Diversity Management in Russian Companies (the Results of the All-Russian Survey of HR Managers)
The round table was organized by the Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center of the National Research University Higher School of Economics within the framework of a grant provided by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (grant agreement number: 075-15-2022-325). The event was held with the participation of the staff of the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research (ILISI) of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (Victoria Antonova, Daria Prisyazhnyuk, Tatyana Ryabichenko, Marina Aleksandrova).
Professor Viktoria Antonova, senior researcher at the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research, took an introductory speech, described the features of the study conducted by the Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center and also raised the issue of preparing a set of successful cases of employment of people with disabilities and holding periodic meetings of representatives of the state, business and non-profit organizations to discuss the development of inclusive employment both in Russia as a whole and in individual regions.
Lyudmila Goryunova, General Director of Mikhailov & Partners. Analytics, presented the results of the study Prospects for Inclusive Employment in Russian Companies and Factors Affecting Diversity Management in the Context of Global Challenges, described the current state and prospects of sociocultural diversity and social inclusion in Russian companies, and also described a number of factors that are important in creating external and internal conditions for the development of diversity and inclusion in business in Russia.
Roza Khashkhayan, Human Resources Director of First Retail Company LLC (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), spoke about the problem of shortage of human resources in Sakhalin and the Far East, about the experience of hiring people with hearing and mental disabilities in their company, and also mentioned about some difficulties in employment of people with disabilities - low motivation due to the risk of losing disability benefits and the need for thoughtful adaptation of people with disabilities in enterprises.
Irina Anisimova, Deputy Chairman of the Rostrud Data Council, spoke about the possibilities of the unified digital platform Work in Russia for the employment of people with disabilities – graduates of secondary vocational and higher education.
Aleksey Antipov, Senior Manager of E&Y's Human Resources Consulting Department, drew attention to the fears within many companies regarding people with disabilities due to existing stereotypes, and the fear of participating in government recruitment programs for various categories of employees due to the large amount of paperwork. All these fears can be overcome by raising awareness and involving business, developing working programs to support inclusive employment by the state. In addition, Alexey raised the issue of the need to debunk the fears that exist in companies regarding women on maternity leave and parental leave.
Irina Arkhipova, Deputy Dean of the Higher School of Business at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Academic Supervisor of the educational program Management of Sustainable Development of a Company, spoke about the need for both the socialization of people with disabilities and the development of a culture of acceptance of different people, drew attention to the fact that one of the reasons for the low rates employment of people with disabilities in Russia, there may be a loss of employment benefits, provided that the positions offered to them do not always allow them to adequately compensate for this loss.
Anna Shapiro, HR Director of MVS Group, and Ludmila Eckhardt, Project Manager of MVS Group, shared their experience in implementing a project related to the recruitment and organization of work of employees with autism in their company, which turned out to be successful due to thorough preparation, which included studying the needs and characteristics of people with autism to ensure comfortable work and selection of tasks that take into account the characteristics of employees.
Maxim Chugunov, Labor Compliance Group Manager JTI, also spoke about the successful experience of hiring people with disabilities in the company, gave examples of the career growth of such employees within the company, and also drew attention to the importance of building communication with employees with disabilities, including feedback.
Professor Elena Yarskaya-Smirnova, Head of the International Laboratory for Social Inclusion Research, spoke about the specifics of conducting research in the field of inclusion and diversity at the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research, mentioned the participation of non-profit organizations in the implementation of inclusion and diversity practices, and also suggested a possible development of research into the participation of non-profit organizations in the development of inclusive employment within the framework of intersectoral interaction.
The participants of the seminar expressed their support for ongoing research in the field of employment of people with disabilities and discussed the possibilities for further cooperation.