Emotional, technological and survivor quotient makes one employable

Ingersoll Rand’s global Chairman and CEO, Michael W. Lamach, has joined more than 150 of America’s leading CEOs in a pledge to cultivate diversity and inclusion in the workplace through the CEO Action forDiversity & Inclusion. Shirin Salis, vice-president of human resources at Ingersoll Rand in India told Himani Chandna of BW People that she is driving diversity at workplace through the hiring plans. Excerpts:  

Which are the areas where you are planning to hire?

Ingersoll Rand hires primarily for functions like sales, service, operational excellence and engineering, IT at different levels. We at an organizational level are open to hiring diversity for any of these functions if the candidate has the ability to perform the job and willingness to learn.

What is the top skill set that employers demand these days? 

Broadly there is a huge demand for mobile development, cloud computing, statistical analysis and data mining, digital marketing, UI designing, network and information security and storage management, PR and communications, public policy and international relations.

While the professional skills are in demand, strong communication skills and analytical ability are additional elements that add to the repertoire of a candidate. These are some skill sets for which the demands are ever increasing and will continue to grow. Not just technical skills but emphasis is also greatly laid on soft skills of a person.

Apart from the skills, what are the qualities that makes an employee more employable?

To be truly employable, new hires today, need to understand the market and acquire skills that are in demand. We believe that in addition to knowledge and skills, what employees need today, in order to thrive in this changing environment, is 3 different abilities – emotional quotient, technology quotient and the survivor quotient. While technology quotient means the ability to understand, use and converge technologies for better advantage, survivor quotient indicates a mindset about how to do more with less, and the ability to put solutions together with whatever is available, rather than waitfor large resources.  

In addition to these, soft skills such as interpersonal skills - the ability to effectively communicate vertically and horizontally within the organization is a needed trait. Along with that knowledge of cultures - this is important because most multinational companies seek employees who can work comfortably across different cultures.

What are your achievements on gender diversity front? What is the female to male ratio on top level and what are the targets?

At Ingersoll Rand we have been relentless in integrating diversity and inclusion into the fabric of our culture and have undertaken a number of initiatives. The company has long been committed to building a progressive, diverse and inclusive environment where people of all backgrounds are treated with respect, and currently offers resources designed to engage and support a workplace welcoming different points of view, and where employees feel empowered to discuss tough issues at work.

Diversity and inclusion are embedded throughout the company’s practices – from business strategy to talent and organizational practices to its 2020 Sustainability Goals including clear targets to foster an inclusive and diverse workplace. The company’s sustainability goals also align with the United Nations sustainable development goals for reduced inequalities and gender equality. In addition to this, earlier this year Ingersoll Rand joined dozens of companies in the Paradigm for Parity coalition to bring gender parity to its corporate leadership structure by 2030.

What are the initiatives that you have taken to promote diversity?

Some of our initiatives include driving representation of female employees at key positions within Ingersoll Rand.  We have a set target for diverse slates for mid to senior roles in our professional and leader bands. Driving diversity in our hiring plans by providing equal opportunity to people from all regions, communities, religion, economic backgrounds, philosophy and sexual orientation. Celebrating diversity through cultural celebrations across the organization. We have also launched employee resource groups for gender and generational diversity.

A testimony to the success of these initiatives is our Employee Engagement scores where the satisfaction rate for Women employees is 2% higher than men and 15% higher than the industry norm.

What are the policies to retain woman talent?

Indian women have demonstrated their caliber in domains of science, technology, engineering and production excellence at all levels from the shop floor to the C-suite and this continues to grow. We ensure utmost support and flexibility for expecting mothers and try to diffuse stress at work as much as possible. That way we ensure that our women employees are with an organization which cares for their well-being and helps them get back to work post pregnancy with ease.

From a development perspective, we have a Women’s Leadership Program run by our global enterprise which is a multi-month and a multi-format (online and classroom learning, coaching and mentoring, and action learning) learning journey that includes a wide range of resources and tools designed specifically to address the leadership needs of women. The program is designed to enhance the visibility of women leaders with senior management, deepen their leadership skills, clarify their ambitions and support them to realize their full potential. 

At Ingersoll Rand we also conduct hiring drives specifically focused on hiring women employees. Besides this, we have instituted a diversity forum by creating a number of employee resource groups (ERG) and one such ERG is the Ingersoll RandWomen’s Network (IRWN) that aims at creating an environment within Ingersoll Rand that values, attracts and cultivates diverse talents of leaders including women, in a way that has a profound and positive impact on the employees, the organization and our industries worldwide. IRWN creates business opportunities and build leadership competence in women through networking, advocacy, skill and professional development, coaching and mentoring and community outreach. IRWN members are change agents to help maintain position Ingersoll Rand’s position as an employer of first choice; and to help each employee reach her/his career potential.

How many people you are planning to hire in coming two to three years? What is your current headcount?

Ingersoll Rand’s India headcount is close to 2000 employees. As per company policy, we do not share future hiring plans.