bePROUD: Language and Intention

Unum has a growing LGBT+ employee network called bePROUD, which will be hosting a ‘Language that matches Intention’ session during Pride month.

The session will highlight that often people have good intentions but are worried about/don’t have the tools to communicate their intentions well enough. The session will focus on giving teams the guidance around the language that is currently in use to support with increasing their comfort in both their day-to-day work and communications within Unum – with a longer term goal of increasing the sense of belonging that LGBTQ+ colleagues have within the company and increasing the company’s appeal to a more diverse range of people through the recruitment process.

Q: Where did the idea for this initiative come from?

A: Within Unum’s HR team, the inclusion and diversity (I&D) strand has been working hard to review where we can work to increase awareness of lived experiences within our employee networks. As well as our LGBTQ+ bePROUD network, which we’re working with for Pride Month, we also have employee networks dedicated to race and ethnicity, gender, veterans and disability, all with a view to adapting our behaviour to support with inclusivity and belonging.

Part of this has led to a structure where all areas of the business have an Inclusion Business Champion who stays in the loop with network projects and amplifies the voices of those within. We find that support from senior leadership and a wider range of voices can help ease the pressure for network members and share responsibilities for spreading the word beyond the group.

Communication between the I&D team and the bePROUD network agreed that a helpful place to start would be a short session to provide more information alongside practical tips on language. As language plays a huge role in marketing, it felt like a good place to start — even better as the session can then be marketed internally!

Q: How will the session be carried out, how many employees will take part, is it online, in person etc. and will there be follow up?

A: The session will be completed online and hosted by the Inclusion Business Champion (Stuart Flint, Senior Manager, Marketing Ops) and Georgie Kenward, the bePROUD network’s lead, along with potential contributions from other network members). We’ll request feedback following the session to:

• Review the effectiveness of the session
• See if there are any points of reflection when it comes to how this may impact the way the team complete their role
• Discover if there is anything they would have liked to have learnt about that wasn’t included.

Following this, the session will be offered to other business areas and the opportunity to present is available to the whole network, as this is also a great opportunity for upskilling and getting to know other people within the business.

Q: What other initiatives is Unum engaged with?

A: There is a huge amount going on across all networks. The LGBTQ+ network holds regular network meetings, and hosts a book club focusing on stories with LGBTQ+ characters/themes. Our biggest upcoming initiative which requires support from all business areas is Surrey Pride (9^th September), where Unum is the official accessibility sponsor — ensuring the parade and park to be fully accessible to all.

Q: How does the network contribute to the business, or how does the business ensure it is heard?

A: Unum is very fortunate to have senior leadership engagement, with all networks having an sponsor from our Executive Committee (ExCo) of senior leaders. For BePROUD, it’s Jane Hulme (Human Resources Director). Positive change rarely happens without senior leadership buy-in, so it’s been incredibly helpful to have this support in place. As the ExCo sponsor for bePROUD, Jane regularly joins network meetings. All of our employee networks regularly gather to share updates and upcoming projects, which the I&D team and communication team take part in to ensure everyone’s voices are heard.

If the networks or the business identifies areas for change, Unum fosters open lines of communication. This means we can discuss and plan who will action each part. For example, bePROUD recognised the importance of pronouns for both colleagues and customers for increasing support of those who may be misgendered. This was raised within I&D and to the business inclusion champions who have then taken responsibility for echoing the messages so that people are encouraged to put their pronouns within their email signatures and amend our systems and referral forms to reflect our employees’ needs and identities more effectively.