Meet Ruchika Gupta, Head of Marketing for Beam Suntory India

Ruchika Gupta, Head of Marketing and Sayan Chatterjee, Human Resources Director for Beam Suntory India, speak with The Economic Times about how the company fosters a culture of inclusivity.

An inviting, inclusive and open industry

The brewing and distilling industries are known to bring people together; externally, its consumers, and internally, a diverse set of people who navigate the emerging trends and opportunities of the sector, according to Ruchika.

Although the industry itself is inviting, inclusive and open, Ruchika highlights the Alco-Bev sector in the past has had a higher percentage of male employees than females.

The rise of women within the industry

"The biggest challenge for brewing has been being outnumbered by their male counterparts, whether it is in meeting rooms or the markets,” says Ruchika who asserts that these anomalies have been softening over time. Emphasising her point via an example, Ruchika mentioned Shatbhi Basu, India’s first female bartender who set up ‘Stir’, a bartending academy, has been in the industry for over 40 years - even though bartending may be seen as a ‘male’ job role.

“Additionally, organisations are increasingly adopting diversity and inclusion (D&I) agendas and introducing policies and initiatives to improve the overall gender ratio, both in terms of employment figures and participation,” explains Ruchika.

Initiatives and policies to nurture the best talent

To foster a more inclusive and equitable culture, while working to increase gender, racial, and ethnic representation, the company has implemented many initiatives and policies to nurture the best talent. As part of a wider focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I), Beam Suntory is driving towards a goal of 50 per cent women in leadership positions globally by 2030.

As a result of its people-first and D&I policies, in India, the participation of women in leadership teams at over 350 permanent employees-strong company has increased from 11 per cent in 2020 to 21 per cent in 2021, with 60 per cent of new hires in 2021 being women.

“We’re exceptionally proud that, based on the D&I data, our India score is 4.63 out of 5, ranking us extremely high in our sector and India more broadly. We are not resting on our laurels however, we are determined to push towards our ambitious 2030 target,” commented Ruchika's colleague, Sayan Chatterjee.

Ensuring diverse interview teams

To attract female talent, Beam Suntory India has diverse interview teams by having at least one female interviewer on the interview panel for every role. Further, hiring managers undergo training to understand the end-to-end recruitment process and how they can avoid making decisions based on prejudice.

“At Beam Suntory, we believe that by fostering a culture of inclusivity and leveraging the diversity of thought, and culture in our employees, we unlock insights that drive individual and businesses growth," says Sayan.

"To broaden awareness throughout our workforce, we also organise D&I Mentoring programmes that spread knowledge of cultural awareness, multicultural talent and how to overcome biases and improve females' self-confidence," Sayan adds.

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