Take Pride (Always)

As Pride Month progresses, businesses must ensure their LGBTQ+ support is up to scratch all year round.

With Pride month underway, the spotlight falls on how HR departments are supporting their LGBTQ+ employees. While this element of equity and inclusion maybe more visible this month, it is vitally important that such initiatives are ongoing and part and parcel of the workplace culture.

Statistics from recruitment agency Templeton and Partners demonstrate that this particular issue remains an important one for HR to address. They report 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ people are bullied at work and nearly 7 in 10 have been sexually harassed at work. More than a third of LGBTQ+ staff have hidden their sexuality or gender identity at work for fear of discrimination.

Two years ago Templeton created their Diversity Advisory Council, to provide a voice for their diverse employees and to champion the inclusive direction of their business. The Council is highly representative of LGBTQ+ and other minority groups and implements a variety of initiatives specifically designed to support the LGBTQ+ community.

Among their work has been the running of Interactive Colleague Training & Workshops to share first-hand experiences from LGBTQ+ employees, facilitating knowledge sharing and discussions and helping to create LGBTQ+ allies within the business. They’ve also created an Anti-Discrimination Ambassador and an anonymous Discrimination Reporting Tool.

Lived experiences

Elsewhere, the HR team at employment benefits provider Unum, has seen their inclusion and diversity (I&D) strand work hard to review where they can increase awareness of lived experiences within their employee networks. As well as their own LGBTQ+ bePROUD network, they also have employee networks dedicated to race and ethnicity, gender, veterans and disability, all with a view to adapting company behaviour to support with inclusivity and belonging.

The approach 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. The team say they 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.

For Templeton and Partners their work has had real impact. They’ve increased their internal LGBTQ representation to 11% – compared with the UK’s average of 3.2% as reported by the most recent census – and increased their LGBTQ+ board membership to 15%. In their most recent survey 94% of staff strongly agree they can bring their whole selves to work – up from 88% in 2021.

For more on these companies go here and here.