Workplace Wellbeing: Welcoming, inclusive — and proud: celebrating Pride all year round
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Cork Pride Festival will explode in a rainbow of colours throughout Cork City and County from July 30 to August 6. Since it was first held 30 years ago, this festival has celebrated the LGBTQ+ community, raised awareness of issues affecting them, and promoted acceptance and equality for all.
Lots of companies join in these celebrations, flying the rainbow flag for the duration. But what happens during the rest of the year? What supports do they offer LGBTQ+ employees in the workplace?
The picture is a complicated one, according to Damien O’Halloran, leader of Cork Pride’s Work with Pride Business Network.
“Ireland has made great process in the last 20 years,” he says.
“The Employment Equality Acts 1998-2105 make it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees on the grounds of sexual orientation and many workplaces have mature policies and procedures in place to protect their LGBTQ+ workforce and take action if necessary. But workplace discrimination is still an issue. While it’s less common than it was in the past, there are still reports of LGBTQ+ employees being denied jobs, passed over for promotion, or harassed.”
Statistics show this to be true. A 2019 survey by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission found that 20% of LGBTQ+ employees had experienced some form of workplace discrimination in the previous five years. 15% had been treated less favourably because of their sexual orientation, 12% had been subjected to homophobic or transphobic comments, and 10% were denied a promotion.
“These are just some of the issues LGBTQ+ individuals face in Irish workplaces,” says O’Halloran.
“But it’s important to remember that not all workplaces are the same and some are more welcoming and inclusive than others.”
Musgrave Group is Ireland’s leading food retail, wholesale, and foodservice company and the organisation behind SuperValu supermarkets. With a workforce of approximately 9,500 people, it’s committed to being one of those more inclusive workplaces.
“We want our people to feel seen, understood, respected and valued,” says June McCarthy, employee engagement and experience manager at Musgrave Group.
“We want them to feel they can be their true selves at work. It’s good for the overall well-being of our employees, which in turn is good for us too. If our employees feel valued and respected by our business, they’re more likely to perform well.”
One of the ways in which Musgrave Group tries to achieve this is by giving its employees a way to contribute to the development of the business. “We have five employee resource groups, one of which is PRISM, which is made up of members of or allies of the LGBTQ+ community,” says McCarthy. “They come together monthly to discuss any challenges they might face and the opportunities for Musgrave Group to put supports in place around those challenges.”
Various initiatives have emerged from this. “We trained with the Transgender Equality Network Ireland last year because a number of our colleagues were transitioning,” says McCarthy. “As a result, we now have a guideline document outlining tangible assistance that we can give to people who are going through that experience.”
The group also runs events, including several for Cork Pride. “These include Pride Your Way celebrations by people on the ground who organise Pride events in their SuperValu stores, their warehouses, or Musgrave offices,” says McCarthy.
“We also sell Wear with Pride rainbow laces in our SuperValu stores and are raising money for Belong To, a national charity that works with LGBTQ+ young people, in the process.”
Kathleen Linehan is the strategic director of human resources at Trigon Hotels, a group that consists of the Metropole Hotel, Cork International Hotel, and Cork Airport Hotel.
It employs 270 people and has just introduced a Gender Identity and Expression Policy to tie in with this year’s Cork Pride.
“Our Charter for Dignity at Work has always ensured that everyone within our organisation is treated with respect and fairness and rejects any form of discrimination or harassment,” says Linehan.
“But as the world changes and people talk about things like transitioning more openly, organisations should change too and do what they can to assist their people in talking about such topics and helping those who are going through them.”
At Trigon Hotels, any change in policy is first discussed with the group’s Changemaker Ambassadors. “These are employees who have been chosen to work with their teams to keep everyone up to date and informed about any new initiatives,” says Linehan.
With their help, Linehan has been working to raise awareness of all that the new policy entails: “It provides information on definitions, how we communicate with each other, and what terms to use and not to use. There’s an overview of legal rights and an outline of all the supports in place for anyone transitioning in the workplace.”
For Linehan, the policy is part of Trigon Hotels' ongoing commitment to promoting diversity, inclusion and equality. “They say that 'diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance, and equity is dancing like nobody’s watching',” she says.
“I want all our team members to feel like they can dance like nobody’s watching, that they are comfortable being themselves at work. That should also help us to attract and retain talent. And who knows? Other companies might be inspired to follow suit.”
Permanent TSB is another company leading the way in terms of supporting its LGBTQ+ employees and the wider LGBTQ+ community. “We introduced diversity, equity and inclusion as a strategic priority in 2018, at which time we conducted a review of our culture and decided we wanted to be more inclusive and representative of the modern Irish society we serve,” says Karen Hackett, head of people experience at Permanent TSB.
Since then, they have introduced wide-ranging policies to achieve this. These include guidelines on how to support colleagues who are transitioning, adoptive leave for same-sex couples, a guide to pronouns, gender-neutral toilets, and a request for everyone to use their pronouns in their email signatures.
Like Musgrave Group, Permanent TSB has employee resource groups that represent the views of its 3000-strong workforce. “PRISM, representing the LGBTQ+ community, was the first of those,” says Hackett. “Its role is to help us create a safe and inclusive place for staff of all sexual and gender diversity and advocate for a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
One of the ways in which it does this is by organising events for the bank’s employees. “For example, during Dublin Pride, PRISM arranged for one of our colleagues who has a transgender teenager to bring their family in to talk to us about it,” says Hackett. “That really helped employees to understand how we can all support each other through such experiences.”
Permanent TSB also takes steps to demonstrate its support of the wider LGBTQ+ community. “About 150 of our employees marched in Dublin Pride this year,” says Hackett. “At each of our 98 branches nationwide, we display the Place to Safely Be LGBTQ+ sticker on the door to show we welcome all customers. And our employees are encouraged to wear an LGBTQ+ pin, letting other colleagues know they are an ally of the LGBTQ+ community.”
O’Halloran praises the proactive approach being taken by companies such as Permanent TSB, Trigon Hotels, and Musgrave Group. “By taking these steps, employers help to create a workforce where all employees feel safe and respected regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” he says.
“It’s the right thing to do. In fact, it’s a human right.”