This year, Nestlé was nominated as a Top 10 network group and was a category sponsor at the British LGBT awards. I am incredibly proud of what the Nestlé LGBT+ network in the UK & Ireland has achieved in the last 4 years. Although we did not win, I never expected us to get this far, this soon. I am so happy with what we have accomplished.
A huge thank you to Stefano Agostini, our CEO in the UK & Ireland for presenting the Nestlé ‘Diversity Hero’ award. It was fantastic to see Stefano’s support and enthusiasm for the network, our name up there as a sponsor, and a visible commitment to Inclusion and Belonging.
I want to take this moment to share some of the successes in recent times and even this year, with many things going on, our commitment and hard work has still been evident. An immense achievement this year was the launch of our brand new Trans Inclusion Policy and Guide which launched on the 5th August, marking a huge shift in support offered to trans and non-binary colleagues at Nestlé in the UK & Ireland. As Lord Cashman said at the awards in an emotional speech, we need to support each other and it is great to see this happen so actively in the workplace.
This was an area that, as an LGBT+ Network, we had identified as being a gap. We have not only bridged that gap with the policy but we have also taken steps to help establish knowledge and understanding of trans and non-binary people in the business. Over the summer and autumn, Chantel from our network met with as many people as she could to publicise the policy and answer any questions.
Connecting this year has been hard, but minority groups need support more than ever in this time to ensure they are not left behind, so it was utterly amazing to see more than 200 of our colleagues join the virtual pride event we held earlier this year. We also vastly improved our Stonewall Workplace Equality Index score last year and I hope to continue building on this.
I am excited to find a place in our office for the trophy when we return, but even more excited to watch our network grow and continue, as although we should feel proud of the massive step forward we have made this summer, we still have a way to go.
Thank you to the LGBT+ Network at Nestlé, your hard work has been invaluable to this success, but also thank you to Nestlé and the leaders who support, champion and bolster this success.
Emma Scott