Stonewall Staff Feedback 2017

Every year employers taking part in the Workplace Equality Index ask their staff to give anonymous feedback directly to Stonewall on their experience of working in that organisation. This feedback is crucial in helping Stonewall acquire a greater understanding of the experiences of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people all over Britain. The feedback also provides information on the state of equality in their workplaces. 91,248 employees took part in the 2017 survey, a substantial rise on last year. Below is a collection of the various feedback questions posed to employees in the Workplace Equality Index:

Disclosing sexual orientation in the workplace

Fostering a workplace environment where all employees feel happy divulging their sexual orientation, if they so wish, is an important move towards lesbian, gay and bi (LGB) inclusion in the workplace. Fortunately a large percentage of LBG respondents in their feedback feel at ease divulging their sexual orientation in the workplace.

Are you comfortable disclosing your sexual orientation to
	All	Some	None
Colleagues	56%	38%	6%
Managers and Senior Colleagues	53%	35%	12%
Customers, Clients or Service Users	28%	43%	29%

Gay men were more likely to divulge their sexual orientation to all colleagues, managers and customers or services users (34%) than lesbians (24%) and bi people (15%).

LGB respondents who are comfortable being completely out in the workplace
Scotland	26%
North East	24 %
North West	30%
Yorkshire and the Humber	26%
East Midlands	20%
West Midlands	22%
East of England	25%
Wales	27%
London	33%
South West	23%
South East (excl. London)	24%

 

Disclosing trans identities in the workplace

The data below includes respondents who proactively identified themselves as trans (including non-binary, gender fluid and genderqueer people). Close to a fifth of trans respondents were not comfortable disclosing their trans identity to colleagues (19%), almost a quarter (24%) to managers and senior colleagues, and under half (43%) to customers, clients or service users.

Are you comfortable disclosing your sexual orientation to
	All	Some	None
Colleagues	40%	41%	19%
Managers and Senior Colleagues	41%	35%	24%
Customers, Clients or Service Users	26%	31%	43%

 

Lesbian, gay, bi and trans experiences in the workplace

A crucial sign of an organisation’s inclusiveness is whether or not employees feel comfortable being themselves at work. Of lesbian, gay and bi respondents, a good majority (82%) concurred they feel comfortable being themselves at work, with 9% disagreeing.

However, in comparison almost two thirds of trans respondents (64%) concurred they feel comfortable being themselves at work, while 21% disagreed.

LGBT respondents who felt they can be themselves at work were more than twice as likely to be happy with their sense of accomplishment in comparison to those who disagreed (84% compared to 38%).

Perceptions of inclusion and the visibility of role models

Role models play a very important part in forming inclusive surroundings. One vital element in the achievement of role models is their visibility in the workplace.

Gay men

• 86% of respondents believed their workplace was inclusive of gay men.
• 63% of respondents see visible gay male role models in their workplace.

Lesbian and gay women

• 82% of respondents believed their workplace was inclusive of lesbians and gay women.
• 53% of respondents see visible lesbian and gay women role models in their workplace.

Bi people

• 66% of respondents believed their workplace was inclusive of bi people.
• 23% of respondents see visible bi role models in their workplace.

Trans people

• 58% of respondents believed their workplace was inclusive of trans people.
• 32% of respondents see visible trans role models in their workplace.

The LGBT community itself is diverse and employers are progressively recognising, championing and raising awareness of the various individualities of people and the concerns that they face.

To find out more about Stonewall, please click here.

VERCIDA works with over one hundred clients who are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. If you are an employer and interested in working with VERCIDA to promote your diversity and inclusion initiatives and attract the best candidates, please call 02037405973 or email [email protected] for more information.

We are also officially recommended by Disability Confident as a step on achieving Employer status, please click here for more information.