Human Capital
Tata Steel’s dedicated employees, in-house knowledge, and pioneering spirit help the Company build a future-ready culture.
Key highlights in FY2023-24 (for Tata Steel Limited)
100
Transgender talents
900
Employee productivity (tonnes of crude
steel per employee per year)
19.2 %
Diversity mix
Cultivating a culture of excellence
Tata Steel considers its human capital not just as part of its business but also as the foundation of its diverse business activities, to achieve industry leadership. The Company is committed to cultivating a culture of excellence, deep stakeholder engagement and agility.
Talent management
To ensure performance excellence at all levels, Tata Steel emphasises retaining and grooming meritorious employees. In India, the Company introduced sub-banding and fasttrack promotions. The Learning and Development initiatives have also been significantly expanded with 12 new Schools of Excellence, bringing the total to 53. The Company’s Functional Competency Framework, Learning Experience Platform (LXP) in partnership with EdCast, and strategic partnerships with premier academic and industrial institutions are designed to develop domain expertise. To attract young talent, Tata Steel has several Campus Connect programmes in India. The Aspiring Engineers Programme is a comprehensive one-year initiative designed to train engineering graduates into industryready professionals. Steel-a-thon, the annual business challenge for premier business schools, offers opportunities for students to work on real-life business challenges and get mentored by the Company’s senior leadership.
In the UK, Tata Steel launched a Talent Board programme in 2023 which now forms part of our integrated Talent Management and Performance Cycle. Talent Boards provide a framework to support line manager conversations with individuals. It facilitates discussions regarding career and personal development opportunities to build skills and expertise required to fulfil their objectives and aspirations.
In an effort to invite fresh ideas to ensure future-proof decision-making and to become an attractive employer for young people, Tata Steel run the Young Board programme for its Netherlands operations. The candidates selected to be part of the Young Board get exposure to issues critical for the future of the Company through interaction with the management and working with diverse business units.
Seamless employee integration
In a significant stride towards corporate simplification, five Indian subsidiaries amalgamated into and with Tata Steel Limited. A cultural assimilation programme called Samavesh was specially curated to ensure seamless integration of employees, fostering synergies, and opening new horizons for talent development.
Maintaining amicable relations with trade unions and contract employees
As a testament to our collaborative ethos, following the formation and recognition of the Tata Steel Kalinganagar Workers’ Union, the Company has implemented a two-tier Joint Consultative System. The System aims to create a harmonious and productive work environment that fosters collaboration. An agreement on a uniform organisation structure with the Tata Workers’ Union in Jamshedpur was also signed during FY2023-24. In a pioneering initiative, acknowledging the contributions made by the Company’s contract workforce towards an exceptional performance in FY2022-23, an ex gratia reward was given in FY2023-24.
Productivity and well-being
The Company adopted agile ways of working across the value chain, reinforcing a culture of trust and outcome-based performance. Investments in automation, mechanisation and digitalisation have significantly enhanced productivity, as reflected by the impressive output of the Indian operations: 900 tcs/ employee/year. The newly launched ‘Wellness for Life’ portal is designed to support the employees in managing their holistic well-being.
Fostering diversity, equity and inclusion
Tata Steel Limited strives to be a benchmark of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). DE&I is not a choice at Tata Steel, but a way of life. To achieve the goal of 20% diverse workforce in India by 2025, Tata Steel has identified four focus areas for intervention: Women, the LGBTQIA+ community, Persons with Disabilities and the Affirmative Action Community (Tribal Communities).
Four pillars of driving DE&I at Tata Steel India
Under the ‘Flames of Change’ initiative, Tata Steel recruited 23 women to create the first-ever crew of female firefighters in the steel industry in India. The Company’s advocacy for inclusive work shifts has borne fruits in Odisha and the success will be extended to Jharkhand.
‘Women of Mettle’, one of the Company’s ‘Campus Connect’ initiatives, is a pioneering scholarship programme to induct bright young women engineers into the manufacturing sector.
The ‘Women@Mines’ programme aims to provide technical training to unskilled women workers and enable them to work in core jobs in mines. Tata Steel is the first company in India to deploy women in all shifts in mines.
In March 2024, Tata Steel welcomed a new group of 13 transgender employees as Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM) Operator Trainees in its West Bokaro mining operations. This onboarding initiative marks a significant step in the Company’s DE&I journey, increasing the Company’s total transgender workforce to 100.
The second edition of Queerious – a first-of-itskind case study competition in India for LGBTQIA+ students saw a 240% surge in registrations over the FY2022-23 edition.
In FY2023-24, Tata Steel launched ‘Ananta Quest’, a pioneering case study competition for students with disabilities. Please refer to the section 'Ananta Quest' on the following page.
In FY2023-24, Tata Steel was recognised as a Gold Employer by the India Workplace Equality Index (IWEI) 2023 for the third consecutive year for its unwavering commitment to LGBTQIA+ inclusion. For its consistent efforts towards overcoming industry stereotypes, Tata Steel was recognised as one of the Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Lighthouses 2023 by the World Economic Forum. Tata Steel has been acknowledged as one of India’s Best Workplaces in Manufacturing for the seventh consecutive year by Great Place to Work®, reflecting its commitment to a progressive, peoplefirst approach.
Tata Steel achieved a significant increase in its score band from 650-675 in 2018 to 700-725 in 2023 in the Tata Affirmative Action Programme (TAAP) Assessment 2023, marking the highest score in the history of the assessment. This achievement is a 3-band jump over previous experiences and marks Tata Steel as the first Tata group company to move beyond 700 on the TAAP scale.
The Company’s efforts towards diversity, equity, and inclusion are not restricted to the Indian operations. In the Netherlands, Tata Steel strives for a good working climate and embraces cultural diversity in an inclusive environment. By 2027, the Company targets 99% of its employees to experience an inclusive working climate and 25% of its workforce to be culturally diverse, reflecting the demographic structure of the Netherlands. In 2022, the Company had started the rainbow community, the Tata Steel Pride network, in IJmuiden, to ensure that employees with LGBTIQ+ related questions are able to find the required support.
Tata Steel wants to be a more attractive employer for women in the Netherlands, with the aim to employ 5% women in vocational technical positions and 30% women in decision making positions by 2027. The Company has designed an extensive programme to promote diversity and inclusion, including communication campaigns, inspiration sessions and participation in Diversity Day. It also organises training courses aimed at spreading awareness about unconscious bias. At the same time, the Company is exploring other options, such as 24/7 childcare, workwear with a fit for women, and the (FE)male network.
Ananta Quest
In its unwavering commitment to fostering inclusivity and diversity, Tata Steel, in December 2023, launched ‘Ananta Quest’ - a pioneering initiative to integrate talented individuals from the Persons with Disabilities (PwD) community into the expanding manufacturing sector.
Ananta Quest is a unique case study competition, which aims to provide a platform for final-year students and freshers with disabilities to showcase their skills and ideas, bridging the gap between academia and industry. The competition spans both technical and business domains, offering participants an opportunity to engage in live internships and potentially secure job placements within Tata Steel.
The debut edition saw more than 550 registrations and 160 case submissions from technology and business schools from across the country, including the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs). The case studies were classified under four broad categories – Sustainability, Marketing & Sales, Human Resources, and Corporate Strategy. The jury evaluated the participants and winners on the basis of their ability to analyse the problem, find solutions and benefits, and assess the business impact of their ideas.
The jury selected three winning teams out of the 11 teams that made it to the grand finale. Team ‘Alchemist’ from IIM Trichy was declared the winner of the competition. While team ‘Madras’ from IIT Madras secured the runner-up position, team ‘Universe’ from IIT Kharagpur and IIT (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad bagged the second runner-up spot.
All the 14 finalists from across 11 teams will be offered a paid internship or pre-placement interview opportunity with Tata Steel, depending on their academic year.
At Tata Steel, the workplace is built on merit and diversity. The success of the debut edition of Ananta Quest is a great milestone for the Company’s DE&I journey.
Green steel transition in the UK
In September 2023, Tata Steel announced a proposed investment of £1.25 billion to enable green steelmaking, which includes a UK Government grant of up to £500 million, to build a new 3 MTPA capacity state-of-the-art electric arc furnace (EAF) in Port Talbot, UK.
The announcement was followed by weeks of deep engagement and detailed discussions with UK Steel Committee (multi-trade union representative body in UK) and its advisors. Tata Steel carefully considered their endorsed proposal for maintaining a single blast furnace. After significant deliberation, Tata Steel agreed to adopt elements of it, but considered that continued blast furnace production was not feasible or affordable.
After seven months of formal and informal national-level discussions with the UK trade unions, Tata Steel has decided to proceed with its proposed plan and commence closure of the existing heavy-end assets. The two Blast Furnaces, No.5 and No.4, at Port Talbot, will close by the end of June 2024 and by the end of September 2024, respectively. Following the closure of Blast Furnace No.4, the remaining heavy-end assets will wind down, and the Continuous Annealing Processing Line will close in March 2025.
The Company shall endeavour to maximise voluntary redundancies and has put forward a comprehensive package to support the employees impacted by the proposed transformation of the UK business. The precise details of the support package remain subject to the outcome of discussions with interested parties.
Tata Steel will also provide additional support to affected employees with job searches, support facilities for training and upskilling activities, finance for small and medium-sized businesses through the UK Steel Enterprise regeneration and job creation scheme. Tata Steel has committed a one-time payment of £20 million to the Transition Board. Tata Steel will work closely with the Transition Board and a range of regional and national stakeholders to ensure that this investment, coming at the same time as the establishment of the Celtic Freeport, provides a catalyst for the economic regeneration of South Wales and creates high skilled, well-paid jobs for local people in the coming decades.
Business and human rights
Tata Steel is committed to responsible mining and manufacturing and has pledged to uphold the human rights and interests of all vulnerable communities, including the indigenous communities, in the proximity of its value chain. The Tata Code of Conduct lays down the principles and standards that governs the actions of the Company and employees and emphasises Tata Group’s commitment to labour standards and human rights.
A publicly declared Business and Human Rights Policy followed by the formation of an Apex Business and Human Rights Committee for governance, reflects Tata Steel’s deep commitment to uphold human rights and interests of its stakeholders. Under the policy, the Company has identified the following six categories of rights-holders whose human rights can potentially be impacted by the operations of the organisation:
- Tata Steel’s personnels covering all persons working for or on behalf of the Company.
- Tata Steel’s contract workforce
- Communities impacted by the Company’s operations
- Consumers and customers of the Company’s products and services
- Employees of value chain partners such as suppliers, vendors, dealers, distributors, sales representatives, and franchisees
- Family members of the Company’s personnel
In FY2023-24 Tata Steel undertook third party human rights due diligence audits across its sites and value chain in India. Using a sampling approach, onsite audits were carried out across different business units and locations, including steel manufacturing facilities, mines and downstream facilities across India. The audit process included documentation review, site visits to the vendor facilities, online surveys and interviews with rightsholders. Representatives across all the six rights-holders categories participated in the audit. The audit outcomes have been analysed and the key areas of improvements have been identified.
Prioritising safety
Tata Steel is committed to zero harm at the workplace, and the community at large. The Company’s safety management system framework and robust governance structure are overseen by the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Committee of the Board, working in tandem with the Apex Safety Council, led by the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director.
Key safety initiatives include building safety leadership capability at all levels, leveraging digital tools and technology, strengthening deployment of contractor safety management standards, improving competency and capability for hazard identification and risk management, improving road and rail safety across the Company, excellence in Process Safety Management, establishing industrial hygiene, and improving occupational health.
State-of-the-art Practical Safety Training Centre, Jamshedpur
In FY2023-24, Tata Steel rolled out therevised Life Saving Rules, campaigns like ‘Know Your Personal Protective Equipment’ and ‘Working at Height’, ande-learning modules on safety standards to strengthen safety discipline in the workforce. All employees and vendors were included in the Safety Rewards and Recognition Policy. Felt Leadership 2.0 was launched to improve the safety leadership competency of associated companies, union leadership, and vendor partners.
The state-of-the-art Practical Safety Training Centre (PSTC) has been established in Jamshedpur, and addresses risk perception, while Safety Leadership Development Centres in Jamshedpur and IJmuiden are fully operational. These facilities are now being extended to Kalinganagar and Meramandali.
Digital tools such as video analytics and system-based access control are used to ensure the secure handling of critical equipment, including electric overhead travelling cranes, conveyor belts, and wagon tipplers. Tata Steel received the World Steel Association’s Safety and Health Excellence Recognition 2023 for real time visualisation of risk movement under the Process Safety category.
In India, the Safety Management System IT portal has been upgraded to EnsafeNxt, where mentioned digital alerts are also connected to uniform review and escalation mechanism. This transition introduced a user-friendly interface, coupled with advanced visualisation capabilities, ensuring easy data retrieval for end-users. The Company rolled out the integrated Safety Performance Index (SPI) to review the performance of departments across important safety key performance indicators (KPIs).
The Company has made technological interventions such as the Driver Fatigue Monitoring System, Dala raised interlock and anti-tilt mechanisms across all dumpers covering 100% of heavy vehicles plying inside steelworks. The Company is in the process of developing an integrated command centre for effective control over the fleet through live monitoring of heavy vehicles. The Company ensured competency development of heavy vehicle drivers through simulator-based training facilities at Meramandali, West Bokaro, Joda, Noamundi, and Jamshedpur. As Tata Steel grows in size and complexity, the means to ensure zero harm shall increase and intensify, wherever the Company operates.