“PWD, An Integral Part Of Flex Family
An important plank of the D&I at Flex is providing equal opportunities to persons with disabilities, and creating an inclusive environment for them through awareness programmes and progressive policies. Sandra Andrews, Sr Director HR, sheds light on some of these measures. Excerpts:
Can you describe some important D&I initiatives at Flex?
We acknowledge the undoubted advantage that our global workforce’s unique backgrounds, abilities, perspectives, and talents bring. People with disabilities (PwD) are an integral part of our Flex family, and we are proud to advance this important mission through our disability inclusion initiatives and practices.
We acknowledge the undoubted advantage that our global workforce’s unique backgrounds, abilities, perspectives, and talents bring. People with disabilities (PwD) are an integral part of our Flex family, and we are proud to advance this important mission through our disability inclusion initiatives and practices.
As part of our pledge to The Valuable 500, Flex is committing to increase the employment of people with disabilities by 10 per cent or more by the year 2025. The company plans to achieve this through proactive accommodations and recruitment in partnership with The Valuable 500 and the expansion of the Flex Inclusion Factory programme, further facilitating the inclusion of people with disabilities through vocational training and meaningful employment.
Internally at Flex, we have employee resource groups (ERGs) to promoting awareness, understanding, inclusion, and opportunity for people of all abilities through allyship and partnership.
What specific problem areas and challenges did you identify, that needed to be addressed?
One of the major challenges in creating an inclusive environment is overcoming communication barriers. It is the company’s responsibility to ensure that such miscommunications do not affect the work environment. It is extremely important to sensitise employees about different cultures. What is considered innocuous to one culture, could be considered an affront to others.
This could be addressed by creating a clear rule book that specifies the company’s stance on diversity and inclusion and then communicating that message to the employees. At Flex, we are taking measures to build equity into every strand of our culture’s DNA. Analysis of our practices, policies, processes, and systems is underway to help us understand where bias may exist so that we can address gaps and improve the employee experience.
How did Flex evolve policies in this regard, and what kind of sensitisation training is provided to employees?
Our competitive edge lies in the diversity of our approximately 1,60,000 employees, spread across more than 30 countries. Globally, we have rolled out several initiatives to further build our culture of understanding and belonging, including team engagement events and through the creation of ERGs. We have eight ERGs and a separate department for diversity, equity & inclusion with a global Chair to helm it. Some of the ERG groups in India are - women in Flex (WiF), women in tech (WIT), people with diversAblities (PwD), Asian Pacific Flex network (APFN) and Pride ERG.
Our policy & governance includes paid paternity leave, diverse candidate interview panels, crèches at many of our sites and the global inclusion council. The launch of ERGsin 2021 has further built our culture of inclusiveness and created a safe space for employees to be vulnerable and share their experiences.
What specific measures do you take in the case of sexual harassment, or any other misconduct based on caste, colour, creed or gender?
We follow a ‘zero tolerance policy’ towards any form of sexual harassment. Retaliation against persons who report or provide information about sexual harassment is also strictly prohibited. Employees are encouraged to report any conduct that they believe to be retaliatory towards themselves or another employee.
For example, in India, the company has formed an internal complaints committee (ICC) at every Flex location.
In addition to local reporting channels, we have a toll-free hotline and online reporting channel available 24 hours, 7 days a week in multiple languages from across the world. The Flex ethics hotline is available to all employees, suppliers, customers, investors, and other stakeholders anywhere in the world. Reports can be made either by calling this anonymous toll-free hotline or by filing a report online.
What has been the impact of the initiative/s taken? Has Flex conducted a survey to assess the impact?
In 2021, women made up 44.2 per cent of Flex’s overall global workforce, we increased female leadership to 21 per cent and increased people with disability employment by 23 per cent. Our diversity aspiration reflects in 44 per cent of female representation at our India manufacturing sites.
Flex today is one of the leading employers of people with disabilities in the electronics industry with more than 100+ PwD employees across our sites. We were recognised as the ‘Best Private Employer’ for employing specially abled’ persons by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 2015.
The results from our Employee Engagement Survey for the year 2021 complement our commitment towards DEI with a score of 4.6 against a 5-scale rating. This demonstrates that every employee at Flex is respected and valued.
(The interview appeared in August Edition of BW People publication)
