In May 2021 Kainos wrote to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to pledge our comittment to the UN Standards of Conduct for Business Tackling Discrimination against LGBTQ+ People.

These standards are designed to support the business community in tackling discrimination against LGBTQ+ people amd set out the steps companies can and should take to ensure equal treatment at work and tackle discrimination in the broader community.

This is an important step to show our commitment and allyship internally and externally in support of all LGBTQ+ people and in particular our staff members and customers. 

The key achievement is the creation of Xpression, our Global LGBTQ+ network group. The network group acts as a support network and social group which aims to transform the experiences of our LGBTQ+ people in Kainos.  Xpression has a dedicated channel for its members and allies to celebrate annual landmark dates, share important news (…and yes, discussing Eurovision and Drag Race also counts as important news!) and enable the LGBTQ+ community to connect and to raise awareness.

Before signing the pledge Karan and Michael, our Xpression Network Group chairs, and I took stock of the steps which have been taken in the past 12 months to support and advance opportunities and outcomes for LGBTQ+ people in Kainos. Here is a summary of our highlights:

• In April 2021 pronouns were introduced to our email signatures.  This is important for transgender and non-binary people to help eliminate the risk of confusion or misgendering. For cisgender people, it is a really simple act of allyship and contributes to normalising declaring pronouns at Kainos and beyond.
• In March 2020 the Transitioning at Work Policy was created to support our transgender staff who are planning to transition through a personalised Transitioning at Work Plan, with comprehensive support from our People Support team.
• A huge milestone was improved personal information options to support D&I data, partnering with Workday’s to roll out their VIBE Central (D&I) reporting dashboard within Kainos and to our own customers. We are asking our people to voluntarily complete their personal information including Gender Identity, Pronouns, and Sexual Orientation. This will allow Kainos to better understand our demographics and use this to inform our Diversity & Inclusion initiatives and decisions.
• June 2021 will see the roll out of our bespoke Diversity and Inclusion eLearning. Our essential eLearning module raises awareness of issues faced by LGBTQ+ people and other underrepresented groups within Kainos, reinforcing that supporting equality in the workplace is everyone’s responsibility.

Underpinning all of these activities is the Global D&I Group which comprises employee representatives across different locations and groups, including Xpression. Since June 2020 the group has been responsible for shaping and accelerating our D&I approach as well as supporting our employee network groups.

I'm looking forward to sharing what Xpression and the Global D&I Group go on to do next, but in the meantime on behalf of all of us here at Kainos, I wish you all a very Happy Pride Month!