UK 
United States
The workplace has become central to the fight for equality and many employers are realising that the best weapon to win the war for talent is inclusion.
More companies are now aware that if they want to attract and retain diverse talent, they need to foster a welcoming environment. Yet survey after survey continues to show that professionals from marginalised communities are still discriminated against at work. Data, coupled with stories and anecdotal evidence published on our platform myGwork, confirm that many LGBTQ+ graduates go back into the closet upon entering the workforce. Similarly, when LGBTQ+ professionals start a new job, they hide their sexuality. Additionally, many LGBTQ+ leaders remain closeted at work for fear of discrimination at work.
In fact, the latest TUC survey carried out by YouGov, revealed that one in five workplaces still do not have any policies in place to support their LGBTQ+ staff at work. More worryingly, only half (51%) have a policy prohibiting discrimination, bullying and harassment against LGBTQ+ workers in their workplace. And less than half (47%) have a clear reporting route for workers to raise concerns about discrimination, bullying and harassment against LGBTQ+ workers.
We believe that workers should not feel that they need to hide their sexuality at work. In fact, that’s the very reason we set up myGwork, after experiencing discrimination first hand in the workplace. Now considered the largest networking platform for LGBTQ+ professionals in the world, our all-in-one platform – for networking, job searching, diversity and inclusion training, workshops, mentoring, news and events – is hugely popular with corporate clients because we help to address workplace discrimination towards LGBTQ+ people and help to create environments where every professional – regardless of sexual orientation, race or background –gets an equal opportunity to succeed.
Since its inception in 2014, myGwork has been helping to educate hundreds of employers on how to create inclusive and safe workspaces for LGBTQ+ talent. Over the last few years, an increasing number of global organisations have turned to our job board, networking hub and recruitment events to source, hire and retain diverse LGBTQ+ talent.
To date, myGwork has helped over 300 inclusive employers to attract and retain LGBTQ+ talent. Thanks to our increasing offering of online events, such as our five-day WorkPride conference and our upcoming recruitment event WorkFair (on 19 October), FTSE 100 companies and household brand names across practically every sector now use our platform with huge success.
One of the main reasons for our success is myGwork’s fast-growing international membership. Our business platform now attracts over 850,000 diverse users a month, with a social media reach of around five million people. Around 20% of myGwork’s members are from Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority communities, 45% are women and 8% identify as nonbinary.
According to business and LGBTQ+ publications, myGwork has “reinvented the way LGBTQ+ professionals search, find and secure jobs in inclusive organisations”, while giving our corporate partners the coveted diversity and inclusion credentials they desire.
Pearson is a case in point. “In the first twelve months of the partnership, we recruited 692 wonderful colleagues across the globe – from the USA, UK, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific to the Middle East – into the Pearson family from myGwork. We have continued to build on that success in the second year of our partnership and remain very impressed by our partnership with myGwork,” confirmed Pearson’s Senior HR Manager, Kevin Lyons. ”The combination of the excellent community and platform, the superb events that are offered and the calibre of media and communications support, dovetails with the ability that myGwork gives us to reach out to great talented people, and enhances our credibility and visibility within the LGBTQ+ community.”
DAZN has also recruited professionals from myGwork with great success. Shola Aminu, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at DAZN, said he saw “a much higher conversion rate from application to interview when sourcing talent from myGwork (75%), compared to other partners (20%)”.
Enterprise’s Director of Talent Acquisition, UK & Ireland, and Chair of LGBTQ+ Network at Enterprise, Ashley Hever, also “highly recommends” myGwork to employers who are on the quest to achieve workplace equality: “myGwork offer us a plethora of opportunities as part of our membership package, from articles in global LGBTQ+ magazines and participation in their media events and campaigns to excellent bespoke training opportunities for our teams. They consider what an organisation needs to engage in LGBTQ+ outreach and helps them deliver.”
myGwork’s Director of Strategic Partnerships Aasha Tikoo will be speaking at HR Grapevine’s event on talent acquisition on 22 September.
