Who we are
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at TCS
Highlights
- The white paper will enable decoding workplace considerations and hiring PwD (Persons with Disabilities).
- At TCS, we are working towards enabling equal opportunities for persons with disabilities and providing them with equal opportunities, thereby equal level playing field.
- TCS follows certain guidelines in the way the entire hiring is managed for PwD. From interview to onboarding, at each stage there is a focus on accessibility and reasonable accommodation is given due consideration.
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Persons with Disabilities – A global context
Globally, persons with disabilities face significant employment challenges, with lower participation rates and higher unemployment compared to those without disabilities. In developing countries, 80% to 90% of persons with disabilities of working age are unemployed, whereas in industrialized countries the figure is between 50% and 70%. In most developed countries the official unemployment rate for persons with disabilities of working age is at least twice that for those who have no disability..
This provides a greater impetus to organizations in enabling PwD and the need of the hour is to focus on individual skills and on mapping their skills to functional requirements of the job and enabling better job opportunities.
To start, persons with disabilities, abbreviated as PwD, means a person with long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairment that, in interaction with barriers, hinders one's full and effective participation in society equally with others.
RPDWA (Rights of Persons with Disability) Act 2016 in India is significant legislation focusing on key aspects from an organizational perspective. PwDs are underrepresented in education, employment, and many other sectors due to barriers, mainly attitudinal, infrastructural (including transportation), communication, and information barriers.
For providing equal opportunities and level playing field, we need both accessibility and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disability for hiring in an organization.
hiring approach
In this paper, we have addressed the challenges of hiring PwD within TCS with two factors: workplace considerations and job role considerations required for specific disabilities. The approach given is generic, and there can be more specific examples based on unique situations. However, at large, any job role should be matched with the skills required, enabled by assistive technology, and reasonable accommodation.
Assistive technology: Any hardware or software used to provide functionality to meet the additional requirements of users with disabilities. One significant aspect of assistive technology is the compatibility of the environment for assistive devices to be functional. A simple example would be a wheelchair user (assistive hardware) unable to use it due to the lack of a ramp (accessibility feature) available.
Reasonable accommodation: How, as an organization, we ensure adequate or appropriate changes and adjustments without making disproportionate or undue thrust in a particular case to ensure a person with disabilities enjoys or exercises their rights on an equal basis with others. Reasonable accommodation is about personalized adjustments to meet individual needs.
Interoperability is the key between assistive devices and reasonable accommodation. Most accessibility standards specifically require assistive technology. So, our approach towards disability specific limitations is by enabling both workplace considerations and job role considerations. We have taken three disabilities and worked towards providing a holistic approach and solution towards enabling them in TCS. The entire approach is focused towards looking at different degrees of disability and mapping it with the requirements of the job and workplace.
Locomotor disability
It is an individual's inability to perform specific activities associated with the movement of self and objects resulting from affliction of the musculoskeletal or nervous system or both. A few are muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis.
Degree of mobility
Mild: Relatively minor movement limitations can perform most daily tasks independently and may not need significant assistance or accommodation.
Moderate: More significant movement limitations and might require mobility aids like crutches or wheelchairs. May face challenges with daily activities and may need some level of assistance.
Severe: Significant mobility limitations, often using wheelchairs, floor carts, or requiring assistance from others. May need substantial accommodation and support for daily activities.
Job-related considerations
Detailed analysis of the functional requirements of the job role. Basis job analysis to ascertain whether the role requires a high level of mobility.
High-level:
- Requires extensive travel within the city or outside
- Requires continuous typing and typing speed
- Requires objects to be picked up from one place to another
Mid-level:
- Requires occasionally moving around within premises from floor to floor
- Requires minimum average typing speed
- Requires lifting papers folders from one place to another
- Requires sitting at the same place for quite long durations with no frequent breaks possible
Low-level:
- Primarily, a sitting and desktop job doesn't require moving or traveling around
- Allows moving around at regular intervals and taking more frequent breaks (if the job incumbent cannot sit in the same position for a longer time)
- Keyboard usage is occasional with no mandate of typing speeds possible
Level of job considerations to be inversely correlated with levels of disability. For example, a job requiring a high level of mobility or dexterity can be performed by an individual with mild locomotor disability.
Workplace considerations
- Provisions of ramps, wheelchair and enough space for a wheelchair to move around
- Adjustable seating, provision of height, and chair setting as per one's comfort
- Accessible washrooms and transport system and provision to bring flexibility
- If required, adaptive hardware or speech recognition software
Visual Impairment
"Blindness" – It is a condition where an individual has a certain kind of visual impairment even after the best corrections. There is either a 100% absence of vision or visual acuity of less than 3/60 or less than 10/200 (Snellen) in the better eye with the best possible correction. If the vision is at a subtending angle of less than 10 degrees, there will be a limitation in the field of vision.
Low vision means a condition in which a person's visual acuity in the better eye with the best possible correction does not exceed 6/18 or less than 20/60 up to 3/60 and up to 10/20 (Snellen).
Job-related considerations
Detailed analysis of the functional requirements of the job role. A basic job analysis is performed to ascertain whether the role requires a high or low level of vision.
High-level:
The role involves working with images and graphics, scanning documents, or converting PDFs and mostly requires working in a restricted client environment. It requires high usage of printed hard copies, including fine prints and interacting with multiple people and studying their body language.
Mid-level:
The role requires fair usage of excels and working on multiple charts and PPTs (Excel sheets with the proper head are accessible). It involves reading printed sheets. In this case, the font size is average and too big, and a magnifier can be used. The role requires data to be segregated or highlighted as per color coding.
Low-level:
The role requires working on plain text, usually in black and white. It requires interacting with a group of people over the phone or in person (gauging others' body language is not required). The role also requires working on digital content that screen readers can read.
Workplace considerations
- Screen readers (JAWS/NVDA) compatible systems/interface
- Embossed signage/markings in Braille (outside rooms, cubicles, accessible washrooms, etc.)
- Low vision: Bright lighting; signs should have bright color contrast
Hearing and/ or speech impairment
The definition of hearing-impaired means a person having 70DB hearing loss in speech frequencies in both ears. An individual may be only speech impaired, hearing impaired, or both “hard of hearing" relates to a person having 60 DB to 70 DB hearing loss in speech frequencies in both ears.
"Speech and Language disability" – A permanent disability arising out of conditions such as laryngectomy or aphasia affecting one or multiple components of speech and language due to organic or neurological causes.
Degree of hearing
Hard of hearing, hearing aid user
- Who can lip read and /or hear quite well; effectively communicate over the phone or VC or in person.
- Who can lip-read or hear only a bit; speak over VC or in person but not on the phone (hearing impairment, not using any aid).
- Who can lip-read a bit but cannot hear, rely hugely on captioning, speak over VC or in person but not on the phone.
Deaf, sign language user
An individual who can lip read a bit with unclear speech mainly relies on a sign language interpreter or captioning.
Job-related considerations
Do a detailed analysis of the functional requirements of the job role. A basic job analysis is used to ascertain whether the role requires a high or low level of hearing and speech ability.
High-level:
Role requires primary verbal or over-the-call interaction with client or end customer and dependent on multiple teams' discussion, and teams are based out of different locations. Dynamic process: SOPs or guidelines change as fast as every week or month and quite frequent in-person team meetings and discussions are critical to the role, with frequency as high as every day.
Mid-level:
Role requires verbal interaction within the team, which can be done over the teams/google meet platforms. It’s a team role; however, the team is based out of the same location, and interaction with multiple teams is not required. The role has a stable process, SOPs; guidelines change not before every quarter or every semi-annually. Team meetings are an important part of the frequency of weekly meetups.
Low-level:
The role does not require verbal interaction; work can be managed by internal chat platforms. It’s an individual contributor role and doesn't require interaction with others. The frequency of phone calls or verbal conversations is very low and can be substituted with a chat option. It follows a standard process, and changes are made no less than yearly. Team meetings are not very frequent; meet-ups happen once every month or quarter. ODC allows personal mobiles and chat platforms to be used extensively. The role can be followed by commonly used script books or standard repetitive guidelines.
Workplace considerations
In the workplace, associates need to speak at a slow pace to help the individual with lip reading and comprehension. Recap the main points after each session. Communication via text or email messages and visuals. Video calling or signing or lip reading with captions on. Sign language interpreter, if required, on a case basis.
Conclusion
TCS follows certain guidelines in the way the entire hiring is managed for PwD. We follow the required interview etiquette whether remote and in-person which creates an inclusive environment for the candidates with disabilities to have a seamless experience. From interview to onboarding, at each stage considerably focus on accessibility, reasonable accommodation is given due consideration.
The success of the PwD hiring program hinges on top management commitment and ensuring equitable opportunity policy along with accessible hiring practices and awareness and following the workplace and job place considerations. In TCS so far, we have enabled the right ecosystem through the above changes and attempted to create a world class experience for associates with disabilities joining TCS.
