The annual announcement of Stonewall’s Top 100 is always met with great anticipation by those who have applied to be considered as one of the UK’s top Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) employers.

For the second year running the University achieved this feat and was placed 53^rd. This amazing result demonstrates how inclusive the University is for LGBT staff.

Over 400 companies up and down the country completed the detailed questionnaire which measures areas such as training, senior management support and awareness raising activities. The bulk of the work is carried out by ALLOUT – The LGBT Staff Network Group for University of Manchester Staff and this is supported by different groups and areas around the University. The process involves evidencing how the University and its practices do not exclude LGBT employees. The University was able to demonstrate this across a number of different areas (10 in all) and actually increased the amount of points scored on the previous year.

This position of 53^rd puts us amongst the most inclusive LGBT employers in the North West and actually the best in Greater Manchester. We are also one of the top 5 higher education institutions and second only to Cardiff within the Russell Group.

Having a place in the Workplace Equality Index means that the University is committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive working environment for its LGBT employees. It is proven that people are more productive when they ‘can be themselves’ at work and this is one of the obstacles we need to overcome as an employer. Our current statistics show that around 5% of staff have declared their sexual orientation as either Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual on our online system. We understand that the figure is significantly higher and with more accurate figures we would be able to direct funds and activities more appropriately to improving LGBT inclusiveness even more.

The current position and improvement over a number of years (253 in 2011) in the Workplace Equality Index shows how we have already made great strides to being a totally inclusive employer. We will be working hard to improve our standing even further for the 2017 index and this will include a greater visibility of awareness raising activities, senior management support and improved data disclosure. Whilst Trans staff are included it will not be until 2018 when the index fully measures our activities and inclusiveness of our Transgender staff.

To find out more and to become involved, please visit the LGBT staff network.