Many employees and those in power who can make a difference(too) hesitate to talk about this topic ‘DIVERSITY at the workplace’ but not at Moolya because here action speaks louder than words.
Moolya is a precursor to many firsts in the Indian IT community and is known for implementing revolutionary ideas in the field of software testing.
The butterfly effect at Moolya
Moolya is not diverse for the sake of being diverse. 70% of the testers who work here are women and surprisingly the recruitment team is hiring to fill the gap that’s now created as an aftereffect of hiring women workforce. This is a never heard of a phenomenon in IT firms in recent times and a welcoming sign for those who are rejoining work after a break or after experiencing motherhood. New mothers needn’t explain their reason for absence or the long break, because it is self-explanatory. The business and the HR team at Moolya identifies the need to bridge the gaps discovered with regard to diversity and as we all know it is not just limited to gender.
Businesses that are known to understand diversity better, do well in all segments. People from different backgrounds contribute to value addition, National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) is an exemplary example in developing such a diverse culture. Sundararajan Pichai in one of his interviews, to a question regarding opportunities at Google for non-computer science graduates answered that at Google there are more undergrads without a computer science degree. This culture of understanding is yet to make its way into many minor and major IT firms in the Indian subcontinent.
Why hesitate to hire talent from interdisciplinary sciences to test, this still remains a question?
A few exceptions that the author has witnessed in the software testing domain with regard to hiring from interdisciplinary sciences involve an ex-nurse and an ex-airline pilot working in the software testing arena, who add value to testing with their respective domain knowledge.
The butterfly effect has begun at Moolya, they have hired employees from tech support to test and other global audiences based on their availability and skills to contribute to user experience and performance testing for an identified project. These initiatives can only grow to be progressive in nature.
Inclusion, a two-way street
Being diverse and inclusive is not only about bridging gender gaps, but it is also much more than that. Equality in management, in hiring, equal pay, bridging gaps in pay between the CXO’s and across the hierarchy. There is no single mantra that we could all follow in this regard, it is an acquired knowledge that needs to be put to a trial.
Gaps in pay with respect to gender in any industry is alarming and is not specific to the tech industry. Look around and you will witness much more than what meets the eye. The gaps that we see is a reflection of the decision made by the policymakers, of the hiring practice and the face of power. To foster a healthy work environment we need to identify and fix the gaps if found. Cultural and financial hygiene at a firm depends directly on knowing and implementing science in the art of inclusion.
Image credits – Amazon.com
This boombox at Moolya playing multicultural songs and the playlist being open to all is a demonstration of Moolya’s inclusive culture.
Diversity – The Moolya Way
Employer as a Risk Taker – Not penalizing people for questioning ‘what do you actually mean by the culture around here?’ or for learning from mistakes. The setup here is pro-questioning, so do question when in doubt with an intent to learn and better the policies and the people strategy for all.
Employee as a Risk Taker – Some of them who quit Moolya have gone on to either establish an empire of their own, or train to be an independent consultant and/or are brave enough to change the role to what’s best fitting them. It is the risk taker’s ability to unlearn and learn new that uplifts the doer in them.
Undoubtedly, the work-space at Moolya is conducive to breed new-age testers.
Varied education – Encouraging those with varied education is a norm here and not excluding someone just because they are from a different educational, financial or cultural background is a conscious practice.
Be curious to learn from someone who is difficult or different from you because we are all unique and capable of embracing each of our differences. As a reflection of this Moolya has hired high school dropouts, yes you have heard it right and it is true that those who are on a break from work are called in to join without making them feel any less than those who have taken no breaks in their career and new moms are freshly hired without a prejudice.
Multiple intelligence – Is all about encouraging oneself and employees to have a transparent view of the many areas that they can explore and contribute to the science of testing. Redefining a role if need be to accommodate the genius, that everyone is has been a remarkable approach to hire and retain testers at Moolya. Here, the roles, responsibilities, and titles are based on the right fit of your current skills and are not merely enforcing a misfit into a defined, immutable role. There is a tremendous improvement in work and career progression when the employee’s current skills and their interests match the role and responsibility at the workplace.
As a reflection of this, a junior HR executive who found her interests in testing made a move to testing within a few days of being hired. Cool isn’t it! Now imagine trying this at any other organization, around you. It isn’t easy, involves many barricades and the infamous ‘18-month clause’ and the end result may or may not be in your favor post the 18-month period. There are many such illustrations all around Moolya.
Diverse projects – For testers who are interested to gain domain knowledge and test an array of web and mobile software applications, Moolya offers diverse projects on domains such as Healthcare, E-Commerce, Media, Entertainment, Telecom, Banking, Payment Gateway, Health and Fitness, and Web designing apps. It is one of the safes havens, for learners.
Moolya is ready for change and is embracing it, which is pronounced constant but seldom put into action by those who fear change.
Concluding thoughts
Based on a research conducted by The Great British Diversity Experiment https://bit.ly/2NHL76w – Diversity is the new Darwinism.
Don’t close off a deal, an opportunity by excluding someone by the prejudice that one may carry. To have a diverse perspective and to develop different ways of thinking we should hire well and foster diversity in our workplaces.
Optional reading/listening
Bake your own cupcakes https://bit.ly/2k1ISNY (The illusion of inclusion)
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