Published on November 23, 2022
The Tata Group has always worked to ensure greater inclusion for disadvantaged communities such as scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SC/ST), women from marginalised backgrounds, and persons with disabilities (PWDs). To ensure that all Group companies are aligned with this overarching goal and can learn from others’ experiences, TAAP Advanced Team Leaders Programme (ATLP) event was organised by Tata Business Excellence Group (TBExG) in Mumbai from November 10-11, 2022.
The event was a collective reimagination and co-creation exercise focused on raising TAAP adoption and inclusion through ideation, brainstorming, and knowledge-sharing across Tata Group companies.
The event participants included TAAP assessment team leaders, deputy leaders, potential leaders, and a select set of passionate affirmative action practitioners and experienced TBEM assessors. Altogether, 44 participants representing the CSR, HR, Procurement and Operations functions of 30 Group companies attended the event. Over two days, this high-powered group deliberated and discussed the effectiveness of TAAP assessments and ways to strengthen the TAAP journey at their businesses.
Companies also shared best practices from their flagship TAAP programmes at the event. Here is a short summary of the best practices shared by individual companies:
- Tata Consultancy Services: Partnership with Group companies, Youth Employment Programme, Bridge IT
- Titan: PWD inclusion journey
- Tata Motors: Grihini Women’s Social Welfare Society Tata Chemicals: Programmes focused on inclusion of women from marginalised communities
- Croma: PWD inclusion and adoption at stores
- Tata Metaliks: Journey of CSR programmes and their impact on beneficiaries’ lives
- Tata Steel: Sabal initiative focused on PWDs
Multiple knowledge-sharing sessions were organised as part of the event. One such session was conducted by Sourav Roy, Tata Steel’s Chief of CSR, who spoke about the effectiveness of TAAP assessments and ways to enhance articulation skills when delivering TAAP feedback to senior leaders.
He was followed by guest speaker Yajurvendra Mahajan, Founder of Deepsthambha Foundation. Mr Mahajan shared his life-changing experiences of working with PWDs from marginalised communities. He also highlighted the stories of two of his students – Reena, who has multiple disabilities and Rajesh, who has a locomotive disability. While Reena today works for the Maharashtra government in the Administration department at Mantralaya, Rajesh is a software engineer based in Pune.
The second guest speaker at the event was Dr Avatthi Ramaiah, Professor at the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Dr Ramaiah’s session was about SC/ST inclusion, and he shared important perspectives on the various challenges faced by SC/ST communities in recent times.
The event witnessed a major focus on synergies and partnerships across Group companies. It provided an engaging platform for all participants to elevate their understanding of social excellence and prepare for this year’s TAAP Assessment Cycle.