Q&A session with Cynergy Bank where they tell us about LGBTQIA+ Inclusivity within their workplace
- What would your message to other organisations be on how to be more LGBT+ inclusive?
Building and fostering an inclusive and accepting culture has to be the foundation of any successful organisation. Policy changes can be key to developing and supporting a culture of inclusion. This could include the creation of employee resource groups to provide safe and supportive spaces for LGBT+ colleagues, or something as simple as encouraging use of pronouns or creating gender-neutral facilities. But, for these changes to be as effective as possible, it’s vital that colleagues feel listened to, and are included in the decision-making process.
It’s also important that this happens throughout the organisation, with full buy-in from senior management so it carries weight through the business. This is something we’re doing at Cynergy Bank now and we hope it will help to ensure that any changes made are meaningful and not tokenistic. When it comes down to it, actively listening to the experiences of LGBT+ colleagues is central to fostering an inclusive culture that enables people to bring their whole selves to work.
- What more can the UK do to continue being more LGBT+ inclusive to better the lives of the LGBT+ community?
There has been so much progress in recent years that should be celebrated, but of course that doesn’t mean there isn’t more to be done. We’ll only see real change if there’s a wider conversation about inclusivity across the board. This means actively engaging people across all parts of society, from grassroots all the way up to government, so inclusion becomes part of our daily narrative in workplaces, school, and wider communities. There’s a lot that we in the business world can learn from schools where there is much good practice in how they approach inclusion. You can’t begin to address the issue unless you hear from the people who are living it.
- Why is LGBT+ inclusion so important to your organisation?
At Cynergy Bank, we think that being inclusive is a goal in itself: we’re a diverse society in the UK and we want our company to represent that. We can’t do our job well unless we understand the needs of our colleagues and customers. That means taking the time to understand where we’re falling short, what we can be doing better, and how we can meet the needs of an increasingly diverse stakeholder group.
Outside of it being the right thing to do, there are also huge business benefits to being an inclusive organisation. If your company is diverse then so is your thinking. If your workplace is inclusive then people feel safe, supported and happy coming to work. All of this doesn’t just mean a great working community but it also means better results for your business, so it seems like a no-brainer to us.
- What LGBT+ new focused initiatives is your organisation working through right now?
We work with a number of organisations, including Women in Banking & Finance and Inclusive Employers, who are supporting us with our plans and with whom we have collaborated on webinars in the past. These partnerships are at the heart of how we are cultivating an inclusive culture and helping colleagues to be effective allies to the LGBT+ community. It takes everyone to ensure that workplaces become communities, rather than just places where we work. We have a host of other exciting initiatives in the works for this year that promise to help us develop a more inclusive culture at Cynergy Bank, no matter how you identify – we can’t wait to share more soon!