From policy awareness to perceived effectiveness of diversity initiatives evidence from manufacturing employees in the Coimbatore region

Abstract

Workplace equality and diversity (E&D) initiatives are increasingly positioned as both compliance requirements and strategic enablers of employee wellbeing and organizational sustainability. However, in operationally intensive manufacturing settings, the effectiveness of such initiatives depends on whether employees are sufficiently aware of policies and perceive their implementation as credible and beneficial. This study investigates the relationship between E&D policy awareness and employee satisfaction with diversity initiatives in a mid-sized manufacturing organization in Coimbatore, India. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was administered to N = 100 employees using a stratified random sampling approach to ensure representation across key workforce segments. Descriptive statistics were used to profile awareness and satisfaction distributions, and contingency analysis was used to test association patterns between the two variables. Results indicate that 65% of employees reported being moderately/highly aware of E&D policies, while 35% reported low awareness (slightly/not aware). Overall, 55% of employees reported being satisfied/very satisfied, whereas 23% were dissatisfied/very dissatisfied (22% neutral). Cross-tabulated results revealed a strong practical gradient: dissatisfaction increased from 12.0% among the highly aware group to 53.3% among the not aware group, and the awareness–satisfaction association was statistically significant. The findings demonstrate that policy awareness functions as a critical implementation lever, implying that improving policy visibility and communication can materially enhance perceived effectiveness of E&D initiatives.