LGBT+ support | O2 on why it's 'amplifying the importance of Allyship'

“The LGBT+ community has been on an ongoing fight for fair treatment and equality, and even though things have come a long way, there is still a long way to go,” Jo Bertram, Managing Director of Business at O2, told HR Grapevine.

This quote from Bertram is also echoed in statistics which indicate that LGBT+ employees are still facing discrimination in the workplace. For example, in 2019 Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that LGBT+ employees are most sceptical about their employer’s D&I efforts when it comes to supporting LGBT+ staff.

It discovered that just 39% of LGBT+ respondents believe that their organisation’s management is committed to these goals.

Meanwhile, recent research from CIPD’s Inclusion at work: Perspectives on LGBT+ working lives report has identified that LGBT+ staff experience higher levels of conflict at work. Plus, with the coronavirus pandemic now forcing the majority of employees to work remotely, has LGBT+ support slipped off of the HR agenda?