On Tuesday 12 January 2016, more than 160 people gathered at the BGL BNP Paribas building in Luxembourg-Kirchberg to attend a conference addressing the inclusion of LGBTI people in the workplace, advantages to the company and the role of LGBTI networks.
At the conference, which was organised by the Comité pour la Charte de la Diversité Lëtzebuerg, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister Étienne Schneider highlighted the importance of managing diversity in the workplace more generally with particular focus on LGBTI issues by evoking his own experiences.
The business aspect of LGBTI inclusion was addressed by European experts David Pollard, the Director of Dutch international intercompany network Workplace Pride; Vinay Kapoor, Head of D&I BNP Paribas in the UK; and Bruce Hedgcock, spokesman for the Pride France network. In this way, the speakers showed how ignoring LGBTI issues in the workplace signified €200 billion lost in productivity annually in the European Union.
Important steps in addressing LGBTI issues were cited as engaging with the problem, involving employees in the process and creating a safe and welcoming workplace environment. The BNP Paribad Group in France and the UK were ranked second in the Workplace Pride Global Benchmark 2015 ranking of gay-friendly businesses through the installation of internal networks.
"Many people are afraid to reveal their sexual orientation for fear that this has a negative impact on their careers," the Deputy Prime Minister said of the importance in working out unconscious bias and creating awareness amongst employees. Support from leaders and managers was therefore pointed to as crucial components in promoting equality, particularly if the company makes its support of the LGBTI community public, as the business would not necessarily be safe from negative reactions from customers. LGBTI-friendly efforts would certainly not be in vain, with the community representing a purchasing power of a total of $3.7 billion a year.
President of Rose Lëtzebuerg, Gabriele Schneider, outlined for the audience the legislative framework and the history of the LGBTI issue in Luxembourg, pointing to missions and projects undertaken by Rosa Lëtzebuerg and its information centre, CIGALE.
According to the Diversity & Business barometer, which is published every two years by the Lëtzbuerg Diversity Charter, only 30% of signatories treat the LGBT topic in their diversity policy, affecting 14.5% of LGBTI employees concerned and demonstrating the need for the issue to be increasingly heard in companies across Luxembourg.
Photo by IMS Luxembourg (L-R: Gabriele Schneider, Rosa Lëtzebuerg; David Pollard, Workplace Pride; Nancy Thomas, IMS Luxembourg; Etienne Schneider Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister, Fabienne Dasnoy, BGL BNP Paribas; Vinay Kapoor, BNP Paribas UK; Bruce Hedgcock, BNP Paribas France)
