Assignment 1 - PGP 24 115

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR BUSINESS
Case1: Dessa: Growing a Diverse and Inclusive Artificial

Intelligence Company
Submitted By: Shraddha Sachan, PGP/24/115

1. What is meant by diversity and inclusion? How do these concepts differ from one
another? How are they related?
Ans: Diversity refers to representation of an entity. Diversity in workplace meaning hiring
employees with varying c. Inclusion refers attributing and appreciating people’s
contribution, presence and inputs.
Although, diversity and inclusion are interconnected but they are not interchangeable. For
example, a company having employees from varying gender, sex, race, ethnicity, sexual
orientation and education will be called diverse, but if the company is not giving equal credit
and working environment to different people, then it will not be inclusive.
2. Why are diversity and inclusion important for Dessa?
Ans: Diversity and inclusion are important for any company and Dessa is no exception.
Researchers, found that workplaces with diversity (both inherent and acquired) and
inclusion are likely to perform better and deliver efficient results. Share of tech workforce in
Dessa is 80-20% for male and female and since Dessa is expanding into financial sector, it is
crucial for the company to be diverse to outgrow its current performance.
Inclusion refers to creating a safe work environment, but in Dessa, 41% of women who were
hired in tech sector left their jobs prematurely due to hostile work environment. Many
female employees also felt like they were not taken seriously in the field, were overlooked
for promotions and lacked a role model. Hence, it was a critical time for Dessa to include
diversity and inclusion in the company.
3. Assess the current hiring practices at Dessa. Where might bias unknowingly play a role in
the selection process? With the current process, what is the risk that some pools of
highly qualified candidates will be overlooked and under-utilized?
Ans: The current hiring process of Dessa starts with submission on CV and cover letter via
Dessa’s online hiring portal. Next step included two fit tests- cultural and technical. People
who were fit in the cultural and technical test got an one hour interview with Wong where
both candidates and Wong shared about their expectations. Shortlisted candidates were
further given a 24 hr take home test on machine learning applicants and 48 hr test for
engineering applicants.
The bias can be present starting from the first step itself, that is shortlisting of CV’s.
According to researchers, performance bias can include female employees being hired
based on their track records where as male employees being hired and promoted based on
their potential. With the current hiring process is risky that some pools of highly qualified
candidates will be overlooked and under-utilized.
4. What steps can Wong take to increase the chances that strategic hires will be more
diverse? What elements should be part of a proactive diversity and inclusion program at
Dessa?
Ans: Steps Wong can take to increase the chances of diverse hiring:
 Change in JD: Job descriptions should not only just focus on educational
qualifications and experience but also emphasise on soft skills of the person.
 Demographic Bias: The CV review process should eliminate the demographic bias
that is scrapping CV based on demographics of applicants.
 Goal Reports: Wong should work on preparing a report that includes approximate
targets for achieving diversity in a given timeline
 Sensitization: employees should be sensitized about importance of diversity and
inclusion in a workplace through creative workshops and gamified learnings. The
result should not just imply on growth of company, but also on individual growth.
This will self-motivate the employees and it will be effective in a long run.
Elements like creative workshops, gamified trainings, cross level feedbacks, mentoring of
employees can be included in a proactive diversity strategy.
5. Develop a framework to measure success and the business impact of a diversity and
inclusion program for Dessa.
Ans: Framework to measure success and the business impact of a diversity and inclusion
program for Dessa should include changes from hiring process itself,
1. A Goal report should be kept in place to measure the output at the end with the
initial decisions.
2. Removal of biases from the hiring process and hiring diverse people based on
gender, sex, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, education, etc.
3. To measure the diversity in hiring, the hired employees can be measured according
to Goals Report and bench marked against industry.
4. Once hiring is done, Dessa should also measure retention of employees to check
inclusion and compare this with employees within the company but from different
diverse group.
5. Dessa should also measure the promotion of different employees and a standard
protocol for promotion should be followed for all the employees.
6. If people are quitting from the organisation, their feedback should be taken and
compared amongst different employees, to check for any hostile work conditions.
7. Inclusion can be made effective by regularly checking the initiatives taken by
employees.
8. Number of innovations and revenue generated can be marked to measure the
business impact of diversity and inclusion.
9. Growth of each employee should be measured from time to time backed with
continuous feedbacks and setting of goals.
10. Sensitize the employees about importance of diversity in inclusion for organisational
as well as self-growth via creative workshops and gamified learnings

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR BUSINESS

Case1: Dessa: Growing a Diverse and Inclusive Artificial

Submitted By: Shraddha Sachan, PGP/24/115

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