International Gay & Lesbian Chambre of Commerce

Welcome to the 2011 International Business Equality Index

Does your corporation want to participate?
Please complete the corporate registration form

IMPORTANT DATES

Deadline to submit the survey

Online survey
June 15, 2011

Official announcement of results

International Press Release with the official announcement of the Index results
September 16, 2011

Index Seminar

Colloquium about Index results and LGBT equality in business
September 30, 2011
Sofitel Montreal – Canada

International LGBT Best Practices Guide

Publication of the First International Compilation of LGBT Best Practices and Policies
November 25, 2011

Download the 2011 International Business Equality Index Brochure

OVERVIEW

What is the Index?

It is a global Index measuring how major corporations include in their policies and practices the main issues relevant to the LGBT community today. It considers how corporations work with employees, suppliers and consumers alike.

What is the purpose of the Index?

Ultimately, the goal is to help leading international corporations become better global corporate citizens by implementing effective LGBT diversity policies. In the end, the corporation benefits as do the communities in which they operate.

Why is it unique?

The IGLCC Index is the only Index that is analyzing these issues at the International level. National indexes like the HRC Equality Index in the USA and the Stonewall Index in the UK are major tools for corporations and have greatly contributed to making improvements in these countries. The Index goes further, creating an international benchmark for the participating corporations, enabling them to understand the impact that their diversity policies and values are having in every country they operate in; moreover, it allows companies to compare that impact between country operations as well as compared to other business in specific locations.

How does it work?

Corporations respond to an online survey of sixteen questions covering four major issues and are scored according to an equitable methodology. Respondents include data for every country they will be indexed in.

The results are published yearly in a comprehensive report.

Is there any cost to participate?

Participation in the Index is free. In return for participation, corporations are provided with a comprehensive report, showing their performance on each of the survey’s questions and a comparison to global averages. Participating IGLCC corporate members receive a more customized 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 €1500 fee.

How are the results announced?

The results of the Index are announced through a press release and a comprehensive report outlining the macro findings is published on the ICLCC Website.

In the same day, individual participating companies are provided with a comprehensive report on their performance as a company. Customized and comprehensive reports are subsequently sent to participating IGLCC members and other companies that have requested this additional service.

BENEFITS

By participating in the Index your corporation gets many benefits:

• A measure of how well your organization is performing in every country, relative to other companies in the same industry¹ and other countries in which you operate
• A detailed analysis of the impact of your polices relative to specific participating competitors in particular markets and globally²
• Comprehensive assessment to enhance global practices and policies
• Attendance at the annual Index seminar providing an opportunity to discuss practices and policies with other participating companies and expert presenters and panelists
• Opportunity to participate in the International LGBT Best Practices Guide
• Worldwide visibility
• International recognition in leadership
• Increased presence in the LGBT market segment

All companies participating in the Index will be entitled to tag communication and marketing materials with the 2011 Index Seal (“2011 Most LGBT Friendly Corporations in the World”) attesting to their leadership in global diversity.

Additionally, corporations in the top five globally or in any country will be permitted use of the Index Top 5 Recognition Seal (recognized as one of the “2011 Top 5 Most LGBT friendly corporations in the World”).

Only the number one ranked corporation will be entitled to use the prestigious 2011 Index Seal (“2011 Most LGBT Friendly Corporation in the World”).

Download the 2011 International Business Equality Index Brochure

¹ Specific industry information is not released for countries or in situations where releasing this information would compromise the confidentiality of any participating company

² Participating IGLCC members and companies that have requested this additional report

PROCEDURE

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

1. The corporation registers its profile containing contact information and business description on the IGLCC website.
2. Once the profile is created, the corporation can print the survey and prepare the answers.
3. 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 16 questions of the survey.
4. Each corporation has the option to submit documentation that validates each answer.
5. Once all questions have been answered the last step for the corporation is to submit the survey.
6. The deadline to submit the answers to the survey is on June 15^th 2011.
7. The publication of the third Index report will be done via press release on September 16^th, 2011.

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.

Download the 2011 International Business Equality Index Brochure

METHODOLOGY

ELIGIBILITY

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.

Exceptions – will also be eligible, but ranked separately:

• Corporations present in 1 or 2 countries with a minimum of 10.000 employees
• ONG’s present in 10 countries or more with a minimum of 5.000 employees
• Law Firms present in 10 countries or more with a minimum of 1.000 employees
• Accounting Firms present in at least 3 countries with 10.000 employees OR more than 10 countries and at least 5.000 employees

DATA COLLECTION

Eligible corporations are invited to register on the IGLCC Website and complete an online set of detailed questions regarding their LGBT diversity activities in the various countries in which they operate.

EVALUATION

For evaluation purposes, the sixteen questions are divided into four sections and weighted according to relative importance:

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

The score for each question is calculated as the percentage of the countries in which it operates where a policy or a practice is enforced. For example, if a company enforces a policy or a practice in 50% of the countries where it has employees, the result for that question will be 50% of its value.

All participating companies MUST report for ALL the countries where it operates. For scoring purposes those countries where the company have less than 50 employees will not be considered, but need to be reported nonetheless for this will contribute to the value of the survey as a monitor of progress over time.

Evaluation criteria are applied equally to all participating corporations regardless of independent factors such as size of company, industry, home location, etc.

BONUS

Since certain corporations go the extra mile and offer equal policies and practices even in countries where homosexuality is punishable by law, a bonus criteria has been created to reflect their efforts. For the purpose of accuracy and fairness, such list of countries is obtained from the ILGA map. No deductions or penalties will be imposed on companies who do not yet offer these policies and practices in the countries where homosexuality is still punishable by law. The bonus cannot exceed 2% of the final score.

CAVEAT

The final percentages for the Top 5 corporations will be released along with their ranking. The ranking for the other participants are released without the percentages. However, the Index report highlights the major findings and trends based on the responses of all participating corporations.

INDEX SEALS

All companies participating in the 2011 Index are entitled to display the 2011 Index Seal of recognition attesting to their leadership in global diversity. They are also invited to tag internal and external communications and marketing materials.

Additionally, corporations who will be ranked among the top five will be entitled to display and use the Index Top 5 Recognition Seal, applauding their achievements as one of the five Most LGBT Friendly Corporations in the World.

Finally, the Most LGBT Friendly Corporation in the World will be entitled to use a dedicated Recognition Seal.

CONFIDENTIALITY

All data is reviewed and processed internally by IGLCC staff. Total confidentiality of data is maintained and no data is released to any person or organization other than IGLCC staff and IGLCC marketing Counsel, Protean Strategies Inc.

The data is reviewed and analyzed by Protean Strategies Inc., a Toronto based research and strategy company.

Download the 2011 International Business Equality Index Brochure

Q & A

1. What is the Index?
2. Where did the idea for the Index come from?
3. Are there any other indexes like this one?
4. How does the International Business Equality Index relate to the HRC Index in the US and the Stonewall Index in the UK?
5. How does the Index work?
6. Who can be part of the Index?
7. How does my corporation stand to benefit from participating in the Index?
8. What types of information will be gathered for the Index?
9. What information about my corporation will be made public?
10. How will the Index compare corporations of different sizes and working in different industries?
11. How the results will be presented?
12. What is the methodology applied to the data?
13. How much will it cost my corporation to be listed in the index?
14. Why is there a need for this International Index?
15. Who will be affected by the existence of this Index?
16. What is the single most important aspect of the Index?
17. What are the challenges involved in implementing such a project at the international level?
18. How many corporations do you expect to be part of the Index this year?
19. What are the objectives of the Index?
20. Who do I contact for more information on the Index?
21. Do I have to be member of the IGLCC to participate in the Index?
22. Will the Index be used to influence government policies and practices?
23. How will you validate the responses given by participants?
24. Is the IGLCC the right organization to carry out this Index?
25. What period is under review in the current Index and how often will the Index be updated?
26. What’s the goal in offering a bonus to corporations who offer equal policies and practices in countries where homosexuality is punishable by law?
27. Does this mean that the corporations who do not offer equal policies and practices in these countries will be penalized?
28. In which basis is the bonus calculated?
29. Who were the top performers on last year’s Index?
30. Have you seen any results from the previous editions of the Index?

1. It is a global Index measuring how major corporations include in their policies and practices the main issues relevant to the LGBT community today. It considers how corporations work with employees, suppliers and consumers alike.

2. At its 2007 Global Summit in Barcelona, the IGLCC, initiated discussions around the idea of creating the Index. From there we reached out to other corporations and international organizations.

3. 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).

4. 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. The Index also places a certain emphasis on supplier diversity and community inrolement. 

5. 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.

6. 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.

   Exceptions – will also be eligible:

   • Corporations present in 1 or 2 countries with a minimum of 10.000 employees
   • ONG’s present in 10 countries or more with a minimum of 5.000 employees
   • Law Firms present in 10 countries or more with a minimum of 1.000 employees
   • Accounting Firms present in at least 3 countries with 10.000 employees OR more than 10 countries and at least 5.000 employees

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. The final percentages for the Top 5 corporations will be released along with their ranking. The ranking for the other participants are released without the percentages. However, the Index report highlights the major findings and trends based on the responses of all participating corporations.

10. 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.

11. The results are compiled in a comprehensive overview outlining the macro findings of the Index and announced in a press release.

    In the same day, individual participating companies are provided with a comprehensive report on their performance as a company. Customized and comprehensive reports are subsequently sent to participating IGLCC members and other companies that have requested this additional service.

12. The evaluation of the Index’s survey is based on a 100% rating. The survey includes 16 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.

13. Participation in the Index is free. In return for participation, corporations are provided with their overall results, showing their performance on each of the survey’s questions and a comparison to global averages. Participating IGLCC corporate members receive a customized and comprehensive 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. We have been in contact with many corporations and the interest is continually growing. Last year there were about 50 companies that registered, from which 25 completed the full process. Invitations to participate have also been sent, along with the surveys, to the Forbes 2000 list of corporations and we invite all  of them to join us this year.

19. 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 with regards to commitment to their LGBT employees, suppliers and consumers, and in so doing serve as models for all other corporations.

20. You can contact the IGLCC Index Team by phone (514) 287-2888 ext: 226 or by e-mail index@iglcc.org

21. No. However, membership does allow you to benefit from IGLCC expertise in helping your corporation excel on LGBT policies and practices.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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 IGLTA.

25. The Index will review the period of January to December 2010. The Index will be updated on a yearly basis.

26. The objective of the bonus is to recognize their efforts in promoting equality in business even within difficult situations in such countries. 

27. No, it does not. The bonus criteria gives a small percentage to those who offer 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. 

28. The bonus is applied only for the answers where the corporation indicates that the policy is offered and in the countries where homosexuality is punished by law. The list of such countries was obtained from the ILGA map.

29. The top 5 corporations were respectively IBM, Google, BT Group, Morgan Stanley and Cisco Systems.

30. 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.

Download the 2011 International Business Equality Index Brochure

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:

Index Team
index@iglcc.org
+1 (514) 287-2888 ext.: 226

Download the 2011 International Business Equality Index Brochure