Organisations can demonstrate year-round commitment to allyship and championing LGBT+ diversity. In doing so, they help to create a more supportive workplace environment that can attract talent.
A new Deloitte-sponsored report, distributed by a UK charity, shared inclusion strategies for organisations and showed that young employees who identify as LGBT+ experience stark differences in salary, unemployment, and bullying rates, compared with non-LGBT+ workers.
Positive Futures: How supporting LGBT+ young people enables them to thrive in adulthood, a report from LGBT+ charity Just Like Us, found that early negative experiences of mistreatment for many LGBT+ identified young people has led to many hiding their true selves. The report also says 1 in 4 (25%) respondents who had come out elsewhere admitted they had gone back in the closet when they started work.
Responses were gathered in December 2022 and January 2023 from 3,695 young adults in the UK. The report urges organisations to look at how they support LGBT+ employees and offers advice on creating a safe environment where underrepresented employees can thrive like their peers.
From the report, here are some of the inclusive practices companies can implement to attract and retain LGBT+ employees:
- Mentorship programmes: “Provide senior … career mentors for LGBT+ young adults to help them seek support and be able to see that they can progress their careers as their authentic selves.” The report also suggests that providing senior career mentors who are LGBT+ can be positive for LGBT+ employees and can show that the workplace celebrates diversity.
- Review current policies: Some policies may need to be updated to “better support LGBT+ employees, such as paternity, adoption leave and transitioning at work policies”.
- Demonstrate meaningful allyship: “Make clear the organisation’s year-round commitment to allyship by providing meaningful volunteering opportunities for … staff to support LGBT+ charities and causes.” The report also says that it is important that organisations ensure anti-LGBT+ bullying is not tolerated.
- Update recruitment practices: “Implement diverse recruitment practices, ensuring all staff inductions are LGBT+ inclusive, signposting to support, and establishing an LGBT+ employee network.”
Resources on implementing DEI initiatives, including a toolkit for allyship, are available from AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Steph Brown at Stephanie.Brown@aicpa-cima.com.
