• This just in from GLEN:

To mark Dublin Pride, Ernst and Young – one of Ireland’s top accountancy firms – launch GLEN’s new online toolkit for employers tonight.

The online toolkit – Excellence In Diversity – which is being launched this evening at Dublin City Council’s Wood Quay Venue, aims to help employers realise the benefits of LGBT diversity in the workplace.

Davin Roche, Director of Workplace Diversity at GLEN, said:

More and more companies in Ireland are recognising the real value to their businesses of diversity amongst their staff.

It’s simple. People perform best when they can be themselves. LGBT employees who can be “out” in safe and respectful work environments do better.

Jim Ryan, People Partner at Ernst and Young who will be launching Excellence in Diversity said:

As an employer, we need to be able to ensure that there are no barriers to recruiting the best people and to allowing our people perform to the best of their abilities, irrespective of how diverse they are. We fully endorse the concept of inclusiveness.

Roche added:

Employers have identified a number of key business reasons to invest in their LGBT staff and customers. These are staff performance, staff retention and recruitment, company reputation and compliance.

Excellence in Diversity is a free, quick and easy way for employers to assess how good their workplace is for their LGBT staff. It helps employers identify any barriers and identifies ways to overcome them.

According to Ryan:

Excellence in Diversity is a great resource for us as an employer, helping us to demonstrate our commitment to our staff and clients.

Workplaces have consistently been identified by LGBT people as important areas of concern.

Recent Irish research found that 60% of LGBT employees surveyed were not open about their sexual orientation in their workplace. Many felt that being out with colleagues could damage their career, promotion prospects or professional relationships.

GLEN’s chairperson, Kieran Rose, noted that:

equality and diversity are not just good for business, they are good for the economy as a whole. Ireland’s competitiveness is becoming increasingly determined by the quality of our workforce. Diversity and equality are critical to nurturing, attracting and retaining the skills and capacities on which the knowledge economy depends.

• The launch will take place at 5.30pm, Wood Quay Venue, Dublin City Council Offices, 27th June.
• Excellence in Diversity is a free tool for all business – public and private, large and small.

More info: GLEN / Excellence in Diversity

Excellence in Diversity aims to help organisations to:

· Measure their diversity performance against best practice standards;

· Receive practical guidance on how to improve their diversity practice;

· Identify short, medium and long term targets to improve performance

The development of Excellence in Diversity was funded by the European Social Fund and the Equality Authority.