Love Mondays, love inclusion…
It’s no secret, at Reed.co.uk we Love Mondays. But we also love creating an inclusive environment for the people who work here (also known as our co-members).
Our company’s purpose is improving lives through work – and that includes improving the lives of people who work at Reed.co.uk. That’s why in 2019 we launched our inclusion strategy, aligning our business vision with our inclusion aim.
One way we do this is through our inclusion and belonging groups. All groups are co-member led and have a sponsor from our senior leadership team.
The LGBTQ+ inclusion group exists to squash assumptions and stereotypes faced by the community – and make Reed.co.uk an inclusive place to work.
Everyone involved in the initiatives has been hard at work this year. And our LGBTQ+ inclusion group has been no exception. Following LGBTQ+ History Month, we look back at the group’s highlights…
1. Celebrating Pride
Last year we celebrated Pride in style, by hosting a Pride party for our co-members. This was a time for people to come together and celebrate our LGBTQ+ co-members and allies.
We’ve also held listening groups. These are safe spaces where people are free to share their thoughts, opinions, and experiences about important topics that affect the community or they can just come along to listen to the discussion.
2. Giving back to the community
During Pride Month, we hosted an internal bakesale for our co-members (let there be cake) to raise funds for LGBTQ+ charity London Friend – a charity supporting the health and wellbeing of the capital’s LGBTQ+ community.
3. Increasing visibility in the workplace
Visibility is hugely important. It creates a sense of belonging, community, and security for LGBTQ+ people. That’s why we asked some of our co-members to share their LGBTQ+ icons. Sharing stories and examples of what difficulties people in the community have faced and celebrating inspirational achievements help to shine a spotlight on individuals. As well as raising awareness of important issues for LGBTQ+ people.
The group also shares useful resources such as podcasts, books, news sources, and documentaries to help co-members learn more about the community and become better allies.
4. Myth busting
Stereotypes can be incredibly harmful to LGBTQ+ people. Negative stereotypes can perpetuate damaging behaviours and attitudes towards people in the community. The inclusion group aims to squash common misconceptions faced by the community. Here’s an example of a common myth that, ”coming out is only for young people”…
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