health stressors.

Has mental health moved up your organisational priority list?

Absolutely, in fact it is being actively championed, from board level to factory floor. It makes me feel proud to work here and excited about what the future holds for Bentley.  

Bentley offers an array of resources for colleagues. This month, along with the network’s regular monthly Time to Talk sessions, we are promoting our Mental Health Traffic Light guide, which contains several useful resources – for example, a list of our Mental Health First Aiders and information on our BeFit programs, designed to get colleagues moving and exercising. We are also sharing colleague’s experience of Ben, the Automotive Charity, and the great support that they offer to colleagues from our automotive industry. The network chairs and members have regular opportunities to meet or ask questions with the Board where we receive full support, answers and guidance, ensuring that we are all striving for the same goal of improving colleagues’ experiences.

How have conversations around mental health changed?

I’m a firm believer that the more we talk about mental health, the more we can demystify. We’ve got a supportive communications team who help make health and wellbeing a priority across our messaging, and we’ve been empowered to host monthly MS Teams sessions to reach our remote colleagues, or those working at home. We also use national events to bring awareness, for example May’s Time to Talk was about Loneliness.

This constant conversation has seen the network reach 170 members, as well as engaging with many more thousands of our colleagues in some way.

Mental health is definitely becoming something that more and more people want to talk about and support and I am really proud that our BeAccessible network has been an enabler for this.

What will be your priorities in Mental Health in the year ahead?

The network has just advertised a companywide Movember campaign, we will be focusing on mental health during International Men’s Day with our Men’s Forum Workstream to ensure we continue our mission to remove taboo and stigma and encourage colleagues to start conversations and signpost. BeAccessible also promotes Bookboon, which is a digital learning service provider for corporate learning & development. In particular, we will be promoting titles linked to mental health and stress as a priority on awareness days and throughout the year generally.

Supporting your talent strategy with Big Data



How can HR analytics and specifically big data be used for talent management? 

That is what exactly Certified Top Employer Saint-Gobain discussed in a recent Top Employers Connect webinar.  In the latest of our ‘For a Better World of Work’ series, we were joined by Jan Billekens, Manager Group HR Efficiency at Saint-Gobain and Alissa Hankache, Ph.D., Global HR Auditor at Top Employers Institute.

Read ahead to get a snapshot at some of the highlights from the webinar and fill in the form (on the right-hand side of the page) to get the recording to watch whenever you have a moment.

Companies use AI in people-related decisions for many reasons, including consistency, reduced bias, casting a broader net, and efficiency.

Data scientist Cathy O’Neil explains in her book “Weapons of Math Destruction” that algorithms and AI are easy to create using historical data and can improve the efficiency of decision making.

Data from TEI shows that among certified companies:

• In 87% of cases, HR supports business with people analytics.
• And in 88% of cases, business leaders are committed to using HR data analytics for fact-based decision-making about the workforce.

Approaching HR with analytics

With more than 166,000 employees, located in 75 countries, and a shared purpose of “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME”, Saint-Gobain is certified as a Global Top Employer since 2016. After internal reflection and deliberation, Saint-Gobain was left with one big question:

“How can we use big data for talent management in a global and highly decentralized industrial matrix organization like Saint-Gobain?

Based on this, the following objectives were established:

• Identify Talents
• Targeted development and career support
• Developing leadership capabilities

Ensure retention and commitment

An approach with three steps was then developed for the HR analytics project at Saint-Gobain:

• Assess Bronze Talent management
• Identify Talents at risk of leaving
• Identify undiscovered Saint-Gobain talents

Assess Bronze Talent Management

The first phase was to look at emerging trends from the algorithm, which came through as follows:  

• Career progression – The algorithm has identified that talents within the five years at Saint-Gobain climb two-thirds bands more than non-talents.
• Career follow-ups – In annual succession planning and [erformance reviews, talents were mentioned more often in people reviews than non-talents.
• Development and training opportunities, – Talents have more training opportunities than non-talents.
• Base salary management – Salary increases are higher for talents than-non talents.
• Increasing gender balance – The % of female hired talents is 6% higher than male talents hired – based on strategic objectives.

The conclusion of this first part is that it confirmed that “what we want to do with our talent management is being achieved”.

Identify talents at risk of leaving

The second algorithm – looked into the past and analysed what were the elements of talents who left Saint-Gobain voluntarily in the past. The most impactful parameters were salary increase percentage and the date of last increase. The lower the salary increase, the higher the risk of leaving – no surprise, but it is also confirmed by the algorithm.

An interesting trend emerged when looking at tenure – when the last increase for a salary was between 6 months and 1.5 years, there is a lower risk of leaving. But after 1.5 years of a lower salary increase, there is a higher risk of leaving. The algorithm provided a percentage of the risk of leaving talent – about 150 names. These were then sent to country HRDs with all the parameters of risks included. They were asked to provide feedback on whether there was a risk of leaving or not (and at various levels of risk). Based on a combination of input from the algorithm, and feedback from HRDs – 100 of the 150 employees were able to be retained. Managers were able to take proactive actions to prevent employees from leaving.

Identifying undiscovered Saint-Gobain Talents

One of the interesting components of the webinar was to note how Saint-Gobain uses an algorithm to identify undiscovered talents. Part of the diagram, was important to understand:

• Precision – % of true SG Talents among the Talents identified by the algorithm
• Recall – % of Talents identified by the algorithm among the SG Talents

After consultation with and feedback from country HRDs on the 250 names proposed by the machine, 115 Bronzes talents were detected!

The webinar also discussed various other aspects of HR analytics including:

• Data visualization
• Semantic Analysis
• Data integrity
• Data confidentiality

The key message echoed throughout the session is that HR Analytics is a means besides all other HR tools. HR should take advantage of these digital tools in order to spend more time meeting people face to face

The Lasting Impact of Burnout



UK organisations may be adjusting to a post-pandemic world, says Marlene Mey from Top Employers Institute, but for their employees, the battle against burnout is far from over.

Mental Health Awareness Week has transformed our understanding around mental health issues, particularly over the last few years. The Covid-19 pandemic is (hopefully) behind us, but in its wake it has left a trail of challenges that we continue to battle against. Amongst those, burnout remains one of the biggest.

Research from Ceridian at the end of last year showed us that burnout remains a big problem. More than three-quarters (79%) of UK workers had experienced burnout, it revealed, with 35% reporting high or extreme levels. And although employers have been making rapid adjustments towards a new normality of hybrid working arrangements in the first half of 2022, many of their employees are not feeling remotely “normal” about their new working lives.

Burnout: Quick to arrive, Slow to heal

In the UK, the first wave of COVID-19 had an immediate impact on mental health, with psychological distress at work increasing to 28% in April 2020, from 18% in 2019, according to the Institute of Labour Economics. While the impact of the pandemic was instantaneous for mental health, the scarring it caused is unlikely to recede any time soon.

In addition, with new hybrid working arrangements emerging, employers are treading a narrow tightrope. Some risk coercing reluctant employees back into office-based working patterns that no longer fit with their lives. Other businesses have opted for a largely remote workforce, with employees left at home – and very much alone. According to the Mental Health Foundation, one in four of us feel lonely some or all of the time. For the great majority of us, social connection and belonging are central to our well-being. In its absence, burnout can quickly take root.

Three Steps Forward

All of this comes at a time of disconnect between many employers and their employees. Too many of the former know they need to adapt to survive but take little account of the psychological readiness of their employees for further change. And some employees already feel burnt out, with a lack of recognition for discretionary effort put in through the pandemic. So, what can be done to tackle the lasting impact of burnout.

1. Formalise and enshrine processes. Our observation is that many businesses are either lacking the necessary formality in their mental health processes, or simply letting them wither as the post-pandemic world emerges. This is a big mistake – the pandemic could be over, but the pain for many is not. The answer has to lie in long-term formalised mental health programmes. Only then will employees have the confidence that they are being looked after properly, whatever their working arrangements. For example, UK Top Employer, Ageas UK, has employee wellbeing programmes with a strong formalised structure, including initiatives such as an online wellbeing community, an employee assistance programme, and access to Mental Health First Aiders and training sessions for managers, delivered by the mental health charity Mind.
2. Create a sense of psychological safety. Organisations also need to create a “psychologically safe” working environment, in which employees feel able to talk about mental health, without fear of judgement or a negative impact on their career. For example, Top Employer Equiniti (EQ), the UK’s leading share registrar has a strong Mental Health network in place with 200 members. This raises awareness of mental health and feeds back to the business on colleague experiences. To have spaces in this way brings multiple benefits; including helping to avoid burnout in the first place, to recognise the issue and give support wherever possible.
3. Give practical burnout support immediately. When the worst does happen, data from Certified Top Employer organisations here in the UK provides us with some hope around what is possible. Nearly two thirds of UK Top Employers (63%) provide burnout recovery support, up from less than half (49%) a year earlier. And almost three in five (58%) guarantee time to “unplug” and/or take stress-relief breaks (up from 44%). Knowing practical support is available is essential. The best businesses understand that burnout support is an ongoing commitment to employees, not a one-off reaction to exceptional circumstances.

Without action, the impact of burnout could get much worse before it gets better. So now that the pandemic is (hopefully) behind us, it is vital for businesses to understand that tackling mental health, and burnout in particular, must remain a formalised commitment that can be shared and discussed safely, and where support and practical help is always on hand when it is most needed.

Supporting mental wellbeing in the hybrid world of work



How do organizations create diverse and focused offerings that support the mental health of their employees?  

That is what Certified Top Employer Discovery discussed in a recent Top Employers Connect webinar about mental wellbeing.  

In the latest of our ‘For a Better World of Work’ series, we were joined by Jabulile Nosi, Head of Employee Wellbeing at Discovery, Zonke Mashile, Business Executive at Discovery, and Ammara Naeem, Head of Client Success at Top Employers Institute, to explore how Discovery uses personalization, data-centricity, and leadership storytelling to unlock a meaningful wellbeing strategy.  

Read ahead to get a snapshot at some of the highlights from Zonke, Jabulile, and Ammara’s engaging discussion, and fill in the form (on the right-hand side of the page) to get the recording of the webinar to watch whenever you have a moment. 

Discovery’s wellness is derived from its purpose – which is to make people healthier and enhance and protect their lives. And that’s where insights are drawn from.  

Although Discovery has a plethora of wellness resources (including bank rewards, an integrated rewards platform, webinars, corporate wellness), they were still challenged with what is missing around how they support their employee’s mental wellbeing.  

Concerns were grouped into four key themes:  

• Languishing – Adam Grant refers to languishing as the “neglected middle child of mental health.” It is the  void between depression and flourishing, in other words, the feeling of being “stuck.” 
• Grief – Not just the grief of the loss of loved ones, but also the grief of losing the last few years of being home and the grief of experiences. The loss of opportunities and experiences and social interactions. 
• Burnout – The feeling of being overwhelmed and your body telling you, “I can’t do this anymore.” 
• Anxiety – A sense of anxiety among employees given the uncertainty and stress in the environment. 

Prioritizing employee mental well-being through a series of experiments 

As a result of the four key themes identified, Discovery ran a series of experiments to see what was working and what was not working. Some of the experiments conducted were:  

• A five-part mental well-being series covering several topics (including the importance, stigma, burnout, screen fatigue, and even wellbeing for kids!) 
• Team initiatives – Power Hours, Meeting Free Afternoons, Brown bag sessions, Resilience toolkits, and bereavement and will support.  
• Measuring success – dipstick surveys, employee engagement surveys, clarity in accountability, fully leverage data science, and then ideate based on data.  

Employees and managers were also already equipped with resilience tools, mental health platforms along with leadership buy-in. 

But how does this translate to the employee experience?  

Discovery ensured to equip all employees with the necessary tools and programs, irrespective of where they are in their own well-being journey.  

Zonke explains that Discovery has an active approach to wellbeing:  “Prevention is seen as the yardstick for success -, we really don’t wait for things to completely fall apart, but we journey with the employee in understanding where potential issues may arise, and proactively we seek to manage those.”  

To ensure the active approach is delivered, employees have access to something called “Healthy Company.”  

Healthy company – a holistic wellbeing approach 

A healthy company is Discovery’s program with an aspirational outlook on all four pillars of wellbeing (mental, physical, financial, and emotional). It is focused on a comprehensive understanding of employee wellbeing. It is both diagnostic and proactive, which sets it apart from other tools in the industry.  

How does a healthy company work?  

Everyone that interacts with a healthy company undergoes screening. This may include, for example, biometric data of employees that may be collected at a wellness expo or a wellness day. This gives an in-depth understanding of an employee’s well-being and picks up any risk factors. Immediately if any risk is picked up, there is an intervention.  

The use of Coaching 

A coach navigates an employee through their entire well-being journey. The assessment is based on an algorithm – which then, with consent, a healthy company coach reaches out to guide the employee through whichever issue they may be affected with.  

The use of data 

The consolidation of the assessment results gives Discovery powerful data points for them to design proactive interventions, so interventions do not reside in a vacuum. Interventions are tailored on the back of the new one’s understanding of the complete complexion of the workforce that you are dealing with. Results can be aggregated across the organization and filtered down.  

The remarkable thing is that the program is not only open to Discovery employees, but it is open to the market.  

It is also enabled with an app with your own personalized health dashboard – you will have a massive repository of educational content across all the four dimensions of wellbeing that you can leverage.  

Employer Branding – How to stand out from the crowd



Sofia Merlo, CHRO at BNP Paribas, caught up with David Plink, our CEO, on the 23^rd of March 2022 in our first virtual fireside chat of 2022: Employer Branding – How to stand out from the crowd.

As the struggle for top talent continues, employer branding is more important than ever. For an organisation to attract and retain the best talent, their brand needs to be clear and understandable. In 2022, employer branding remains a top priority for organisations and as a result, finding the right mix between the vision, mission, organisational culture, personality, and marketing messaging is key! 

Read ahead to get a snapshot at some of the highlights from Sofia and David’s engaging discussion and fill in the form (on the right-hand side of the page) to get the complete fireside chat to watch whenever you have a moment.

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of banking to the world. This was not always the case, as the financial crisis tarnished the image of the banking industry. Organisations had to slowly rebuild their brand . At the centre of this work is aligning the purpose of an organisation to each employee.

The power of purpose for employer branding

 Serving their clients is at the core of BNP Paribas. That was the first thing that they kept in mind when they began developing   their employer branding strategy . That’s because the actions of employees are there to express the purpose of the organisation.

Employer branding is first what you are really doing on the ground – and this is then translated to a communication and marketing plan. In the end, authenticity always shines through. When you want to attract newcomers, the best attraction is your current employees.

Collaboration between HR and marketing

Sofia emphasised that employer branding is not the sole responsibility of HR or marketing. Ultimately, it is a collaborative effort between both departments. HR is there to ensure that the correct organisational culture is in place. This translates to the best form of employer branding, which is having employee ambassadors. The end responsibility of employer branding cannot be alone with HR and marketing. They work with managers and employees to ensure that what they communicate externally is applied internally.

What makes an employer brand stand out from the crowd?

There are various elements to make your employer brand stand out. In particular, Sofia mentioned three elements that make BNP Paribas stand out:

• Commitment to Sustainable Development Goals: At the core of BNP Paribas’s purpose is the pursuit of positive environmental impacts. In line with this, they’ve joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) to fight climate change to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050.
• Diversity: BNP Paribas were one of the first big companies, in 2004, in France to hire someone to specifically look at all areas of diversity. This is managed with strategic KPIs and action plans. Diversity is a key strategic pillar in positioning themselves as an employer of choice.
• Internal mobility: Part of the DNA of BNP Paribas is internal mobility. This enables employees to move across business lines and in different positions. Many employees remain with BNP Paribas for a long time for this very reason. Just last year, they had over 20 000+ internal mobility moves.

How to build your own brand and career

Sofia has had a long and diverse career with BNP Paribas, with opportunities in business, HR, wealth management and career management at various levels. At the core of this is her “willingness to take risks”. Furthermore, she advises everyone to build a strong network, not only those within your department but across business lines and diversity groups. Sofia poignantly ended the webinar with the best pieces of advice she has received from her carer”

• “Dare to take risks, dare to speak, dare to ask for what you expect.”
• “Have a good balance between your work and personal life. “

How BNP Paribas uses the Top Employers Certification

BNP Paribas is proud to be certified in 15 countries and ranked in the top 10 Employers in France. This proud achievement is shared with all employees and managers and is part of the attraction and retention strategy. For countries that are not yet certified, they are looking at ways in which their practices can be improved. The objectivity and the value of external feedback received cannot be understated.

World of Work Trends Report 2023



Top Employers Institute’s World of Work Trends Report 2023 analyses the latest trends in people strategies and practices from leading organisations globally. The report examined data from 2 053 Certified Top Employers to give a broader insight into how global developments will impact workforces in the year ahead.

What’s Inside?

Our latest research shows that the top 3 people priorities for these organisations in 2023 will be to create a high-performance culture, develop new leadership capabilities and align purpose, vision, and values. These three priorities reflect the following three key trends we have identified in our research.

Our contributing researchers and HR auditors explore the changes happening in the world of work, focusing on three major trends that are shaping global people practices:

The Employee Experience will become “super-personalised”.

We will see an unprecedented level of personalisation in the everyday employee experience. The personalisation of consumer needs has been a challenge for organisations and now employees expect to be treated as “internal” customers. The rise of individual employee needs will have much further to run in 2023 – what has been “people centric” will become “person centric”. Only those businesses that can go the extra mile in providing a genuine and heartfelt commitment to their people in this way will generate the emotional reaction necessary to enable a high-performance culture.

Leaders will actively listen for the “heartbeat” in their organisation.

Leaders will develop new strategic skills, particularly that of “listening to the heartbeat” of the organisation. Leaders are effectively having to “double screen” their working world. They need to simultaneously think about long term horizons, while acting decisively in the short term to survive, not to mention to thrive. They, and the next generation of leaders they nurture, will need to place a more committed listening strategy front and centre, to win the emotional commitment of their teams for in preparation for disruptive challenges.

Positive Impact – the new “North Star” for better decisions.

A clear commitment to “positive impact” will be the new North Star for everything that enlightened businesses do in 2023. Positive impact among our Top Employer organisations can be defined and achieved in three ways:

• A “lived” purpose that works best when it comes straight from the heart of all employees after all – and remains a constant in their everyday decisions.
• The positive impact made by an organisation can only ever be as good as the views that it allows itself to hear. So enlightened attitudes regarding diversity and inclusion are not only important in their own right, but also for the forward momentum they create in all organisations.
• Sustainability is key, both in the way an organisation ensures its own continuity through a positive wider impact – and in the way it is perceived and behaves as a good employer.

2023 will be all about these three trends. They will show a powerful human shift towards respecting individuality and valuing difference. It is vital that we attend to these needs because old management models are no longer useful. The best companies listen – truly listen – to their employees, invest in the individual experience, and create a shared purpose that gives meaning to the everyday employee experience. For organisations that achieve this, the future, despite the uncertainty we see all around us, will be very bright.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – Not Just a Numbers Game



In our For A Better World of Work webinar series: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Not just a numbers game, Sherlonda Martin, Head of Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion for GMSGQ Division, Takeda and Chantal Sanglier, an HR Auditor from Top Employers Institute, discussed several approaches for creating an inclusive work environment, that allows for employees  to have open conversations while give all employees a voice.

Around 94% of Top Employers consider Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) a strategic and key business imperative, but only 74% of them have a DE&I strategy in place. And only 60% hold business leaders accountable for DE&I related goals. The challenge for organizations lies in shifting conversations about DE&I from just a ‘tick box’ exercise, and not just centring it around a moment, but, rather, a movement.

Watch the full webinar by filling the form on the right-hand side of your screen.

Building a comprehensive DE&I strategy

For a DE&I strategies to truly move beyond just a numbers game, a holistic strategy must be in place. As a Japanese based pharmaceutical company, the patients and employees are at the centre of everything that Takeda does. Furthermore, Takeda’s comprehensive DE&I strategy include:

• Data analytics and metrics as a foundation – this provides perspective of where they are currently, and where they are going to. This includes looking at demographic numbers, but also looking at data around belonging (through employee experience surveys).
• Patients, health care professional’s, employees, suppliers & community – meaning that DE&I is not only valued in the organization, but also those that they associate with. A major project ‘TakedaCares’ allows employees reach back to organizations and the community.
• Culture, employee engagement, learning and development and communications as key pillars of the strategy.

Key DE&I initiatives

Takeda has developed several initiatives that underpin its strategic approach to DE&I. Some of the initiatives include:

• Takeda resources groups – these employee resources groups unite employees with shared backgrounds and life experiences, as well as supporting allies, to advance business goals and foster an inclusive work environment. Some examples of their resource groups include the Black leadership council, gender parity, building Asian leaders, building disability groups etc.
• Elevating DE&I globally: Takeda hosts annual Global DE&I Week with internal and external speakers to raise awareness and spark pertinent and important conversations.
• Expanding DE&I leadership: they hired their first ever Global Head of DE&I and added expert roles in Switzerland, GMSGQ and more!
• Launching a rich Learning & Development curriculum to broaden language knowledge, demonstrate inclusive leadership and better understand what it means to be an ally.

Other initiatives included the introduction of technology to manage purchasing decisions (ensuring equity), continuous focus on succession planning, interview best practices and also the growth of a talent pipeline for future needs.

Responding in the moment

Moving the conversation about DE&I requires action from creating a moment to implementing a movement. In response to various social injustices that occurred in the United States in 2020, Takeda responded quickly through the establishment of the Black Leadership Council. Under this, a few key workstreams were developed:

• A Minority Careers Network was launched to introduce professionals from diverse backgrounds to Takeda and highlight the latest vacancies within the organisation
• A Campaign for Continued Involvement enabled Takeda team members to showcase their support and to encourage solidarity.
• An Employee Voice Session conducted by the HR team provided a unique platform for team members from all demographics to share personal perspectives and reflections on recent events.
• Discussion forums, a book club and guest speakers/authors were opportunities for Takeda employees to learn about topics including unconscious bias, courageous conversations, race literacy and wellness
• Engagement opportunities included connecting Black Leadership Council members with third-party organisations to address the unique experiences and needs of people of colour in corporate America.
• An Education and Training team drove ongoing communication on collaboration platforms, frequent workshops, a dedicated intranet page, a tool for social feedback, and a newsletter on cultural diversity

The webinar ended with a reflection: We should not rest until we see teams and organizations that mirror the customers we serve. With this in mind, how can you help drive equity within your sphere of influence?

Watch the complete webinar by filling the form on the right-hand side of your screen.

Key takeaways | Why diversity is not enough: the importance of inclusion



The Top Employers 2021 Certificate Celebration held on 28 January 2021 brought together HR industry experts from around the world to celebrate the work done in HR and knowledge share the best people practices. 

One of the breakout sessions called “Why diversity is not enough: the importance of inclusion”, focused on how to create a sense of belonging in the workplace.  

The session was hosted by Jonas Van Wees, HR Auditor at Top Employers Institute,  with guest speakers Mechell Chetty (Unilever SA), Anne-Sophie Chauveau-Galas (Alstom) and Raj Verma (Sanofi). The session highlights the importance of inclusion in the workplace and emphasised it as a competitive advantage for employers. Organisations that prioritise diversity and inclusion in their teams far outperform competitors. Furthermore, an inclusive workplace also drives higher levels of productivity and retention, and positively affects employee engagement.  

Watch the full session by filling in the form or read the key takeaways here:  

Takeaway # 1: Leaders need to create psychological safety 

During the session, Mechell Chetty (Uniliver SA) aptly noted that inclusion is about providing employees with a sense of comfort. An organisation’s priority is to harnesses each employee’s uniqueness and potential by creating psychological safety. This is an environment where employees can truly express themselves, innovate, take risks, and be part of solutions that are born from employees unique characteristics.  

To create a psychologically safe environment, leaders have to shift away from blaming ‘unconscious bias’ but instead work towards being consciously competent.  Thus, the conversation must shift to how leaders can create competence, whether it is on matters of gender, disabilities, or race.  

Takeaway #2: Diversity and inclusion is a vital part of employee experience 

To create an inclusive culture is to create great employee experiences that people will relate to  and remember. As an example of this, Raj Verma holds the title of Chief Diversity and Experience Officer at Sanofi – a clear indication of how important the two fields are related to each other. Employee experience starts at the pre-hire stage, up until the point of resignation or retirement. Inclusion involves creating a great employee experience at all these vital touchpoints in an employee’s lifecycle.  

Verma explained diversity and inclusion with a simple process, where the input is a great employee experience, and the output is to maintain and grow diverse talent at every level. Inclusion and creating a sense of belonging is what brings the two points together.  

Takeaway #3: Raise awareness of inclusion in the workplace 

One of the most important aspects of inclusion is creating purposeful communication and awareness in the workplace. As an example of this, Anne-Sophie Chauveau-Galas shared some initiatives that Alstom created. To raise awareness of inclusiveness in the workplace, Alstom collects all the best practices from their teams around the world. An award is given to the best initiative, which creates positive momentum and spreads the best diversity and inclusion practices across the organisation. Another example is that Alstom created an ‘All-abilities toolkit’, which is a series of tips to help people with different workplace abilities.