pr ofit organisation to start conversations about inclusivity The programme started with coaching managers
and unmarried gay or trans employees
for maternity and paternity cover
and pay.
The result
Like any sensitive and culturally-difficult
transformation process, results won’t
necessarily be realised overnight. But
according to Parma “the cultural message
about diversity is really getting through”.
Since launching the plan has been modified,
including the creation of a team of LGBT
allies and ambassadors able to have specific
conversations with all 1,500 colleagues.
International case study Operational efficiency
“Already we can feel a difference,” says
Parma. “You hear it in conversations, and even
though we’re at the beginning of our journey I
sense people feel they don’t need to hide who
they are when they come to work.”
A strong sign of progress is Aon’s successful
participation in Milan’s Pride march in July.
“Participation of colleagues there was
outstanding, especially as people brought
their wider family along too,” he says.
“People have now come out that wouldn’t
have, and people say they feel more free
to talk about their sexuality without it being
an embarrassment.” HR
Importing back home...
The UK has a cultural march on Italy, with
acceptance of LGBT people at nearrecord
levels.
Research conducted as part of the
British Social Attitudes 2019 survey found
that 66% of people thought same-sex
relationships were ‘not wrong at all’,
a signifi cant improvement from just
17% who thought this in 1983. Around
83% of people also said they were
‘not prejudiced at all’ towards
transgender people.
Attitudes appear more accepting
among younger people, with those aged
16 to 24 twice as likely (4.2%) as the
general population to identify as lesbian,
gay or bisexual,
according to
Offi ce for National
Statistics fi gures.
However, this is not to say at-work
education isn’t needed. More than a third
(35%) of lesbian, gay and bisexual staff
and 51% of trans staff hide the fact they
are LGBT, while 38% of bisexual people
aren’t ‘out’ to anyone at work, according
to Stonewall’s LGBT in Britain: Work Report.
Further, almost one in fi ve (18%) LGBT
employees say they have been the
target of negative comments or conduct
from work colleagues in the last year
because of their sexuality.
In focus:
Italy
Key statistics
Accurate statistics around
sexual orientation are hard
to come by in countries as
strongly orthodox as Italy.
According to a random
survey by the Italian
National Institute of
Statistics in 2011, 2.4% of
the Italian population
declared themselves either
homosexual or bisexual,
with 77% heterosexual,
and 0.1% transgender.
Four per cent reported
‘other’ and 15.6%
declined to answer
Acceptance
According to the 2019
edition of Society at a
Glance, Italy performs
worse than the OECD
average on acceptance
of homosexuality, with
Italian citizens scoring
3.3 on a one to 10
acceptance scale, two
points below the average
score. Only 38% of Italian
respondents said they
would feel comfortable
having a transgender
person in an elected
political position, 48% as a
work colleague,
or 26% as a daughter-
or son-in-law
hrmagazine.co.uk November 2019 HR 49
/hrmagazine.co.uk