Q & A
- What is the Index?
- Where did the idea for the Index come from?
- Are there any other indexes like this one?
- How does the International Business Equality Index relate to the HRC Index in the US and the Stonewall Index in the UK?
- How does the Index work?
- Who can be part of the Index?
- How does my corporation stand to benefit from participating in the Index?
- What types of information will be gathered for the Index?
- What information about my corporation will be made public?
- How will the Index compare corporations of different sizes and working in different industries?
- How the results will be presented?
- What is the methodology applied to the data?
- What organizations were involved in the creation of the project?
- How much will it cost my corporation to be listed in the index?
- Why is there a need for this International Index?
- Who will be affected by the existence of this Index?
- What is the single most important aspect of the Index?
- What are the challenges involved in implementing such a project at the international level?
- How many corporations do you expect to be part of the Index in the first year?
- Can my corporation participate if it is big enough (more than 10,000 employees) but is not present in more than one country?
- What are the objectives of the Index?
- Who do I contact for more information on the Index?
- Do I have to be member of the IGLCC to participate in the Index?
- Will the Index be used to influence government policies and practices?
- How will you validate the responses given by participants?
- Will the corporations that have a member on the organizing committee of the Index have any kind of competitive advantage?
- Given that this is a business equality Index, has the human rights dimension been considered at any level?
- Is the IGLCC the right organization to carry out this Index?
- What period is under review in the current Index and how often will the Index be updated?
- What’s the goal in offering a bonus to corporations who enforce their policies and practices in countries where homosexuality is punishable by law?
- Does this mean that the corporations who do not enforce their policies and practices in these countries will be penalized?
- In which basis is the bonus calculated?
- Who were the top performers on last year’s Index?
- Have you seen any results from the first edition of the Index?
International Business Equality Index
Q & A
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The Index is a directory that ranks corporations as a function of their practices and policies regarding their LGBT employees, suppliers and consumers.
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At its 2007 Global Summit in Barcelona, the IGLCC, along with EGMA and ING, initiated discussions around the idea of creating the Index. From there we reached out to other corporations and international organizations, including the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), ILGA Europe, PrOut@Work, TNT and IBM.
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This is the only international index to deal with LGBT issues. There are national indexes in the USA (HRC) and in the United Kingdom (Stonewall).
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The scope of this index is international. We studied both the US and the UK models and took certain aspects into consideration, adapting them to reflect our international perspective. One difference is that while the UK model does not consider Transgender individuals in their survey, the IGLCC Index does so explicitly and globally. The Index also places a certain emphasis on supplier diversity and marketing.
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Corporations are invited to respond to an online survey. The IGLCC then compiles, processes and classifies the data and publishes the Index report with its results and major findings.
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Corporations that are present in at least three (3) countries and have more than ten thousand (10,000) employees OR corporations who have offices in more than ten (10) countries and at least five thousand (5.000) employees can be part of the Index.
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Participation demonstrates your corporation’s engagement with the LGBT community and its members. It also provides your corporation with a tool for generating internal measurements and comparisons to identify areas and countries where corporate policies and practices need to and can be adjusted. Likewise, your corporation can use the Index to identify external measurements revealing what and how the competition in you industry is doing on LGBT issues.
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Corporations will be asked to respond to a series of questions regarding each of the countries in which they are present. These questions fall into four (4) sections and cover the following issues: Diversity & Inclusion, Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Policies and Practices, Supplier Diversity & Marketing and Community Involvement.
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Only the rating (% points) for each of the four (4) sections will be made public for the top 5 scoring corporations.
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The Index will offer a general ranking that will group all corporations together, as well as specific rankings by industry. It is important to note, however, that the criteria will remain the same for all corporations, regardless of their size and the industry in which they are active.
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The results are compiled in a comprehensive overview outlining the macro findings of the Index and announced during a press conference to which all participating companies are invited. A major networking event follows the press conference.
Individual participating companies are invited to attend the press conference at which time they are provided with a confidential report on their performance as a company. Detailed reports are subsequently sent to participating IGLCC members and other companies that have requested this additional service. -
The evaluation of the Index’s survey is based on a 100% rating. The survey includes 17 questions divided into 4 sections, each of which is assigned a total percentage value.
Each question in the four sections will be weighted according to a point’s criterion. The determination of the final rating for each corporation will be the total percentage received on the four sections.
The same evaluation criteria are applied in all cases, regardless of the size of the corporation or the industry in which it is active. -
The IGLCC works in partnership with individuals from the following LGBT organizations and corporations to sit on its committee: IBM, TNT, PrOut@Work, ILGA, ILGA-Europe, EGMA and AGPRO. Thanks to their participation, expertise and common understanding of the many realities of the business world, all partners bring a global vision to the table. This includes corporate, community and social aspects of today’s changing world, making this a truly international and interdisciplinary Index.
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Participation in the IBEI is free. In return for participation, corporations are provided with a custom report, showing their performance on each of the survey’s questions and a comparison to global averages. Participating IGLCC corporate members receive a more detailed report, helping them to better assess their performance by making available comparative data on a country or an industry basis. This report is also available to non-member participants for a fee of €1500.
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There are many variations in the way corporations engage with LGBT issues in the various countries in which they are active and at different levels. Often, corporations only invest in LGBT issues in the country in which they are headquartered. The Index will create a benchmark for all corporations and thereby serve as a catalyst for social change through the advancement of diversity in the business world.
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Firstly, LGBT employees, as the Index has the potential to positively affect their quality of life at work. Secondly, suppliers, for whom the Index will identify many new business opportunities. And last but not least, consumers, who will be able to identify products for their specific needs and enjoy self-recognition in marketing campaigns.
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Its international dimension is certainly the key feature of the Index. The fact that it covers the business world in its entirety, and not only employees, suppliers or consumers, gives it greater depth as well.
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The biggest challenge is probably making the Index known internationally and have it referred to as the key benchmark for inclusion and support of LGBT employees in workplaces. Additional challenges include helping corporations understand its importance and having them participate.
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We expect between 30 and 50 corporations this year. We are in contact with many more corporations and hope to have them signed up as well in the very near future. We invite members of the Fortune 1000 and of Forbes 200 to participate in the 2010 Index.
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Yes. We encourage all large corporations to participate. Although your corporation will not be included in the general ranking, it will be included in the specific ranking for the country in which it is located.
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There are basically three (3) objectives:
a) Provide leading corporations with a tool to analyze and evaluate how they are performing worldwide in terms of policies and practices regarding their LGBT employees, suppliers and consumers.
b) Create a benchmark for corporations to enhance existing LGBT policies and practices and create new ones to advance diversity in the business world.
c) Show the LGBT community which corporations are leading the way internationally in commitment to their LGBT employees, suppliers and consumers, and in so doing serve as models for all other corporations.
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You can contact the IGLCC and speak to César Maschmann by phone (514) 287-2888 ext: 221 or by e-mail cesar.maschmann@iglcc.org
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No. However, membership does allow you to benefit from IGLCC expertise in helping your corporation excel on LGBT policies and practices.
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Although the Index is designed primarily for corporations, the IGLCC believes that the efforts of some corporations to give equal treatment to their employees, suppliers and customers in certain countries may indirectly help governments change their own policies and practices.
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We will invite participants to provide validation data with their responses. This time around we will limit ourselves to verifying the information provided by the 10 top-ranking corporations.
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No, scoring will remain totally impartial. Only IGLCC staff will have access to the data. Furthermore, the calculations are done automatically to keep the results impartial and just.
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All efforts have been made to ensure that the questions address the needs and experiences of the LGBT community. To do so effectively, we have been working with two of the largest LGBT organizations in the world: ILGA (more than 600 member organizations in 90 countries in all continents) and ILGA-Europe (more than 220 member organizations from across Europe).
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Yes. We represent LGBT business organizations throughout the world end enjoy the confidence of our members and partners, as well as that of organizations such ILGA and ILGA-Europe, which enjoys ECOSOC status at the UN.
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The Index will review the period of January to December 2009. In future, the Index will be updated on a yearly basis.
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The objective of the bonus is to recognize their efforts in promoting equality in business even within difficult situations in such countries.
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No, it does not. The bonus criteria gives a small percentage to those who enforce them, but it does not take any away from those who do not. Ultimately we want to highlight the fact that changes are possible and that certain corporations are taking the lead in these countries.
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The bonus is applied only for the answers where the corporation indicates that the policy is enforced and in the countries where homosexuality is punished by law. The list of such countries was obtained from the ILGA map.
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The top 3 corporations were respectively BT, IBM Corporation and The Dow Chemical Corporation
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Yes, many of the participants have already started to study important changes and even started implementing some of them thanks to the awareness created by the Index.
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