International Gay & Lesbian Chambre of Commerce

INTRODUCTION

Workplace equality for LGBT people is the foundation of the IGLCC’s International Business Equality Index. It was inspired by the profound change in corporations that has followed the introduction of the Corporate Equality Index in 2002 and the Workplace Equality Index in 2005. The International Business Equality Index is a tool that asks major international corporations to be accountable for fair and equal workplace policies and practices. The Index encompasses all aspects of business from discrimination-free employment in a safe environment to participation in supply chain distribution that includes LGBT vendors.

But this is not a tool created to benefit only the global LGBT community. It will benefit business as well. The Index allows corporations to assess their own progress in hiring and retaining qualified employees, finding diverse suppliers and tapping into the lucrative and often unexplored LGBT market segment.

The IGLCC board and staff share a vision: that every corporation will ultimately work to be the most LGBT-friendly business organization in the world. And beyond that, we at IGLCC are committed to help them achieve that goal.

The underlying intent of the Index was at its creation, and still is, to challenge leading global corporations to improve their diversity programmes specifically in relation to the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees, suppliers and consumers.

The Index allows businesses to measure and compare the effectiveness of their internal and external LGBT diversity activities across countries while comparing their progress relative to competitors. This information enables a strategic and consistent approach to improving diversity performance throughout the company.

As an additional service, IGLCC, in cooperation with its international network in fifteen countries, will assist participating businesses in analyzing the findings and putting in place strategies in response to the Index outcome. 

 COMMITTEE

The international committee in charge of this unique initiative to promote diversity in the business world includes gay, lesbian and transgender professionals that live and work in eight different European and North American countries. 

Members of the International Business Equality Index Committee:

Committee chair:

• David Pollard, Vice-Chairman  – Company Pride Platform Foundation (the Netherlands)

Committee members:

• Silvan Agius, Police Director - ILGA Europe (Belgium)
• Stephen Barris, Communications Officer - ILGA World (Belgium)
• Angelo Caltagirone, President - EGMA (Switzerland)
• Lenna Cumberbatch,  Gingerbeer Webguide (United Kingdom)
• Irwin Drucker, Program Director, GLBT & International Programs - IBM (United States)
• Marion Gross, Member – WyberNet (Switzerland)
• Pascal Lépine, Secretary General – IGLCC (Canada)
• César Maschmann, Director of Communications & Member Services – IGLCC (Canada)
• Paul Overdijk, Director Strategy - TNT (the Netherlands)
• Jean-Luc Vey, Business Manager - PrOut@Work (Germany)
• Persia West, A place at the table (United Kingdom)
• Manfred Wondrak, President – AGPRO (Austria)

Thanks to their participation 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.

OBJECTIVES

The ultimate goal of the IBEI is to raise awareness and to challenge leading international corporations to improve their performance of LGBT practices and policies, and in so doing, to better the socio-economic situation of the global LGBT community.

SURVEY PROCESS

The following criteria and steps are required for corporations to complete the survey.

1. Corporations who intend to participate in the International Business Equality Index must have offices in at least three (3) countries and have more than ten thousand (10.000) employees OR have offices in more than ten (10) countries and at least five thousand (5.000) employees.
2. The corporation registers its profile containing contact information and business description on the IGLCC website.
3. Once the profile is created, the corporation can print the survey and prepare the answers.
4. When all the answers are gathered, the corporation accesses the IGLCC website, logs in with its personal user name and password and proceeds to answer the 17 questions of the survey.
5. Each corporation has the option to submit documentation that validates each answer.
6. Once all questions have been answered the last step for the corporation is to submit the survey.
7. The deadline to submit the answers to the survey is on May 15^th 2010.
8. Tentative publication date of the second Index report will be in June 10^th, 2010 during the 3^rd Annual Congress of the IGLCC in Amsterdam, Holland.

The IGLCC performs the following steps and services in the survey process:

• Provision of assistance to all participants to help understand and complete the registration and answer the survey.
• Verification and compilation of the data submitted by the corporations.
• Preparation of reports, classification of the data and publication of the Index report.

Once the profile is created, the corporation can print the survey and prepare the answers.

METHODOLOGY

To be eligible a corporation must have offices in at least three (3) countries and have more than ten thousand (10.000) employees OR have offices in more than ten (10) countries and at least five thousand (5.000) employees.

The evaluation of the Index’s survey is based on a 100% rating. This model with its 17 questions has been divided into 4 sections, which are:

• Diversity & Inclusion (22.5% - 4 questions)
• Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Policies and Practices (60% - 8 questions)
• Supplier Diversity and Marketing (2.5% - 2 questions)
• Community Involvement (15% - 3 questions)

Questions in each of the sections above will be weighted according to that section's weighting points. The determination of the final rating for each corporation will be the total percentage received in the 4 sections. The evaluation criteria will remain invariable, independently of the size of the corporation or its industry.

Since we wanted to recognize the fact that certain corporations go the extra mile and enforce their policies and practices even in countries where homosexuality is punishable by law, the committee has agreed to create a bonus criteria to that effect. For the purpose of accuracy and fairness, such list of countries was obtained from the ILGA map.

A top 50 list will be unveiled with their ranking but without their percentages.

Also a top 5 list will be assembled with the participants’ names, rankings and final scoring.

HELP

If during the completion of the survey you have any questions or if you need assistance with any other issues regarding the Index, please don’t hesitate to contact us:

César Maschmann
Director of Communications & Member Services
Cesar.maschmann@iglcc.org
(514) 287-2888 ext.: 221
Skype id: cesariglcc