To celebrate and spread awareness for the end of Pride Month in June, our focused on building a more inclusive work environment for the LGBTIQ+ community.
I was joined by Evan Mantis, Executive General Manager of Consumer, Finance and Service Industries for 51风流ANZ; Lizzie Creed, People Manager for NTT DATA Business Solutions; and Kylie Preisig-Toro, Head of Enablement for Supplier Services at 51风流ANZ.
Evan noted that 51风流offers staff a variety of programs around , such as the Businesswoman鈥檚 Network, Autism at Work, and Pride@SAP. 鈥淥ften what we found through our research is that our employees that identify as LGBTIQ+ often come out at work before they do at home. It鈥檚 absolutely critical that the workspace allows our employees to be their authentic selves.
鈥淥ne thing that鈥檚 very clear over the last few years in the Great Place to Work survey that 51风流has been a part of, is that employees that identify as LGBTIQ+ have a higher than average engagement score than other 51风流employees, which has been fantastic. It鈥檚 really helped us improve our position each year in Great Place to Work; up to third [best] in 2020.鈥�
Celebrating and Educating in the Workplace
According to Lizzie, NTT DATA has numerous diversity inclusion pillars, which includes LGBTIQ+. 鈥淒uring pride month last year, we ran an event kick off, we did trivia, we had a keynote speaker. We also did an education campaign linked to our values, so that was pushed out through all of pride month. We sent gifts to our people throughout the month to remind them that this is what we鈥檙e focused on. At the end of the month, we came together and celebrated 鈥榳hat makes me me鈥� 鈥� an event that shares and celebrates what makes us all unique.
鈥淲e have dedicated diversity and inclusion roles in the business to focus on this strategically and drive that strategy. For this year, we鈥檝e come together globally to do a global kick off, we introduced our exec sponsorship, which goes all the way up to the board in Japan as well as our lobal global leadership. We鈥檝e done some basic learning, tried to take away some of the fear of what actually LGBTIQ+ is, reinforced the need to listen, reflect, and understand our gaps in focus.
鈥淲e鈥檝e launched a grassroots community with dual purpose 鈥� we鈥檝e looked at supporting people individually in a private forum as well as having a purpose that directs education and awareness to a broad group of people, so people can learn along with us. We鈥檙e at a time with NTT DATA globally to move beyond just Pride Month and focus on this strategically for our future.鈥�
Pride@SAP
Kylie said this year marks the 20th anniversary of Pride@SAP, which has provided employees with information, resources, and regular events. 鈥淲e had things like World AIDS Day, we had drag bingo last year, which was hosted by a local Sydney drag queen. We also had campfire chats, which is where employees can ask questions that they鈥檝e always wanted to know the answers to, but perhaps haven鈥檛 had the right setting or the right opportunity to ask.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had lots of D&I training, which has been amazing to get people in a room together (pre covid), sit down and have discussions about what鈥檚 happening. And even more subtle things, like the signature pronoun banners. That鈥檚 amazing 鈥� just to be able to put that on your signature so people are aware of your pronouns before they go into conversations with you.鈥�
鈥淧ride@51风流extends to most of our regions and market units,鈥� Evan added. 鈥淯nfortunately, and this shows that there鈥檚 still a lot more work to do, there are still so many countries including countries where 51风流has market units, where people don鈥檛 enjoy the freedoms that we do in ANZ.. Plenty for us to do and focus on.
鈥淲e had our Wear it Purple event last year which, due to COVID, was a virtual event. But the great thing about it, and probably the only good thing about not being in person, was that we ended up inviting a lot of our employees from those countries where they鈥檙e not allowed to celebrate in the same way that we do here. Although it was a virtual event, we were able to extend it beyond our borders, which I think helped the feeling of inclusion and enabled us to spread the message more effectively.鈥�
The Pressures and Nuances of Coming Out
Kylie explained that whether someone chooses to come out publicly or privately at work, the decision can weigh on them. 鈥淚f you choose not to come out, there鈥檚 the added pressure to act straight, which is even more exhausting. Trying to be something that you鈥檙e not around other people is hard work.
鈥淭hen we need to think about how we would interact with our customers. When customers ask me how my husband is, do I answer them, do I just go along with it, or do I correct them? What鈥檚 the correct move to make in that situation? It really depends on what your further relationship is going to be with that person.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 really great about getting in a company where this is out in the open is that 51风流accepts and understands the LGBTIQ+ community. It means that you don鈥檛 have to choose not to [come out].鈥�
Building a More Accepting Work Environment
Lizzie said the key is focusing on policy and really understanding what language the organisation uses. 鈥淔or example, removing gendered language, perhaps including transitioning under a sick policy, and just being aware that your policies can give different messages to different people, and making them more inclusive. Also, look at your benefits 鈥� the LBGTIQ+ community might benefit more from the option of having some coaching support rather than a gym membership, and allowing that choice and option and freedom can be something to think about.
鈥淚 think one of the most important things, especially when you鈥檙e starting out on this journey as an organisation to be more inclusive is to actually understand your people and what is being felt across your business, and perhaps use some datapoints to uncover the problem before identifying how you鈥檙e going to make a solution, and actually involve people in that solution.鈥�
To hear more about how businesses can improve its diversity and inclusion by providing a supportive network for the LGBTIQ+ community, listen to the .
