EMBRACING diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the corporate world requires more than lip service – it needs inclusive policies, a culture to challenge biases and a plan to measure their implementation to ensure a lasting impact.
These were among the key points in the second edition of the Petronas Lunch Escape forum, which discussed the role of DEI in creating an inclusive environment that challenges conventional mindsets and fosters innovation.
Co-organised by Petronas and the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI), the forum aimed to bring together industry experts to air their views and share best practices on the subject matter.
Petronas Group Strategic Communications senior general manager Datin Anita Azrina Abdul Aziz said Petronas wanted to take risks and make changes to avoid complacency.
"We want to be challenged and find inspiration, we want to learn again and force ourselves to think outside the box, and we can only achieve this when we welcome and accept the differences among us.
"One of Petronas' DEI agenda is to grow our diverse workforce to include neurodiverse talent.
"We recognise that leveraging their diversified thinking and perspectives will prove to be crucial, as we develop our talent pool for the jobs of the future.
"We are working with Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd to create a movement to build Malaysia's neurodiversity ecosystem," she said in her closing remarks.
She added that DEI is about action and continuous commitment to ensure its sustainability.
"Having conversations alone is not enough; we need to implement inclusive policies, challenge biases and measure the impact of our DEI initiatives to ensure they have a lasting effect," she said.
Panellists agreed that a culture that encourages the inclusion of people from different backgrounds is stronger, as they can leverage the strength of their employees.
Panel member, Petronas Dagangan Bhd managing director and chief executive officer and also Petronas' Diversity & Inclusive champion, Azrul Osman Rani said fostering a culture of DEI will create a psychologically safe environment and ensure employees feel valued, respected and empowered to contribute their best.
"When you have a culture that encourages the inclusivity of people of different backgrounds, cultures and ages, you harness the power that each and everyone has to contribute to the organisation and also create a safe space where everybody wants to continue (to work)," he said.
"If employees do not feel safe and are not treated equally, or if some feel like they're being bullied, then there's a greater chance that they won't be willing to participate and contribute to the organisation," he said.
Azrul said for Petronas in Malaysia, the company is not 100 per cent there in terms of fostering DEI and challenging biases.
"I do believe it's a journey. I don't think we are 100 per cent there. We are a global company. I can cite examples outside Malaysia, for example, our Petronas Lubricants International business operating in Brazil started (DEI) by regulation.
"When you see that even people who are not deaf are learning sign language because they want to create an ecosystem so that they can communicate with their employees, I realised that we're not there.
"I've not heard of any organisation that has taken it to that step (in Malaysia), but the power that they are able to harness was amazing. I see that as a golden opportunity to advocate more changes because opportunities for this are exponential," he said, adding there was a need to add in a clause to encourage DEI in organisations.
Another panellist, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) managing director and partner Nurlin Mohd Salleh, said some strategies or practices that organisations can implement to foster diversity and ensure fairness in recruitment, promotions and decision-making processes is to use the BLISS index.
The BLISS Index, she said, is a formula adopted by BCG for their best practices and its measurement. It stands for Bias-free, Leadership, Inclusion, Safety and Support.
She said a bias-free culture with leaders who are inclusive will create a safe environment for employees to speak up.
"When they can speak up, they are able to reach out, have allies so that they can get the support that they need.
"They would then feel that they are supported, as they progress through different parts of their career," she said, adding that how employers make employees feel valued can also create a spirit of love for the company.
"Why DEI is important today and why it should be important for organisations around the world, including Malaysia, is because of talent urgency. Many organisations highlighted that the main factors behind the great resignation (of employees) during the pandemic were due to bias and the lack of fair treatment, which are basically DEI," she said.
Meanwhile, panel member Korn Ferry Malaysia managing director and senior client partner Anthony Raja Devadoss said companies in Malaysia should vocalise that they are inclusive in their hiring to ensure that we don't lose more talent to other countries.
"There's a lot of demand for Malaysian talent outside Malaysia, and I want to be very specific. There were three reasons quoted to us and one was clearly cultural ability, second is communication ability and third is affordability," he said, adding that Malaysia should be inclusive in its hiring process to ensure that talent feel safe to work in local companies.