What motivates you to encourage and further diversity, equality and inclusion?
It is my firm belief that there is no other way! This is not something we make a special effort to do as we feel diversity, equality and inclusion are an intrinsic aspect of our organization culture and instinct. Women have proven time and again that they are natural leaders, have outstanding consultative skills, are articulate, demonstrate exceptional empathy, are natural team-players and are always willing to invest time and effort to enable quality outcomes consistently. They possess attributes that most men can only aspire to.
Describe an initiative or intervention by you that has created an impact by supporting women, solving the challenges they face, or promoting inclusion at the workplace.
At Incubis, we want all our team members to get the same opportunities to learn and grow. However, we are mindful that in their personal lives beyond the workplace they may face situations and social pressures that we do not fully control. In order to address this dynamic we offer several scenarios that help women plan their careers around the demands of higher education, marriage, motherhood, caring for elders at home and enhancing their earning capacity:
- Flexible working hours
- Sabbaticals to pursue higher studies and short-term courses without any impact on growth prospects at Incubis
- Extension of maternity leave while retaining employment status
- Migration to ‘consultant’ status to facilitate even greater flexibility in working hours, work from home, etc. – Many have deployed this to use their engagement at Incubis as a support while starting their own ventures and we welcome such initiatives. We have had this option in place for over a decade and well before the pandemic has normalised such practices
- Encourage talented individuals to take time off so that they can contribute to educational initiatives such as teaching at leading institutions as ‘visiting faculty’
- The founders and leadership team offer intensive mentorship to those who need guidance on careers and entrepreneurship
Moreover, we remain open to any new, unusual circumstances that may emerge and respond proactively with responses customised to individual needs
How will you accelerate D&I to make it more impactful?
Create greater diversity in senior management roles to harness the resultant ability to direct insights on how our policies and practices can be framed to make Incubis even more open, effective and welcoming to talent. Seek the counsel of women leaders from other organisations so that we can absorb best-practices from a wider pool and, where necessary, modify them to enhance their effectiveness. As an architecture and design company, we believe that D&I is essential to delivering a powerful innovation ecosystem to serve our global clients. The needs of women in the world of work will keep evolving and it is our sincere desire to do what it takes to stay ahead of the curve and meet their expectations.
