This comes after research from Greene King revealed less than a third of Brits (28%) feel their workplace adequately supports the LGBTQ+ community.
Line managers will also receive guidance on how they can support team members before, during and after they transition.
The policy demonstrates how staff can become allies to support their LGBTQ+ colleagues, such as through including pronouns on their email addresses and signatures to show support for the gender identity of others, but also as a way to help remove assumptions around someone’s gender.
This initiative has been supported by Greene King’s LGBTQ+ employee-led inclusion group, The Village Greene, who have helped with the design and development of the new policy.
Everyday inclusion
Greene King chief people and transformation officer Andrew Bush said: “This is another step in our journey towards everyday inclusion, where we want our team members to feel welcome and comfortable to be their true authentic selves at work, and valued for their contribution regardless of their gender identity.
“Consulting and listening to members of The Village Greene, to properly understand the issues affecting this part of the LGBTQ+ community and to gain their insight into what the policy should include, has been invaluable. It means we now have a policy in place that can support team members as they transition at work or with their chosen gender identity.”
Reassurance of support
As part of Greene King’s research, in a list of ways that employers can support the community, having a dedicated gender identity policy (25%) was voted second, closely following the use of pronouns (30%).
The Village Greene co-chairperson Alice Bowerman said the new policy will help provide team members with the reassurance that Greene King is there to support them no matter what their gender identity is.
She said The Village Greene would continue to ensure inclusivity is at the heart of what it does, and help educate, advocate and celebrate LGBTQ+ community and team members.
