PinkNews exclusive | COO on why training can't 'just pay lip-service to inclusion'

Many organisations pride themselves on their inclusive policies, which aim to help each and every staff member bring their true selves to work.

While this needs to be focussed on due to the Equality Act 2010, which protects employees from discrimination at work such as age, sex and religion or belief, businesses also recognise that there are a number of business benefits to promoting inclusivity and equality in the workplace.

Data from Gallup revealed that companies that had higher-than-average gender diversity and employee engagement also had 46% to 58% better financial performance than companies that were below the median on diversity and engagement.

Meanwhile, a study by Harvard Business Review (HBR) discovered that companies with higher-than-average diversity had 19% higher innovation revenues.