Being a strong ally for LGBTQ+ colleagues at Skanska

Created by VERCIDA for Skanska

 

Laura Mitchell talks about how a transgender awareness course set her on a path of new understanding, leading to her work as an ally within Skanska’s Pride network.

 

Laura Mitchell, Talent and Capability Associate

 

Diversity and inclusion have always been passions of mine. When I joined Skanska, I was really impressed with their commitment in this area and after I went to a transgender awareness course, my mind was blown.

As a talent and capability associate supporting the recruitment team and managing relationships between the team and stakeholders, I’ve already been involved in diversity and inclusion work, such as projects to make sure our job advertisements don’t use masculine language and the recruitment processes are gender-neutral. I have also become a domestic violence ambassador for the company. 

Whenever I learn something, I bring it back to the team where I work, which brings me back to how I joined the Pride network as an ally. It was November 2022 when I attended the transgender awareness course. Before I went, I thought I was properly open-minded and knew all about trans issues, but it turned out I knew nothing. Sure, I knew about pronouns, but there was so much more I had to learn. It was a fascinating course, learning from the lived experiences of trans people. 

 

Afterwards, I realised that if I felt that way, I wanted my team to learn all about it too, so I put together trans awareness training. It was just for my team, but the chair of the Pride steering group told me that she wanted to use my training course across the whole business. As a cis-gender female, it didn’t sit right with me that I lead the training without that relevant lived experience, but I was happy to help the group with their trans awareness policy. 

Then I was asked to join the steering group as an LGBTQ+ ally. I feel that it’s so important for the LGBTQ+ community to have allies help create a safe environment within the workplace and speak up on their behalf. I’ve got a big mouth and no filter, so I am always happy to speak up for anyone who might feel unsafe, especially if they feel they are unable to do it themselves.

 

 

During 2023, trans awareness has been the main focus of the Pride steering group and the HR team in which I work has been really supportive. We were going to launch our trans awareness policy on 20 November to mark Trans Day of Remembrance, but we launched it earlier because we decided that it couldn’t wait. We want to make sure people feel supported and that we are a safe and inclusive employer. 

Looking back, I have always been an LGBTQ+ ally, I’ve always had a lot of friends from these communities and I even remember my mum teaching me about the importance of recognising different people when I was a child. Now I have my own child, he asks a lot of questions, he knows about pronouns and he has been to Pride with me. He’s seven and he has asked people what their pronouns are. I’m really proud of the next generation. 

And looking forward, we are reaching out across the whole organisation with mandatory training that takes place in a safe environment. If the training makes someone feel uncomfortable, they are free to step out, but we’ve found that our programmes have been really well received. 

 

Working in construction, it can be a very traditional male-dominated environment, but we are making progress, especially as we have a very supportive senior executive as a sponsor. I think next year is going to be really powerful. The Pride steering committee meets officially once a month and we have additional meetings if there’s anything that we need to react to, but we do like to be proactive with our projects. 

We want to focus more on our presence at Skanska’s sites across the UK for 2024. Next year, we’re looking to get involved in Pride events where the company has a presence, such as Birmingham, Manchester and London.  

Above all, I want to get the message out there that the Pride steering group exists and we are here to help people, to provide holistic support to employees, and be an empathetic organisation. We are very active and we want to work with other networks at Skanska. As a domestic violence ambassador, for example, I want to do more LGBTQ+ work, as this community is not immune to these experiences. It’s another column of support that I want to be able to offer at work. Inclusion in all its forms is my passion. 

 

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