Employees from 30+ Nationalities
Presence in 15+ countries
5Major Continents
A true representation of DEI at STL
Contents
Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) are the three levers that pull STL’s machine forward. Diversity gives us strength, equality is our value, and inclusion is an inseparable part of our culture. To us, DEI offers an opportunity to onboard the crème de la crème (the very best), cutting across geographies, domains, genders, and, of course, generations! Together, we aspire to create a culture where our identity is being a “STLer first” and someone else later.
Let us read ahead to understand how diversity, equality, and inclusion string together to form STL culture. Diversity: Every STLer is a unique individual
‘Diversity: The art of thinking independently together.’
~ Malcolm Forbes
STL is a true example of “Unity in Diversity.” We represent a mosaic of different people who come together to accomplish a single objective — transforming billions of lives through digital networks. We focus on building an organization that is “as global as possible but as local as is necessary.” Diversity encourages us to respect differences of opinion, embrace ideas and thoughts different from ours, and accept varied perspectives. This helps us build diverse teams that minimize risks and maximize opportunities. Having different personalities at play with different backgrounds, carrying different experiences, and possessing different strengths and capabilities helped STLers learn from each other and grow together. The presence of a diverse mix of points of view on one table helps us discover new approaches to solving a single problem. This ultimately leads to the creation of cultures as innovative as ours.
We try to break the bias and overcome long-held stereotypes by challenging ourselves day in, and day out. The presence of women in functions such as civil engineering, public relations, key account management, and predictive analytics, earlier considered men’s territory, is an example of the same. Kudos! We also have an entire coloring section in our cable factory across three facilities run by an all-women team! The introduction of women-led operations at plants has helped increase our operational efficiency to a massive 95%.
For us, diversity doesn’t stop at gender or ethnicity. This year, on International Women’s Day, STL launched a campaign, #Each for Equal. This is something that goes beyond gender and applies equally to both men and women working at STL. The program helps extend career opportunities to those who have taken a career sabbatical (for maternity, parental care, or any other reason) and aspire to re-ignite their careers post a sabbatical.
Equality: Equal opportunity for all
No matter whether you are 20-days old or 20 years young, at STL, each one of us has equal access to new, fantastic opportunities irrespective of our hierarchies, genders, ethnicities, locations, or work processes. For us, equality is a part of our culture that cannot be extricated at any cost. It blends perfectly with our values, “respect and empathy.” Be it a shop floor worker, someone managing a team or a person very high up in the hierarchy, STLers across the levels are treated with equal respect and dignity. In our pursuit to promote this feeling of equality in the workplace, we consistently examine and re-examine our processes, practices, and policies. This helps us ensure that STLers feel they belong to an entity where each is equal not just on the surface but at the core as well.
We offer equal opportunities from onboarding and continue to do so throughout the employment process without discriminating on the basis of location, caste, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or religion. To ensure uniformity, the onboarding process was gamified – ENTERSTLer. Even though the experience continues to be standard, the process is sensitive to the diverse needs and compliance requirements as per geography. During the course of employment, we offer equal access to training opportunities on a nondiscriminatory basis to make sure that competence and skill upgrading happens across levels.
Inclusion: We walk together, leaving no one behind
At the heart of a truly inclusive organization, lies a feeling that each one who is a part of that organization steps in to contribute their share. An environment that respects differences, encourages innovation, and motivates people to try out-of-the-box approaches to solve a problem, leading to the creation of the best solutions, is truly STLer. In the same way, we create digital networks for people worldwide, we also pride ourselves on creating an inclusive workspace for STLers irrespective of their race, caste, religion, gender, or orientation. We firmly say we are stronger together! Therefore, everything we do revolves around inclusion.
Let’s all pledge to stand together forever. It starts here!