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Embedding an LGBT-inclusive culture requires commitment
ALMO Your Homes Newcastle (YHN) is one of a number of housing organisations recognised this week for LGBT inclusivity. Tina Drury explains how the landlord did it
We were ranked at number 47 in Stonewall’s top 100 LGBT-inclusive employers list this week and included in the top 10 of employers that had demonstrated a significant commitment to trans equality in the workplace.
We have featured on the list for the past nine years and are immensely proud of these achievements. They are a testament to the proactive approach of our staff network group, Proud@YHN, and the empathetic nature of our people.
“Changing hearts and minds on any emotive issue is not as simple as ticking a few boxes.”
They are not, however, where the work stops for us.
We can’t afford to stand still as sensibilities continue to change and new rights are enshrined.
Changing hearts and minds on any emotive issue is not as simple as ticking a few boxes.
Nor is it something that can be packaged up neatly around a submission deadline and forgotten about until the next one rolls around.
Embedding a culture of total inclusivity requires long-term commitment and patience.
We’ve adopted different approaches for different people, and recognised that not everyone arrives at debates about equality from the same place.
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The importance of LGBT equality is written into all of the policies that underpin our work, not just those explicitly concerned with subjects such as shared parental leave or transitioning at work.
We constantly review what will engage people who do a range of jobs in a variety of environments, tailoring our activities to match.
Mandatory training and a chunky slot in our corporate induction programme demonstrate the importance of the need for LGBT equality awareness at all levels across the business, but we know they can only go so far.
“The importance of LGBT equality is written into all of the policies that underpin our work.”
Giving ourselves the space and time to learn more about the ‘real people’ behind the acronym has worked particularly well here, but we’ve been careful not to suggest our LGBT staff have no option but to become the literal face of awareness-raising campaigns.
They’re valued colleagues whose opinions we want to inform our strategies, not one-dimensional poster boys and girls symbolic of a diverse community.
For this reason we turn to organisations like Stonewall for engaging content we can share, but we also consider references in popular culture which demonstrate that LGBT people can be part of many communities and need not be defined by belonging to any particular one.
Film and TV screenings have proven very successful for us at raising awareness of LGBT issues among staff.
Pride, which tells the story of Welsh miners being supported by LGBT activists in 1984, resonated in an area where many people know all too well the challenges faced during the strikes, and Boy Meets Girl, a local comedy with a leading transgender character, led to lots of laughter and significant debate.
It is now accepted that attending a film screening isn’t a ‘skive’, which we consider an achievement in itself!
Click here to read more about Inclusive Futures
The importance of allies cannot be over-estimated and it’s vital that there are colleagues at all levels who support our LGBT colleagues.
I have attended the Pride march in the centre of Newcastle alongside board members all of the years I’ve worked here and I enthusiastically encourage others to do the same.
“We must always re-evaluate and look for ways to do better.”
Unequivocal messages from our executive team back this up, and they are active in their visible support of other activities, with several running the 5k on Pride weekend, for example.
The key thing for me is that we must always re-evaluate and look for ways to do better.
Supporting our LGBT colleagues makes YHN a better place to work, which in turn leads to better service provision for our customers and, ultimately, better neighbourhoods in our city.
And, no matter which communities we belong to, we all benefit from that.
Tina Drury, managing director, Your Homes Newcastle
Inclusive Futures
Inside Housing’s Inclusive Futures campaign aims to promote and celebrate diversity and inclusion.
We are pledging to publish diversity audits of our own coverage.
We are also committed to proactively promoting positive role models.
We will do this through the pages of Inside Housing. But we will also seek to support other publications and events organisations to be more inclusive.
Our Inclusive Futures Bureau will provide a database of speakers and commentators from all backgrounds, for use by all media organisations.
We are also challenging readers to take five clear steps to promote diversity, informed by the Chartered Institute of Housing’s diversity commission and the Leadership 2025 project.
THE INCLUSIVE FUTURES CHALLENGE
Inside Housing calls on organisations to sign up to an inclusive future by taking five steps:
Prioritise diversity and inclusion at the top: commitment and persistence from chief executives, directors and chairs in setting goals and monitoring progress.
Collect data on the diversity of your board, leadership and total workforce and publish annually with your annual report. Consider gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, age, and representation of tenants on the board.
Set aspirational targets for recruitment to the executive team, board and committees from under-represented groups.
Challenge recruiting staff and agencies to ensure that all shortlists include candidates from under-represented groups.
Make diversity and inclusion a core theme in your talent management strategy to ensure you support people from under-represented groups to progress their careers.
INSIDE HOUSING’S PLEDGES
We will take proactive steps to promote positive role models from under-represented groups and provide information to support change.
We pledge to:
Publish diversity audits: We will audit the diversity of the commentators we feature. We will formalise this process and publish the results for future audits twice a year.
Promote role models: We will work to highlight leading lights from specific under-represented groups, starting in early 2018 with our new BME Leaders List.
Launch Inclusive Futures Bureau: We will work with the sector to compile a database of speakers, commentators and experts from under-represented groups. The bureau will be available to events organisers, media outlets and publications to support them to better represent the talent in the sector.
Take forward the Women in Housing Awards: Inside Housing has taken on these successful awards and will work to grow and develop them.
Convene Inclusive Futures Summit: Our new high-level event will support organisations to develop and implement strategies to become more diverse and inclusive.
