Findings/ Non-Discrimination Policies and Diversity Training
Organizational Competency Diversity Training and Metrics Diversity training programs are an important way for employers to elaborate on expectations of fair treatment of employees and to clearly state their individual business case for diversity and inclusion. Trainings may be in-person or webbased modules; credit is given to employers that include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression” as discrete subjects within broader training or as standalone training (criterion 1b and 2b, respectively). While some employers meet this requirement with basic new-hire training, others have developed fully integrated diversity and inclusion programs that combine lessons on diversity with other trainings that are skills or policybased. For example, a training focused on the professional development of new managers may cover a range of topics including jobrelated software skills, ethics training, and organizational values with respect to promoting diversity and inclusion. Fifty-one percent of this year’s rated businesses indicated that they offer such integrated training programs. Another growing trend in organizational competency is around senior leadership performance evaluations that include diversity and inclusion efforts. Eighteen percent of CEIrated employers allow senior leaders to submit LGBT-focused diversity efforts as part of their annual review of overall leadership on diversity and inclusion goals.
Counting LGBT Employees Unlike other diversity categories such as race and gender, employers are not required by law to collect data on the LGBT people they employ.
But, as the business maxim states: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” Adding LGBT demographic questions to internal surveys allows employers to better understand where they have LGBT employees, and how they perceive their work environment and their engagement levels. Depending on the intended use of the data and the survey norms of the employer, LGBT metrics may be part of anonymous employee engagement or satisfaction surveys or, in more limited instances, confidential HR surveys. Some employers attempt to gauge their numbers of LGBT employees through employee group participation or domestic partner benefits enrollment, but these methods are inherently limited. Many employers have begun to quantify the extent to which their LGBT-inclusion efforts have yielded positive results in terms of recruitment and retention. Employers have leveraged these results to strengthen their diversity and inclusion programming.
35
%
of CEI-rated employers allow employees to voluntarily disclose their sexual orientation and gender identity on anonymous surveys or confidential HR records.
More information about self-identification programs for LGBT employees is at www.hrc.org/LGBTselfid.
Corporate Equality Index 2O11: Rating American Workplaces on LGBT Equality
www.hrc.org/cei
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