My name is Paul Gillen. I am a partner at Pinsent Masons law firm.
In terms of Pinsent Masons, diversity and inclusion is central to everything we do.
That's encapsulated in our values and we keep as ABC.
The first one being approachable, the second one is to be bold and then the final value for us is to be connected.
In the support of LGBT staff Pinsent Masons have a lot of initiatives.
We have an allies programme. So what you have to do is create a culture
where there are allies in the organisation to show support for LGBT staff. It's about
getting people involved. We listen through our various diversity meetings
that we have and we look at initiatives to bring forward for the workforce.
What we also do is to involve ourselves with other organisations. We were the first
member of Diversity Champions to promote that through the rainbow project. We then
developed relationships with another organisation called Working with Pride.
My name is Fergal McFerran and I am responsible for delivering the Stonewall
Diversity Champions Programme in Northern Ireland in partnership with the Rainbow Project.
There are lots of different ways that employers can support their LGBT
employees. One of the key things that we always talk to employers about is
ensuring that there is a clear visible commitment from senior leaders and from
management. That in itself always gives an indication about the kind of values
of an organisation but also the kind of culture that is around them and how safe,
welcome and affirming that place is to work within, not
only to their current staff, but to prospective staff as well.
Employees who feel safe and welcome in their workplace will be happier in their
jobs, will be more effective and productive in their roles and will build
more meaningful relationships with their colleagues. Diversity and inclusion has a
wider benefit both in terms of building organisational reputation but also
attracting, retaining and developing staff as well.
Not everyone is going to be on board with LGBT issues and that's fine because in essence that's
diversity in action. We have conversations with people, we get them
involved, we listen to their views. It means that we've seen retention rates
increase and we've seen productivity increase as well. People can come in, be
themselves, they don't have to leave anything at the door in terms of their personal lives.
The best piece of advice that I can offer to employers is to
really take the time to understand the issues that their own LGBT staff face
and to work with them to come up with shaping the solutions to those issues
within the organisation. A common issue were sometimes there is an anxiety
or a worry about approaching diversity inclusion for out of a fear of
maybe getting something wrong seek advice from externals from people who
are experts in the field.
In Northern Ireland the Stonewall Diversity
Champions Programme delivered in partnership with the Rainbow Project is an
initiative that's designed to offer resources, expertise and guidance to
employers, not only to improve the lives of LGBT people, but to ensure that
businesses really reap the rewards of having an inclusive culture and a safe
environment for their LGBT employees.
Along with a lot of other organisations
we created the Working with Pride network and that's a network of
businesses in Northern Ireland coming together to look at LGBT issues.
Stonewall then have come in to be partners with the Rainbow Project in Northern
Ireland to further promote and develop the Diversity Champions Programme.
What Rainbow Project and Stonewall do is to come in and to audit your
policies and procedures, to make sure that they are fit for purpose, but more
than that to develop programmes like allies.
In terms of top tips, the first one is to ensure you have leadership within your organisation. Get
all staff involved and they can lead the way and what they see LGBT issues
to be within the workplace and the wider community. The second
bit in lead is to take a stand with things that are important for the
business but also for the wider community. And the third one for us is to
make sure that we are leaders in some of the the other organisations such as
Working with Pride Stonewall to develop LGBT issues in business across Northern Ireland