The Invisible Group

International Pride month has just passed. It’s a time when people talk about and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. This June we talked to LGBTQIA+ people about their experiences and did some research into the challenges LGBTQIA+ people face in the workplace, and how FM organisations are creating more safe and diverse spaces for them to thrive at work.

Having robust and publicised policies on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I) will attract new and younger talent to FM companies. Many young people want to work for a company with a great sense of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and good track record on employing people from all backgrounds. FM companies seem to be recognising this, as according to new research from Sodexo, “[o]rganisations that have inadequate policies on the environment and diversity and inclusion [are] at greatest risk”, of losing business. In fact, “92 percent of those polled said they now vet suppliers on their social values and impact, and 75 percent warn they would be put off by a prospective supplier that did not publish information about their social values”.