Almost a third of people surveyed ‘have never’ heard mention of Diversity and Inclusion by their employer in the workplace.
Yet 50% of those surveyed have faced discrimination based on their sexual orientation, 28% of those surveyed have faced discrimination based on their race.
To mark the launch of its All Equals Charter LGBTQ+ charity Manchester Pride has revealed the findings of a survey to explore perceptions and policies relating to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
The survey of 1k people across the UK revealed that almost half (47%) of people surveyed have never had any
Diversity and Inclusion training, networks, guides or days or talks made available to them by their employer.
Plus almost two thirds (64%) people surveyed said that not only have they been discriminated against, but they know other people who have experienced it too.
The All Equals Charter was first born when Manchester Pride started to create a set of shared values for the venues and suppliers involved with its flagship Manchester Pride Festival, in order to reduce the potential for discrimination. The charity started sharing its work with others and began to uncover a real appetite for the initiative as companies wanted help to implement change.
As a result Manchester Pride evolved the values into a Charter to help create a consistent approach to diversity and inclusion across the region. It invites companies to follow a set of principles that they are regularly assessed on. This begins with an initial assessment and a visit from the All Equals team to help them understand current activity, alongside the policies and processes in place to support LGBTQ+ people at work. This is reviewed and then meetings provide feedback and look at the next steps. Different levels of accreditation are reviewed on an annual basis.
Its aim is to support businesses and organisations in creating safe and inclusive spaces for all LGBTQ+ people by assessing the services a business or organisation supplies against the Charter’s standards. This means that the Charter isn’t just for the workplace, in displaying the All Equals Charter mark LGBTQ+ people can also see that a bar, cinema, restaurant or shop is inclusive ultimately ensuring that they will be treated equally and with acceptance in these spaces.
Early this year a number of national retailers, public sector services, local businesses and education institutions came together to beta test this process to ensure that it was robust and user friendly.
Those companies included Tameside Council/Tameside and Glossop CCG, Auto Trader UK, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, Tameside Council, Hits Radio, UKFast, Manchester Metropolitan University, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, GMCA Fire and Rescue Service plus Gay Village businesses Richmond Tea Room and The Eagle.
Manchester Metropolitan University was awarded the top level of accreditation because it demonstrated exceptionally well-developed policies and practice to achieve inclusion and to prevent hate crime and discrimination. The organisation clearly listens to and learns from feedback and has a track record of taking action to improve inclusion when needed. A role model rating is appropriate and MMU has much to offer in helping the wider GM community improve standards of LGBTQ+ inclusion.
Stuart McKenna, equality and diversity manager at Manchester Metropolitan University, said; “The All Equals Charter helped us by providing a different perspective, and although considered sector leading in LGBTQ+ equality, provided some challenges to further develop our work in this area. Therefore, whatever stage your own organisation is in relation to LGBTQ+ equality, whether just starting your journey, or developing sector leading practice, the Charter definitely offers something for all organisations. We are looking forward to the launch of the Charter, and completing our first full self-assessment against its criteria, and hope other organisations in the region will join us.”
Mark Fletcher, chief executive for Manchester Pride, said: “Our research proves that whilst some organisations are working extremely hard to put LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion at the heart of their processes and policies, there are many out there that just haven’t started yet. That people admit to not even knowing exactly what diversity is shows that we have a long way to go when it comes to education and we hope that the All Equals Charter will shine a light on just why we need to educate people in the fight to stamp out discrimination of all kinds.
“We carried out beta testing of the All Equals Charter to ensure that we have a robust, comprehensive and workable process for all industries, sectors and sizes of business. We want to thank each of the organisations that took part in this pilot and particularly applaud MMU for their wide reaching and effective policies which make the university one of the very best places for LGBTQ+ people to work and study. It is a true role model and will be vital in helping us to promote best practice as we strive for a consistent approach to diversity and inclusion across Greater Manchester.”
The All Equals Charter is now open to any business or organisation in Greater Manchester that would like to understand how to recognise and challenge any form of discrimination through the provision of a thought-through support system guiding them to achieve a truly diverse, inclusive and equal environment in which all employees can thrive.
Those who sign up will be given access to a members’ area of the Charter website where they will have access to a digital toolkit to guide them through the process.
They will be asked to complete a self-assessment which will explore the organisation’s policy position and procedures for dealing with discrimination, recruitment and staff training. It will consider if these policies and procedures are adequately communicated to assist employees and promote a feeling of security amongst the workforce that discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated.
The next step will be for the Manchester Pride team to conduct a ‘Health Check’ for the organisation and provide feedback and suggestions for an action plan. The plan may advise on the creation of policy and procedure or for those with existing policies it may focus on how to record data about incidents that occur and the importance of sharing it with relevant agencies.
This will culminate in a full Assurance Review to receive accreditation. The whole process should take approximately 10 – 12 weeks for an organisation to complete.
The All Equals Charter is a Manchester Pride initiative and any profits from the charter will be reinvested into the Manchester Pride Fund to support and enhance the lives of LGBTQ+ communities.
Source: https://aboutmanchester.co.uk/almost-a-third-of-people-have-never-heard-mention-of-diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace-manchester-pride-research-findings/