Home improvement organisation Kingfisher, which owns B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix, has joined charity Stonewall’s Global Diversity Champions programme in order to promote an inclusive workplace for its 77,000 employees.
The Global Diversity Champions programme, which has been set up by Stonewall to promote LGBT equality, provides employers with the tools to develop a strategic and structured approach to ensuring everyone is able to be themselves within the workplace.
Kingfisher’s new commitment, made in November 2019, was promoted to staff throughout its offices on TV screens and posters, as well as via its global HR network and across social networking platform,Yammer. The organisation’s LGBT-focused Yammer group already has over 300 members.
To further promote the cause of inclusion, B&Q employees ran their own Stonewall EqualiTea event, and employees will also have the opportunity to take part in the Brighton 5K Sashay on 19 January 2020. Kingfisher is also planning to stage further events based around external awareness days and local Pride events, as its work in this area develops.
The Global Diversity Champions programme will help build on the networks already set up by Kingfisher employees, which actively promote LGBT inclusion across the business.
Kingfisher is also planning to participate in Stonewall’s Global Workplace Equality Index 2020, which assesses and scores employers’ achievements and progress in relation to LGBT inclusion and equality.
Fiona Harris, group head of inclusion and wellness at Kingfisher, said: “We want colleagues and customers across Kingfisher and our businesses to feel respected and accepted no matter where in the world they work for or shop with us. And we want to be representative of the societies and communities from which we recruit and which we serve. Working with Stonewall will help us to develop equality initiatives across all of our markets to do just that.
“We have some brilliant colleagues at Kingfisher, and we want to support them fully and make sure their contribution is heard.”