Results of the 2021 Global Benchmark were celebrated at the Leadership Awards Gala on October 29. Read more about the 2021 top-scoring organizations, score trending, overall highlights and areas of focus in the official report here.
Workplace Pride, therefore, congratulates all participants on its 2021 Global Benchmark survey! Your participation continues to push the boundaries of LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion around the world and provides inspiration to all organisations that strive to create workplaces where everyone can truly be themselves.
Global Benchmark – An indispensable tool for LGBTIQ+ Inclusion
The Workplace Pride Global Benchmark is an evidenced-based instrument that looks at organisational LGBTIQ+ policies and practices. The Global Benchmark began in 2014 and grew out of a Master’s thesis on how multinational organisations deal with differences in administrative conditions that affect their LGBTIQ+ workplace equality policies.
The key objective of the Global Benchmark is to provide participants with a set of concrete and tangible actions that they can take to ensure that their workplaces are fully inclusive for LGBTIQ+ people.
2021 Global Benchmark summary
In 2021, the Global Benchmark saw the highest number of participants in its 8 year history with a total of 45 organisations representing millions of employees around the world. This shows that measurement for LGBTIQ+ workplace policies and practices remains a priority for many multinationals.
Global Reach
We know that our members choose Workplace Pride as a partner in their LGBTIQ+ Inclusion journey because we work across borders and world regions. Among the 45 participants in the 2021 Global Benchmark, 87% (39 organisations) operate in more than one region and nearly half of participants (49% or 22 organisations) operate in all regions of the world.
Public/Private and Industry Sector participation
⅓ of participating organisations represent the public sector (government, municipalities, NGO’s and public institutions) while the remaining ⅔ represent the private sector across a broad range of industry segments.
Overall Score
The 2021 Global Benchmark reflects activity from the calendar year 2020 which was dominated by the global COVID-19 pandemic which had a dramatic effect on the workplace and on society in general – where most in-person and group contact was reduced to near-zero levels. It is therefore not surprising that the 2021 overall median score for Global Benchmark 2021 was 46.3%, a drop from the 2020 median of 58.1%.
Based on historical data, we know that scores in the first year of participation are consistently lower across the board as many organisations use their first year to establish a baseline from which they grow and increase their scores in subsequent years. 38% of the 2021 submissions were from first-time participants.
The chart below shows how organisations that have participated in the Global Benchmark for 2 or 3 years have increased their score on average by 15.8% over their first submission. That percentage jumps to almost 30% for those organisations that have participated for 7 or 8 years.
Global Benchmark Sections
Special recognition – 2021
We would like to celebrate the commitment to LGBTIQ+ inclusion that all participants demonstrate. There are a few that we would like to give special recognition for their achievement in the 2021 Global Benchmark.
