“The results of the IGLCC’s Index suggest that international corporations have already been incorporating more comprehensive diversity and inclusion policies, and I believe that these corporations are setting the example for an optimistic future for LGBT equality in the multinational corporate world,” said Chance Mitchell, chairman of the IGLCC board of directors and co-founder and CEO of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
BT Group’s CEO Ian Livingston said that diversity is “at the heart of” the corporation, and emphasized that having policies and practices in place that support the LGBT community are “essential” to the company’s success. BT Group is based in the United Kingdom and provides telecommunications services to 170 countries worldwide.
The Index is a measure of international corporations’ performance in diversity and inclusion issues, with a specific focus on LGBT communities in the countries in which they operate. The Index is based on findings from an online survey taken by participating corporations.
Survey questions fell into one of four categories: diversity and inclusion, sexual orientation and gender identity policies and practices, supplier diversity, and marketing and community involvement.
“The findings of the survey on which the Index is based are somewhat mixed, but definitively encouraging,” said IGLCC Secretary General Pascal Lépine. “We see from this survey that most of these companies take sexual orientation and gender identity matters very seriously.”
While the results of the Index indicate that many multinational corporations have been making concerted efforts to be as diverse and inclusive as possible, they also suggest that there are several areas in which corporations can improve in this regard.
Of the 15 corporations that participated, about 93 percent had established diversity and inclusion programs in place in the majority of the countries in which they operate, and 80 percent had LGBT issues explicitly covered in their programs in more than 95 percent of the countries in which they operate.
Most companies reported having a written policy barring discrimination based on, and using words referring to, “sexual orientation” in all of the countries in which they operate. About 87 percent had such a policy barring discrimination based on, and using words referring to, “gender identity” in more than 90 percent of the countries in which they operate.
Regarding relocation policies for LGBT employees and their same-sex spouses, 80 percent of the corporations had international relocation policies that included LGBT employees and their same-sex spouses in more than 90 percent of the countries in which they operate.
However, less than 27 percent of the corporations offered partner benefits that applied to LGBT employees in all of the countries in which they operate. Only 33 percent of participating corporations had Diversity & Inclusion managers specifically in charge of LGBT issues in all of the countries in which they operate. Regarding mainstream media advertising, 60 percent of the corporations did not include positive LGBT subjects or messages in any of the countries in which they operate.
“We must be realistic and say that, even if today we see promise, there is much more work to be done,” Lépine said. “Far too often we see and hear of gay and lesbian professionals throughout the world that do not have access to basic employee rights and benefits just because of their sexual orientation.”
Despite challenging findings, Lépine remains optimistic about the future of the international LGBT business community, and said that it is particularly important to recognize the corporations that participated in this year’s Index for their
“courage and example,” especially in today’s economic and political climate.
“We challenge all multinationals to follow the example and leadership shown by those who saw a chance to be ahead of the curve,” Lépine said. “The IGLCC is proud of this historic moment and extends the invitation to all international corporations to participate in next year’s Index.”
