The Vision, Mission, and Goals of Raymond Realty
“At Raymond Realty, our mission goes beyond building physical structures; we are dedicated to making the cherished dream of homeownership accessible and fulfilling for countless Indians. Our vision is to craft sustainable, community-centric living ecosystems that redefine affordable luxury and elevate the everyday standard of living. Driven by a deep commitment to operational excellence and our ‘On Time, In Full’ (OTIF) promise, our goal is to consistently deliver spaces rich in beauty, comfort, and trust. We are not just constructing houses; we are bringing dreams to life and shaping a brighter future for our communities.”
~ Mr Sandeep Maheshwari, COO, Raymond Realty
Key takeaways from his leadership approach:
- Vision: Transitioning from selling individual apartments to building complete, sustainable “living ecosystems.”
- Mission: Bringing the century-old Raymond legacy of trust and quality into real estate to make premium homeownership accessible.
- Goals: Maintaining strict operational excellence, fostering green and biophilic design, and ensuring projects are delivered “On Time, In Full”(OTIF).
On the path to a holistically progressive future through large-scale industrialization and widespread globalization, gender inclusion and diversity have become the most critical factors. And rightfully so, creating the best workplaces for women has been the major demand of modern times.
Any workplace can become the best by first becoming inclusive, safe, secure, culturally vibrant, flexible, and socially diverse. India, as a fast-developing country & economy, and a swiftly progressing society, has placed creating the best workplaces for women at the top of its list of priorities. Alongside the public sector, the private sector, too, has taken the mantle upon itself to make workplaces welcoming for women. Today, winning the top spot in India’s best workplaces for women – 2026, is Raymond Realty Ltd.
A Place Where Women Take the Lead
According to Sheetal Tapare, the Environmental, Social, & Governance aka ESG Associate at Raymond, gender diversity is viewed not just as a numerical output but as a measure of cultural maturity and organizational readiness to empower women at every level. Beyond overall headcount, the most important non-financial metric we track is the representation and progression of women into leadership,
“It evaluates our commitment to:”
- Ensuring equal opportunity for upward mobility
- Strengthening women’s presence in functional areas, particularly real estate project roles and technical operations.
- Building a sustainable talent pipeline of women prepared for future leadership roles.
By assessing how many women are stepping into roles with decision-making authority, technical depth, or P&L responsibility, Raymond measures whether its gender diversity strategy is truly driving organizational transformation rather than surface-level parity.
D&I Through KPIs
Also, Raymond focuses on leadership accountability as the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) goals are explicitly integrated into the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and compensation metrics for senior executives and business unit heads across the organization. “What is more, we have adopted a clear accountability framework to ensure that Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) is not a stand-alone HR initiative but a strategic business priority,” shares Shilpa Shinde, the Design Head. D&I goals are explicitly embedded into KPIs and scorecards for senior leadership, business unit heads, and departmental leaders, she further informs.
The integration includes:
- Annual D&I Targets: Every senior leader has quantifiable targets related to improving the gender ratio, strengthening women’s representation in their function, and ensuring fair promotion and assessment cycles.
- Performance Appraisals: Leaders’ performance ratings include a significant weightage linked to inclusive hiring, retention of high-potential women, and active participation in D&I programmes.
- Leadership Reviews: Monthly and Quarterly dashboards are presented to the Board-level committees to monitor compliance and progress, ensuring that leaders remain consistently accountable. This system reinforces that achieving gender parity is a shared leadership responsibility, not an HR-led initiative.
Creating an Allyship Culture
- Going beyond this, Raymond also creates a culture of allyship. Speaking about the same, Mangal Ghorpade, the Sr. Planning Associate shares, “From the beginning, we have recognized that sustainable gender parity requires men to become active champions for change.’ To foster this, the organisation runs structured and continuous allyship programmes, including:
- “Men as Allies” Workshops: Recognize bias in the workplace and commit to inclusive leadership behaviors.
- Inclusive Leadership Training: Mandatory for all senior leaders, focusing on empathetic management, equitable decision-making, and gender-sensitive communication.
- Co-Ownership of D&I Projects: Men across functions are engaged as co-leads or task force members for gender inclusion initiatives, ensuring shared responsibility. By creating space for dialogue, reflection, and action, Raymond ensures that men are active partners in enabling an inclusive culture.
Erasing Bias from the Workplace
The next factor is that of bias mitigation. Raymond has implemented robust mandatory and recurring training programmes aimed at mitigating unconscious bias, particularly during hiring, performance evaluations, and succession planning.
Key components include:
- Annual Unconscious Bias Certification: All managers must complete a structured module that covers bias recognition, stereotype awareness, and techniques for objective decision-making.
- Hiring Manager Workshops: Training focuses on resume screening bias, gendered language, equitable interview questioning, and structured scoring systems.
- Promotion Panel Guidelines: Senior leaders undergo refresher training before any promotion cycle to ensure objectivity, minimize affinity bias, and evaluate potential fairly.
- Succession Calibration Meetings: Facilitated by HR to ensure women are fairly represented in talent pipeline discussions, with specific checks for bias indicators. These ongoing efforts create a more equitable environment for women to be hired, promoted, and groomed for leadership roles.
“Safety is Our Priority”
Again, when it comes to a best workplace like Raymond, safety, well-being, and flexibility are some of the topmost priorities. Given the company’s presence across manufacturing, retail, and real estate, each with its own operational risks, safety for women is ensured through a combination of infrastructure, technology, and policy interventions.
Key initiatives include:
- Surveillance & Monitoring: High-coverage CCTV, panic alarms, and supervisor presence in high-risk areas or isolated facility zones.
- POSH Training: Regular awareness sessions, site-level support champions, and third-party counsellors to create an environment of emotional safety.
- Real Estate & Construction Sites: Mandatory PPE for women, secure site routes, extended lighting around project areas, and assigned safety marshals. This holistic approach ensures that women, whether on manufacturing floors, in frontline retail stores, or on construction project sites, experience safety and trust every day.
Addressing the ‘Second-Shift’ Burden
Next, Raymond offers multiple policies aimed at supporting women’s physical, emotional, and family well-being, addressing the disproportionate “second shift” burden faced by many working mothers.
Highlights include:
- Enhanced Maternity Leave: Beyond statutory norms, with flexibility of pre- and post-leave planning.
- Paternity Leave: Provided not just as a benefit for fathers but as a progressive step to reduce caregiving load on women.
- Childcare Support: “We have creche facilities in or near major premises,” says Sheetal.
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP): Confidential counselling for mental health, parenting stress, emotional fatigue, and work-life balance.
- Well-being Days: Shilpa adds, “We conduct wellness activities and stress-reduction initiatives.” These policies help women manage personal responsibilities without compromising career progress.
An Innovative Flexibility Framework
And to retain women, especially mid-career professionals, Raymond has introduced a progressive and highly innovative flexibility framework, such as:
- Flexible Scheduling: Core working hours with flexibility
- Phased Return-to-Work: For new mothers or caregivers, enabling a gradual workload to increase over time.
- Job-Sharing Models: Allowing women to split responsibilities and hours with another colleague while ensuring business continuity. These policies help in preventing unnecessary attrition and retaining high-potential women during key life stages.
Eliminating Harassment Completely
Another critical factor, when it comes to women’s safety and security, is that of combating harassment. In that, Raymond goes beyond compliance with the POSH Act to create a culture where women feel confident reporting concerns without fear of retaliation.
Sheetal informs, “Our proactive mechanisms include:”
- Anonymous Digital Reporting Tool
- Compliant Helplines
- Zero Retaliation Policy: Strict measures to prevent any form of backlash against the complainant.
- Fast-Track Investigations: Clear SLAs for investigation timelines and transparent communication of case closure outcomes.
- POSH Champions: Trained representatives across sites to guide women through the process and offer support. This multi-layered framework ensures that women feel heard, protected, and respected.
An Equal Pay Equity Guarantee
Again, a major area of creating a best workplace revolves around the policy of career progression. In it, the pay equity guarantee holds critical importance. In this regard, Raymond conducts annual pay equity audits to identify and correct disparities across roles, grades, and functions. The process includes:
- Benchmarking with Market Data: For employees’ comparable roles across technical, corporate, and frontline functions.
- Internal Equity Check: Assessing pay parity among employees at the same level with similar experience and performance ratings.
- Corrective Adjustments: Proactive salary corrections during annual increments if any gender-based variance is found.
- Transparent Communication: Leaders are briefed about pay equity principles to eliminate bias during hiring or promotion decisions. Through these audits, Raymond ensures that women entering or advancing in technical streams receive equitable and competitive compensation.
A Clear Differentiation
Also, Raymond differentiates clearly between mentorship and sponsorship:
- Mentorship: Focuses on guidance, skill development, career conversation, and personal growth. Mentors help women navigate workplace challenges, but they do not influence advancement decisions.
- Sponsorship: A more powerful mechanism where senior leaders advocate for women, recommend them for stretch roles, and ensure visibility in high-impact projects. Raymond’s formal sponsorship programme is strategically designed to push high-potential women toward CXO and Board-level pipelines.
An Easiest Workforce Re-entering Mechanism
Moreover, return-to-work pathways are a powerful support mechanism, beyond standard re-onboarding, which is offered for women returning from extended career breaks (e.g., maternity leave, caregiving responsibilities) to ensure a seamless and successful transition. In this regard, well recognizing that many women face challenges when re-entering the workforce, Raymond provides a structured, empathetic, and extended support system:
- Returnship & Transitional Roles: Allow returning women to ease into full responsibilities through phased assignments.
- Skill Refresher Workshops: Including digital skills, leadership readiness, industry updates, and confidence rebuilding.
- Buddy System: Assigning peer support for the initial months to help returning women reintegrate socially and operationally.
- Manager Sensitization: Training managers to provide flexibility, empathy, and structured feedback during the transition period.
- Reintegration Plans: Customized role alignment to match changes in personal priorities or skill evolution. This ecosystem ensures that returning women rebuild momentum without fear of being sidelined or left behind.
An Ambitious Vision Grounded in Action
Finally, Sheetal, Shilpa, and Mangal reveal Raymond’s Vision 2030 for gender diversity. It is both ambitious and grounded in action. The organisation aims to achieve 30–35% women representation by 2030.
Immediate steps underway include:
- Leadership Fast-Track Program for Women: Focused training on strategic thinking, financial acumen, and executive presence.
- Succession Planning Mandate: Ensuring at least one woman is included in the successor slate for all key roles.
- Targeted Hiring for Strategic Functions: Increasing women’s intake in technical, engineering, and operational roles to build future-ready pipelines.
- Board-Led Oversight: Annual D&I reviews and accountability plans for each business vertical. This vision reflects Raymond’s commitment to shaping an equitable leadership landscape over the next decade.
For more information and further assistance, please call 8976319964 or email sheetal.tapare@raymond.in.