How 'LGBT friendly' is your workplace?

Monday 01 August 2016

Are you still hiding your sexuality behind your desk at work?

Local recruitment company ASL are carrying out the first ever survey in the Channel Islands to find out how 'LGBT friendly' local businesses are.

A recent article in The Guardian revealed that 34% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the UK haven't disclosed their sexuality at work and are hiding their private lives for fear of homophobia, exclusion or because they are worried they'd miss out on promotions at work.

ASL's Senior Consultant Edith Coleman said: "That's potentially impacting on business, on team work, so we want to get a real feel for what it's like here in the Channel Islands. We wanted to carry out this survey to get a feeling of what that percentage is in Jersey.

"Promoting Diversity and Inclusion is good for the individual, it's good for business and it's good for teamwork.

"There's a lot of business benefits to be gained, that it's forward thinking, it's open, and for employees, they can be themselves. It has a positive impact at work, for the team and for the organisation in so much as it will improve work productivity, people who are more engaged in the workplace are more productive,

"Someone who is themselves in their own skin, they will be more engaged."

ASL have had 100 responses already to the survey that you can click on here and asks questions like have you heard any homophobic language in your office and do you think your sexual orientation would have an impact on you progressing professionally at work?

Islanders have until 31 August to complete the survey. The findings will be presented at a Breakfast seminar on Friday 16 September during CI Pride week.