Inside TransUnion: The impact of inclusion and belonging

Diversity, equity, and inclusion have long been integral to workplace culture, but TransUnion has taken it a step further by embedding belonging into its core values.

In an exclusive conversation with People Matters, Jacob George, senior director and HR head at TransUnion GCC India, shared insights into how the company integrates DEI into its strategy.

Overall, TransUnion fosters a culture of trust and high performance and implements initiatives that drive meaningful change.

“At TransUnion, we strive to build a workplace culture where everyone – regardless of race, gender, identity, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity or any other personal identity – feels comfortable. And they all feel part of the system,” Jacob said.

“In 2023, we rebranded our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion office as Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging office, right, which means we are adding an emphasis on the belonging part, which is very important in the modern age.

“‘Be you at TU’ is a guiding principle that we operate on and we have seen a lot of value coming out of that.”

For Jacob, such camaraderie entails partnership between talent and the organisation.

“The very fact that you are yourself at work also comes from the fact that the organisation values you and therefore would want to trust you with what we do,” he said.

“One of our values is that our people come first. Our people priorities, how we operate, how they come up with various innovative ideas – all of that is the crux of what we do.”

At TransUnion, trust is a foundational element of its corporate culture. Employees are encouraged to be themselves and, in turn, the company demonstrates trust in them by valuing their contributions.

“We cannot achieve our goals without building that trust and that’s why we say, ‘Be you at TU,’” Jacob said.

“DEIB is not just a cool word – it directly translates into productivity and growth. The ‘belonging’ part is a great focus area for us because it’s not just about diversity.”

Belonging is what creates a symbiosis built on trust.

“None of these can be done without building trust … If you look at our engagement scores, if you look at our people, all of this is a factor of the trust that we are building and the trust that our colleagues have in us,” Jacob said.

In India, TransUnion has prioritised gender diversity through enterprise goals and Inclusion and Belonging Groups or IBGs.

The Women at TU group, for one, supports gender diversity by creating networks for women professionals. Meanwhile, specialised sub-groups for departments such as Sales or Global Technology provide targeted support and mentorship.

The results speak for themselves: several women who joined through these programmes have become top performers in their respective teams.

IBGs collaborate on structured initiatives that align with the company’s annual and long-term diversity goals, ensuring sustained progress in fostering an inclusive workforce.

“With all of these various IBGs coming together, we have a strong force. They work together with the common core goals that they’ve charted out for the particular year or for the next few years,” Jacob said.

“Even at a managerial level – taking the example of India – we have set up high-level targets where we need to achieve gender parity. This is a goal for the leadership team in India and it is cascaded to the respective team members,” he said.

“We have also embarked on various collaborations and partnerships with external groups, and internal training to achieve our goals. There’s a very structured approach to this … and we look forward to achieving these milestones.”

DEIB is not a short-term initiative but a long-term vision for TransUnion. The company has broken down this vision into annual focus areas, ensuring steady progress while aligning with its broader enterprise strategies.

Building a workplace where employees feel valued and empowered, TransUnion is committed to driving high performance, trust, and meaningful change in the global workforce.

Such a holistic approach to DEIB serves as a powerful model for building an equitable and thriving work environment.