As organisations across the UK celebrate Pride Month, research reveals employers are committing to better supporting LGBTQ+ staff as over half of professionals (55%) say their employer actively supports its LGBTQ+ community.
The research by recruiting experts, Hays, revealed there is room for improvement however as close to a third (31%) of staff said they were unsure if their employer supported its LGBTQ+ community, whilst more than one in 10 (14%) said there was no support available for LGBTQ+ inclusion.
Hays conducted a survey with over 1,300 responses and the research echoes findings from the Hays Diversity & Inclusion Report 2018, which found several organisations don’t support key diversity events such as Pride, International Women’s Day or Mental Health Awareness Week. A third of professionals said their organisation rarely or never supports these occasions.
Hays is urging employers to not only celebrate events such as Pride, but to also consider setting up LGBTQ+ employee and allies networks to educate and encourage colleagues to work together to realise the significant benefits which are to be gained at both an individual and organisational level of working within a diverse workforce and inclusive workplace.
Hays has recently launched its own Pride Network for LGBTQ+ employees and allies with the aim of working across the business to continue to focus on making Hays a great place to work, where people can be confident that their voices will be heard, their opinions respected and where people can be their whole selves at work.
Yvonne Smyth, Group Head of Diversity at Hays, commented: “The creation of LGBTQ+ inclusive workplaces is an increasingly important consideration for employers who are looking not only to retain and support staff but also to attract future talent to their organisation. It’s positive to see that over half of professionals believe their employer is already taking steps to do this, however, organisations can be doing more. Embracing an LGBTQ+ workplace with a signal of intent and an understanding of its attraction to existing and future staff is fundamental to an inclusive and respectful culture.
We know that people from all backgrounds who feel they can be themselves in the workplace will flourish and be more productive, which is why as a business we are proud to support diversity and inclusion with the insight, energy and commitment of our own Pride Network. With the help of the Network, we aim to celebrate the differences that make us strong, whilst giving employees a platform to raise awareness of issues, encourage debate and help us all to make progress.
I’d encourage employers to think of ways they can introduce or further develop these discussions and commitments in a sustainable and authentic way. Pride celebrations provide a great prompt to get started or reach for that next inclusion goal but remember that the focus should not be lost when the celebrations end. Rather employers should look ahead to future aspirations supported by a series of commitments and activities on how to get there.”
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Responses were gathered from a web survey conducted on hays.co.uk between 4 June 2019 and 17 June 2019.
For more information contact:
Helen Flannery, PR Manager, Hays
T: +44 (0) 203 0400 282
M: +44 (0)75 5579 70401
E: [email protected]
About Hays
Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2018 the Group employed 11,700 staff operating from 262 offices in 33 markets across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2018:
– the Group reported net fees of £1.072 billion and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £243.4 million;
– the Group placed around 77,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 244,000 people into temporary assignments;
– 19% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 26% in Germany, 24% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 31% in Rest of World (RoW);
– the temporary placement business represented 58% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 42% of net fees;
– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA