Straight Allies

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Formal structures help straight allies running organisations ensure
the organisation’s commitment to workplace equality for gay
employees is put into practice.
My symbolic leadership is backed up by a firm structure that’s
minuted and audited. I have an Assistant Chief Constable who
leads on lesbian, gay and bisexual issues. He has to promote
equality and fairness in the workplace and I hold him to
account on this – I set out what I want him to achieve and it’s
in his yearly appraisal. I chair the strategic group and I check
that the tactical groups at the local level are achieving what
they should be. I have these formal structures because I need
a mechanism for regularly checking that we’re still making
progress. Alex Marshall, Chief Constable, Hampshire Constabulary
We have very formal programmes to make sure we know who
our employees are, what level they’re at, what skills they have
and how they can grow. I check how we’re doing with our
female, our ethnic and cultural populations and with people
with a disability. I also make sure that we include people who
are LGBT and that we’re making efforts to find out how they
feel about their development potential and the work
environment. David Cornick, Vice President of Business Partners &
Mid-Market for NE Europe, IBM
➜ TIP
Speak out with a simple message about
why you are committed to equality