Humility has always been deeply ingrained in the fabric of Tata Steel’s history. Hence, instead of highlighting how progressive Tata Steel is as a Company, the film – Raahi, conceptualized by Wunderman Thompson Kolkata – is purposefully set to a neutral corporate backdrop. It tells the story of an LGBTQIA+ individual, shunned by society but who is accepted by colleagues. The film signs off with the strong social message, ‘Acceptance can open doors’, encouraging us to open our minds – ‘#KholoMannKeDwaar’ – allowing the winds of change to air out our prejudices.

Lit up and shot beautifully by Happy Rabbit Films, the film encourages us to inculcate a sense of belonging in the workplace and make our LGBTQIA+ colleagues feel accepted, making them proud of us. It makes us stop for a moment and take cognizance of our biases, so we can work towards eliminating them.

Over the years, Tata Steel has been known for its spirit of pioneering, one that goes beyond just products and solutions. The Company’s history of many ‘firsts’ in human resources within the manufacturing sector includes 8-hour workdays, maternity leave, gratuity upon retirement, and a 5-day work week, amongst others.

To bring an exclusive focus on Diversity and Inclusion, Tata Steel launched MOSAIC in the year 2015. MOSAIC defines the path the Company has taken to build a people culture that both celebrates and encourages diversity and inclusion. It has a five-pillar approach that covers recruitment, sensitization, retention & development, infrastructure & celebration. The focus areas for MOSAIC are gender, persons with disability, affirmative action, and LGBTQIA+. Tata Steel has set a target of creating a 25% diverse workforce by 2025.

At its Noamundi iron mine, a 22-member all-woman team is already engaged in drilling, dumper and shovel operations across shifts. As an equal opportunity employer, Tata Steel respects individuals’ uniqueness and puts its best foot forward to shape the workspaces of tomorrow.

Having broken the glass ceiling time and again, Tata Steel has onboarded 97 transgender persons in various roles to date. Such initiatives further reinforce Tata Steel’s belief in strengthening the organization by embracing a variety of identities, thoughts, and perspectives. In 2019, Tata Steel also introduced a policy for LGBTQIA+ employees, urging them to enlist their partners with the Company to enable them to avail all HR benefits.

Following in the footsteps of Tata Steel, Tata Pravesh – a brand of steel doors and windows – has too endeavored to open the doors of the mind through its thought-provoking films for World Environment Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, World AIDS Day and most recently, Women’s Day. Through these films, the brand attempts to change how we view the world around us. Tata Pravesh also felt that the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ persons within the workforce at Tata Steel would be revolutionary and merits being showcased to the world through a film. This initiative has been lauded not just because it is innovative. Still, it is also a progressive way for such employees to enter mainstream society, be embraced by all around them, and be made to feel a part of the more prominent corporate family.

Credits
Client: Tata Pravesh – A brand of Tata Steel
Campaign: Curating an inclusive workplace
Agency: Wunderman Thompson Kolkata