Employee Network Groups Matteo Lissana Client Account Manager Introduction

Stonewall Section 28 - 1988 Stonewall was founded - 1989 1988 - Section 28 of the Local Government Act bans the promotion of homosexuality Why is this relevant? 1980s was a time where rights movements were going forward, and this was a regressive piece of legislation that was going against everything people were working towards. Like Russia: people could not talk about homosexuality. This meant that teachers for instance weren’t able to talk about safe sex, or address homophobic bullying 1989 – Stonewall was founded. One of the founding members was Ian McKellen Today Stonewall is the largest Gay Lesbian and Bisexual (LGB) charity in Europe Now T Section 28 - 1988 Stonewall was founded - 1989

Stonewall The three main areas of focus for us are: At home – we ensure that LGB people are being represented and considered when accessing services such as: health care, policing, housing. We know that Half of lesbian and bisexual women in the UK report negative experiences in seeking health care – we work with Trusts, GP’s and individual hospitals. At school - We focus our attention on education and the horrendous proportions of homophobic bullying that exists – nearly 100% of young people regularly hear derogatory use of the word gay – impacting on their choices to pursue education, and for a third resulting in attempting to take their own lives. At work – In the last 3 yrs alone 2.4 million people witnessed homophobic bullying in the workplace and 800,000 witnessed physical homophobic abuse.

Employee Network Groups Why are they important? How do they affect: The organisation Employees Customers and Clients Bringing LGBT staff together and support each other in the workplace Networks develop in many different ways – some of them operate internationally, or over multiple sites, some are smaller (2) To the organisation promote diversity enhance communication strengthen reputation Employees communication career progression visible role models networking Customers and clients Improve products and services support communications and marketing

TOP 10 TIPS Establish the Business Case Set out Realistic Aims and Objectives Get Senior Staff on Board Have Different Levels of Membership Promote the Network Internally and Externally Our guide on mantaining network group momentum provides 10 top tips for organisations in order for them to set up and ensure the success of their network groups Establish the business case – Set out aims and objectives for the network. This includes supporting the organisation to develop talent and promoting products and services to LGBT customers Having exectuive sponsors who can really help support the long term success of a network Having divverent levels of membership so that as many staff members as possible can be engaged in the activities fo the network, whether LGBT or non-LGBT Using social media and other channels to reach staff as well as customers

Support the Career Development of LGBT Staff Appoint LGBT chairs or reps Get involved in Service Delivery and Business Consulting Engage with Network Groups in Similar Sectors and Regions Measure and evaluate Success (6) Consider establishing mentoring and leadership programmes for network members (7) Appointing LGBT chairs or reps – especially trying to get sure there is good lesbian, bisexual and trans involvement (8) Getting involved in service delivery and business consulting to gain insight and expertise to the organisation outside the D&I initiatives (9) Sharing best practice and ideas with other network groups in the sector or regions. Ths provides good opportunities for smaller organisations with have their LGBT staff members involved (10) Measuring and evaluating success to make sure that the network activity is having an impact on staff and the workplace. Monitoring is very important – listenig makes a great difference.

At work How can Stonewall support you creating a network group? We know that people perform better when they can be themselves. Our workplace intervention is the largest non-goventmental intervention of it’s kind in the world. We work with over 750 organisations across the country and globally helping them make the necessary changes to becoming and staying an LGB friendly employer. The organisations we work with are called Diversity Champions.

“people perform better when they can be themselves” matteo.lissana@stonewall.org.uk www.stonewall.org.uk