Management Approach

Reliance firmly believes in a multifaceted approach to human capital management and has defined the 10 Tenets of Institutional Leadership, which translates this belief into concrete actions. The Company prioritises the health, safety and holistic well-being of employees and champions a diverse and inclusive environment where individuals from all backgrounds feel valued and respected. The Company also makes significant investments in talent acquisition, management and retention through its diverse initiatives. Reliance adheres to the principle of equal opportunity. Furthermore, the Company respects the fundamental rights of its workforce, such as freedom of association, speech and non-discrimination, informed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reinforced by a robust grievance redressal mechanism. The Company’s steadfast dedication to ethical conduct and transparency is evident in its detailed Code of Conduct and open communication channels with its stakeholders.

Talent attraction

Reliance hired 1.71 Lakh new employees across diverse businesses, expanding its direct workforce to nearly 3.48 Lakh. The impact extends beyond its own employees to numerous indirect livelihood opportunities created within the ecosystem.

* Consolidated data for the Group includes on-roll employees of O2C, E&P, Jio, Retail, Media and other operations.
** In addition, 98 employees availing maternity leave from the previous year have also joined back in the current financial year.

Among the total employees in Reliance Group in the table above, 53.9% are below the age of 30, and 21.4% are female. Of the total new hires, 81.8% are below the age of 30, and 24.0% are female. Of the total voluntary separations, 74.9% are below the age of 30, and 22.7% are female.

Overall voluntary separations in FY2023-24 are lower than FY2022-23. The retail industry typically has a high employee turnover rate, especially in store operations. For Jio, 43% of reported attrition includes non-regular employees (fixed-term contracts, part-time, apprentice and interns). A shift towards commission-based job roles in the Jio workforce reduced overall need for new hiring in field jobs.

The average learning hours per employee for O2C and E&P, Jio, and Retail are 34.72, 40.98 and 63.97 respectively. Over 28.80 Million learning hours were imparted across the group, including some trainings for key off-roll employees.

During FY 2023-24, Reliance O2C and E&P, Reliance Retail and Jio engaged with 100% of employees through employee surveys. Furthermore, Reliance O2C and E&P, Reliance Retail and Jio were certified as a Great Place to Work®. The organisation continues to use listening mechanisms to improve engagement levels.

Health, Safety and Employee Well-being

Reliance champions a ‘Safety First’ culture and goes beyond compliance with its robust HSE management system. This encompasses robust safety protocols, comprehensive training programmes and continuous risk assessment, as outlined on page 32 of this report. Continuous improvement is ensured through the Central HSE Audit Programme. The Company’s comprehensive Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) Policy aligns with statutory requirements, covering all employees and contractors and is implemented via a robust Operating Management System (OMS).

Reliance goes beyond compliance, fostering a proactive culture of health and safety responsibility through various initiatives across the businesses. Its Change Agents for Safety, Health and Workplace Environment (CASHE) programme empowers employees to take ownership of well-being, demonstrably reducing risk and improving work safety. In FY 2023-24, the Company invested ` 981 Crore in HSE initiatives. During the year, a fatality was reported in the manufacturing operations. The Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) for O2C and E&P (excluding Malaysia) was 0.08 per Million manhours. In Malaysia, the LTIFR was 1.87 per Million man‑hours. The LTIFR for Reliance Retail was 0.023 per Million man-hours and that for Reliance Jio was 0.205 per Million man‑hours.

Reliance O2C and E&P employs 128 women in leadership positions, 61 women managers and leaders in revenue-generating functions and 995 women in STEM-related positions. It continued to uphold its DE&I commitment with gender inclusion initiatives such as R-Aadya, that addresses women’s needs and challenges in career advancement. Furthermore, on International Women’s Day this year, Reliance introduced a democratised mentoring programme for female employees, with more than 100 leaders pledging to serve as mentors.

Reliance Retail promotes DE&I by organising awareness sessions for LGBTQ+, unconscious bias workshops, employee resource groups for inclusion of People with Disabilities (PwD) and WE Bulletin newsletter to educate employees on DE&I. There is focus on gender diversity through different initiatives including customised women leadership development programmes, reintegrating maternity returners and offering second career opportunities.

Jio launched its flagship DE&I event “VIBGYOR: The Festival of DE&I”. It focused on Awareness, Belongingness and Celebration of gender diversity, persons with disabilities, generational diversity, LGBTQ+ pride, digital and social inclusion. Organised over 5 months, it garnered participation from 100% employees spread across 7,500+ locations.

Talent Management

Reliance is cultivating a strong pipeline of young and exceptionally competent leaders. For the first time, the Company opened applications for the Graduate Engineer Trainee (GET) programme nationwide, which enabled young engineers, especially those from remote regions and regional institutes, to apply online. Over 88,000 registrations and more than 54,000 applications were received on the GET microsite. Additionally, the Company continued with its flagship B-school programme, The Ultimate Pitch, promoting entrepreneurial thinking and innovation. In its eighth season, the programme received 15,300+ registrations as well as 1,300+ ideas from 450+ business schools.

The Company’s performance management system prioritises shared purpose and accountability through SMART objectives. Teams define SMART objectives and Annual Operating Plans aligned with organisational goals. Individual performance is then evaluated within the context of team achievements, recognising the value of collaborative effort and interdependence.

Reliance focuses on building leaders of tomorrow through programmes such as Career Acceleration Programme (CAP), FLYER (First-Line Young Engineers at Reliance) and STEP UP. Additionally, Annual Talent Review (ATR) and succession planning process is conducted for over 4,500 O2C employees to identify and segment talent cohorts based on future potential and consistent performance.

The Company offers a variety of learning platforms to help employees upskill for new-age technologies including 3D Champion 2.0, Tech Frontier and Power Skills. Further, anytime learning has become a way of life at Reliance. Currently, 1,14,948 employees are actively engaged in learning via LinkedIn while 68,035 employees are upskilling themselves and building capabilities via Coursera. RIL also conducted Spectrum 8.0, the eighth edition of RIL’s annual learning and development festival, which witnessed 19,000+ learners across sessions.

Reliance Retail is also building a pipeline of future leaders through its Young Leaders Programme (YLP). In FY 2023- 24, the Company onboarded a total of 544 trainees and 115 interns across cadres and businesses from more than 100 engineering, management and specialised institutes. Reliance Retail has a Signature Leadership Development Programme called the Talent Accelerator Programme (TAP) to fast-track the professional development and career growth opportunities for high-performing, high-potential young talent. During FY 2023-24, 41 high-potential young professionals were selected to participate in the programme. The Company also offers customised learning journeys for managers at different experience levels through its Manager Development Programmes. Additionally, Reliance Retail launched a Digital Leadership Programme for senior leaders equipping them with a “digital mindset” through industry examples, expert workshops and strategic projects to drive future growth. To further enable managers and leaders to engage in a developmental relationship with their team members, the Company initiated Leader as Coach and Manager as Coach Development programmes.

Reliance Retail conducts an annual learning event, Transformance, encouraging employees to upgrade their own capabilities by leveraging different opportunities within the organisation. The Company has established learning academies, including Academy of Future Skills, Data & Analytics Academy, Tech Academy and Metaverse Learning aligned with business needs. Reliance Retail Leadership Academy (RLA) continues to offer structured developmental interventions for highpotential leaders at various levels.

Reliance Retail’s Source-Train-Hire model, focused on Tier 2,3 and 4 cities, targeting underprivileged communities. This year, Reliance Retail trained over 12,861 candidates and successfully placed 12,100+ individuals, of which 61% of the candidates were from rural background and 19% were women. The model not only fulfilled the Company’s ambitious hiring targets but also strengthened its commitment to inclusive growth and community empowerment, setting a new standard in workforce development.

Jio follows a cohort-based talent management approach comprising 8 talent cohorts: Cadre, Frontline Contributors, Frontline Managers, Business Managers, Product Managers, Functional Managers, Senior Leaders and Women in Business. During FY’23-24, Jio onboarded 1,655 trainees across Tech, Business and Support functions, 3,656 employees were cross-skilled and certified through Jio Certifications. 26 high-potential leaders underwent the 6-month “Step Up” leadership development journey.

Labour Management and Human Rights

Reliance follows the principles of the United Nations Global Compact while adhering to local and national regulations and the Company’s Code of Conduct. The Company recognises employee unions and engages in frequent formal and informal discussions with a forum comprising of management and union representation. Collective bargaining agreements cover majority of the permanent workers across RIL. During the reporting period, there were no known cases of child labour, forced labour, involuntary labour, sexual harassment and discriminatory employment. All genders in the same roles received equal pay at the entry-level. For further details on Human Rights aspects, please refer to Principle 5 of RIL BRSR 2023-24.

Business Ethics, Integrity and Transparency

Reliance is committed to fostering a culture of integrity, transparency, openness and compliance – as evidenced by its Values and Behaviours, and Code of Conduct. RIL’s Code of Conduct defines the behaviour expected from all the employees and stakeholders, in addition to the corresponding practices. The HR Leadership periodically evaluates people policies to ensure their relevance to evolving regulatory and market demands. The Ethics and Compliance Task Force (ECTF) is responsible for overseeing and monitoring the implementation of ethical business practices within Reliance. All complaints related to ethics, non-compliance and violations of the Company’s Code of Conduct received by the ECTF are thoroughly reviewed and reported to the Audit Committee on a quarterly basis. To further promote ethical behaviour, Reliance has put in place mandatory e-learning courses. The Company has established a robust Anti- Bribery Management System (ABMS) to prevent, detect and respond to bribery risks. The ABMS e-learning module plays a key role in helping recognise Reliance’s expectations from its employees or business associates in the context of its Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption (ABAC) Policy. Reliance has also adopted the ISO 37001:2016 standard for its ABMS. Further, the Company offers an e-learning module “Satarkata” to educate its business partners on ethical business practices, promoting a strong business ecosystem.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism

RIL has established a robust mechanism through a Vigil Mechanism and Whistleblower Policy for reporting and handling of such violations, termed as ‘Reportable Matters’. Under this policy, the employees are encouraged to report any such violations without fear of retaliation. The Vigil Mechanism and Whistle-blower Policy is hosted on the website of the Company as well internal web portal, and can be accessed via this link.

A whistle-blower can make a protected disclosure either to the Ethics and Compliance Task Force (ECTF) or directly to the Audit Committee via e-mail, telephone or through a letter without being afraid of any reprisal. Protected Disclosures are handled carefully, scrutinised promptly and investigated diligently to check the veracity of the allegations and whenever required, appropriate corrective action is initiated. Details of the Protected Disclosures handled by the ECTF are shared periodically with the Audit Committee.