Coming out tops

Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index has a new name, a new look and a revised set of criteria this year.

It still features the 100 best places to work if you’re lesbian, gay or bisexual and continues to ensure Britain’s Workplaces become more gay-friendly. But why the changes and who are the top employers for LGB people?

The Top 100 this year features private, public and third sector organisations. The overall winner is Lloyds TSB who have used the index year on year to ensure they attract and retain the very best talent. Lloyds TSB was the most improved employer in Stonewall’s 2007 Index and ranked in the top 10 gay-friendly employers last year. Their journey and progress reflects how effective a proactive diversity strategy can be when implemented.   

The recognition that people perform better when they can be themselves and commitment to provide a workplace that makes this a reality needs to come from the very top. This is illustrated by Eric Daniels, group chief executive of Lloyds TSB: “Sexual orientation has been a key diversity priority for Lloyds TSB for a number of years and this accolade is testament to our progress and commitment to this agenda.

“I also believe that with first place in Stonewall Top 100 Employers comes a responsibility. Lloyds TSB is in a position to help influence the LGB equality agenda nationally and so we look forward keenly to continuing our relationship with Stonewall.”

Hundreds of employers use the index as a tool to improve their workplaces for LGB employees every year. They expect it to reflect the very latest good practice, to be challenging and to highlight areas they need to improve in. They also expect to be able to improve year on year and use the index to measure that improvement. So to allow benchmarking year on year the index remained the same for four years.

This year it was clear that if the index was to remain the challenging and useful tool it had always been, it had to be revised to ensure the latest good practice shown in Stonewall’s research was fully captured and also to further challenge the top performers.

So the new survey was more in-depth and asked employers to give more information to back up their claimed points. An example of this was the Employee Network Group question which last year simply asked employers if they had an ENG but this year asked what support and recognition the employer offered the ENG, how they engaged with the group and in what ways was it supporting LGB staff in the organisation. The more support and activity, the more points awarded.

Another new feature of the index this year was a staff feedback questionnaire – the largest ever survey of gay staff, with almost 7,000 participants. The results revealed staff satisfaction levels were highest at the top ranking organisations in the index. Gay staff working at the top 25 workplaces reported a satisfaction level almost 10 per cent higher than workplaces outside the top 100.

Ninety nine of the Top 100 are Stonewall Diversity Champions. Stonewall looks forward to working with all 450-plus Diversity Champions throughout 2009. We’ll ensure they continue to make significant improvements to the working lives of their LGB employees.

The Top 100 are:
1. Lloyds TSB
2. Hampshire Constabulary
3. Brighton and Hove City Council
4. Kent Police
5. Transport for London
5. Nacro
7. London Borough of Tower Hamlets
8. Merseyside Police
8. Manchester City Council
10. Home Office
11. Ford
11.  IBM
13. Goldman Sachs
14. London Fire Brigade
15.  Barclays
16. HM Prison Service
17. Gentoo Group
18. Avon and Somerset Probation Area
19. Cambridge City Council
19. Ernst and Young
21. PricewaterhouseCoopers
22. KPMG
22. West Yorkshire Police
24. Staffordshire Police
25. BT
26.  Scottish Government
26. East Sussex County Council
28.  Commission for Social Care Inspection
28. West Midlands Police
28. Cheshire Constabulary
31. Simmons and Simmons
32. Lothian and Borders Police
33. Greater Manchester Police
33. Credit Suisse
35. Metropolitan Police Service
36. Gloucestershire County Council
37. Citizens Advice
37. Nottinghamshire County Council
39. Newham College
39. Environment Agency
39. Environment Agency Wales
39. West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
43.  London Development Agency
43. Metropolitan Housing Partnership
45. Sheffield City Council
45. Royal Bank of Scotland Group
47. Shaw Trust
48. Essex Police
48. Thames Valley Police
50. HM Revenue & Customs
50. North Wales Police
50. Pinsent Masons LLP
53. Foreign and Commonwealth Office
54. Hertfordshire Constabulary
55. Procter and Gamble UK
55. Department for Work and Pensions
55. Ministry of Justice
58. HBOS plc
58. Crown Prosecution Service
58. Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust
61. Newcastle City Council
61. The Learning and Skills Improvement Service
63. Morgan Stanley
63. Audit Commission
63. American Express
63. Welsh Assembly Government
63. Derbyshire County Council
68. British Transport Police
68. Land Registry
68. Blackpool Council
71.  JP Morgan
72. Accenture
73. Cambridgeshire County Council
73. The National Assembly for Wales Commission
73. West Mercia Constabulary
73. Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency
77. Deloitte
77. Herbert Smith LLP
77. London Borough of Islington
77. Leicestershire Constabulary
77. Lancashire Constabulary
82. National Grid
82.  Bury Council
84. Suffolk Constabulary
84. Northamptonshire Police
84. Skillset Sector Skills Council
84. Aviva plc
88. NHS Plymouth
89. Gwent Police
90. Time Warner
90. Cleveland Fire Brigade
92. Suffolk County Council and Customer Service Direct
92. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
92. Sussex Police
92. Berneslai Homes
92. Department for International Development
92. Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
98. Barnardo’s
98. Knowsley Housing Trust
100. Eversheds LLP