他她話題:營造性取向寬容環境大綱

When Lord Browne left his role as BP chief executive, amid rumours about his sexuality, he said it “was simply unacceptable to be gay in business”.

當布朗勳爵(Lord Browne)因個人性取向的傳言而辭去英國石油(BP)首席執行官職位時，他表示，“同性戀是肯定不會被商界接納的”。

The remark was made in 2007. But is the workplace of 2012 any more gay friendly?

他說這番話的時間是2007年。但是，2012年的職場對同性戀者是否更寬容一些呢？

Attitudes do seem to be changing in the corporate world, with 86 per cent of Fortune 500 firms now banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In the UK, leading companies are included among the 2012 Workplace Equality Index of Britain’s most gay friendly employers produced by Stonewall, the campaigning organisation.

商界的態度看來確實已開始變化，現在86%的《財富》500強公司禁止以性取向爲由的歧視行爲。在英國，在同性戀維權組織“石牆”(Stonewall)製作的2012年“工作場所平等指數”(Workplace Equality Index)中，一些頂級公司進入了英國最寬容同性戀的僱主榜單。

There is a legal imperative too: the 2010 Equality Act brought existing equalities legislation together and introduced “the public sector equality duty”, requiring public bodies to deal with inequalities experienced by staff and customers.

態度轉變也是法律的要求。英國2010年《平等法》(Equality Act)統合了現有的平等法規，並規定了“公共部門平等責任”，要求公共機構處理員工和顧客遭遇的不平等經歷。

According to Colleen Humphrey, Stonewall’s director of workplace diversity: “It’s hard to believe but 10 years ago it was perfectly legal for an employer to dismiss gay staff just because of their sexual orientation. That only changed in 2003, when Stonewall helped secure protection for gay people in law.

“石牆”工作場所多元化總監科琳•漢弗萊(Colleen Humphrey)表示：“很難相信，就在10年之前，僱主純粹以性取向爲由解僱同性戀員工還是完全合法的。這一狀況直到2003年纔開始改變，當時“石牆”幫助把保護同性戀員工的內容寫進了法律。

“Stonewall later established the Diversity Champions programme – Britain’s employers’ forum on sexual orientation. We know from working with more than 600 diversity champions in every sector that people perform better when they can be y, a fifth of the UK’s workforce is employed by diversity champions.”

“後來，‘石牆’啓動了多元化冠軍項目，這是英國僱主的性取向論壇。我們從自己與各行各業600多家多元化冠軍公司的合作中發現，當員工能夠做真實的自己時，他們的表現會更好。如今，多元化冠軍公司僱傭的員工人數佔英國勞動力隊伍的五分之一。”

However, recent comments by Lord Browne reveal there is still much more to be done for business to accommodate the needs of Britain’s 1.7m lesbian, gay and bisexual employees. Speaking at the launch of a lesbian and gay, bisexual and transgender network set up by Arup, he said business is still less tolerant than other areas of life and called for “concrete targets” to measure progress.

然而，布朗勳爵近來的話表明，商界還應採取更多的措施，照顧英國170萬女同性戀、男同性戀和雙性戀員工的需求。在工程顧問公司奧雅納(Arup)設立的LGBT（女同性戀者、男同性戀者、雙性戀者與跨性別者）網絡的發起儀式上，布朗表示，商界的寬容度仍比不上其他社會領域，並呼籲設定衡量進展的“具體目標”。

Also highlighting continuing concern is Trouble at Work, a book by Ralph Fevre, Amanda Robinson and Trevor Jones of Cardiff School of Social Sciences and Duncan Lewis of Plymouth Business School, and published by Bloomsbury Academic. It reveals how lesbian, gay and bisexual employees are much more likely to report ill-treatment, particularly from managers.

《工作中的麻煩》(Trouble at Work)一書也道出了繼續存在的擔憂。該書作者爲卡迪夫社會科學學院(Cardiff School of Social Sciences)的拉爾夫•費夫爾(Ralph Fevre)、阿曼達•羅賓遜(Amanda Robinson)和特蕾弗•瓊斯(Trevor Jones)，以及普利茅斯商學院(Plymouth Business School)的鄧肯•劉易斯(Duncan Lewis)，由布魯姆斯伯裏學術出版公司(Bloomsbury Academic)出版。該書表示，同性戀和雙性戀員工受到不公平對待（尤其是來自管理人員的不公平對待）的可能性比其他人大得多。

They experience humiliation, intimidation and hints that they should quit. In the largest study of its kind, LGBT employees were shown to be 12 times more likely than straight colleagues to be given hints to leave and four times more likely to be threatened. Gay or bisexual employees were also five times more likely to report violence at work compared with heterosexual colleagues, and the figures show an escalating pattern of ill treatment.

他們會遭遇侮辱、恐嚇以及他們應當辭職的暗示。這方面最大規模的調查顯示，LGBT員工比普通員工得到辭職暗示的可能性高12倍，受到威脅的可能性高4倍。與異性戀員工相比，同性戀或雙性戀員工報告在工作中遭遇暴力的可能性也要高5倍，同時數字顯示，他們受到的不公平對待不斷升級。

Working in a non gay-friendly business environment can leave employees feeling isolated because they can’t be themselves.

在對同性戀不夠寬容的公司環境裏工作，可能讓員工感到孤立，因爲他們不能做真實的自己。

Stonewall research found that lesbian, gay and bisexual staff who worked in such environments found it difficult to develop working relationships with colleagues, with their confidence and creativity suffering. The effort of self-censoring their behaviour was draining.

“石牆”研究表明，在這樣的環境裏工作的女同性戀、男同性戀和雙性戀員工發現，他們很難和同事發展工作關係，信心和創造力也受到影響。自我審查自身行爲的努力，白白耗費着他們的精力。

Critically, companies failing to foster a comfortable environment for gay staff, are missing out. Liz Bingham, managing partner for people at Ernst & Young, observes that in the past seven years, the diversity agenda has moved from a “nice to do” space into “hard edged business rationale”.

關鍵在於，未能給同性戀員工營造寬鬆環境的公司，正在坐失良機。安永(Ernst & Young)管理合夥人利斯•賓漢(Liz Bingham)認爲，過去7年，多元化議程已從“不妨做的好事”變成“商業的硬道理”。

She says: “Due to the current economic environment, the only way firms can grow is to increase market share so you need the best people – the most talented heterosexual and gay employees alike will be deterred by an environment in which staff can’t truly be themselves. And fishing in a narrow pool of straight white men means you limit the chance to bring in amazing talent.

她表示：“鑑於當前的經濟環境，公司實現增長的唯一方式是擴大市場份額，所以就需要網羅頂尖人才——無論是雙性戀還是同性戀員工，只要工作環境不能讓他們做真實的自己，都會在這樣的環境面前卻步。眼光狹隘地盯在異性戀白人男性身上，意味着你招募到傑出人才的可能性很小。

“I speak personally as a lesbian,” says Ms Bingham. “The acceleration in my personal development has been striking since coming out. I have a responsibility to model this in the business, creating an environment where everyone can succeed.

“我本人是一名女同性戀者，”賓漢表示，“我‘出櫃’後，個人發展的加速是非常驚人的。我有責任在企業裏以此爲借鑑，營造人人都能成功的環境。

“There’s a powerful business case for getting it right. Authenticity is very important, whether dealing with clients or leading teams; they want to see a leader they can trust. We are also increasingly asked to demonstrate our diversity credentials, especially in the US.”.

“妥善把握是非常符合商業利益的。真切非常重要，無論與客戶打交道還是帶領團隊時都是如此；他們希望看到一位自己能夠信任的領導者。我們越來越多地被要求展現自己的多樣性，尤其是在美國。”

Top of the Stonewall Index, Ernst & Young can now measure the business case after conducting global research around the correlation of employee engagement and the performance of business units. There was a clear link between those businesses with high engagement scores and the best profitability.

領銜“石牆”指數的安永(Ernst & Young)在對員工投入度與業務部門業績之間的關聯進行全球調查後，現在能夠衡量多元化的商業必要性。對企業來說，在員工投入度上得到高分與盈利能力最強之間存在着明顯的關聯。

Law firm Simmons & Simmons LLP was another award winner. Partner David Stone is co-chair of the firm’s LGBT network. He agrees being gay friendly is a social and business imperative, with banks and financial institutions especially keen to see this in suppliers. Good practice helps attract the best lawyers and support staff – and retain them.

西盟斯律師事務所(Simmons & Simmons LLP)是另一家獲獎單位。合夥人戴維•斯通(David Stone)是公司LGBT網絡的聯合主席。他同意，對同性戀表現出寬容態度，已成爲社會和商業層面的必做之事，銀行和金融機構尤其希望看到供應商做到這一點。良好的公司實踐能夠吸引最優秀的律師和輔助員工，並且把他們留住。

Fostering a more gay friendly environment means having chief executive or board level accountability for policy and linking the equality and diversity strategy to the company’s aims and values. Policies should be audited to ensure they take lesbian, gay and bisexual factors into account and incidents must be monitored.

營造對同性戀更寬容的環境意味着，必須讓首席執行官和董事會承擔政策責任，並且把平等及多元化戰略與公司的目標和價值觀聯繫起來。政策應當接受審覈，以確保它們納入同性戀和雙性戀因素。相關事件必須得到監控。

Having gay staff as visible role models and senior lead champions also helps – as does engaging “straight allies” to support equality, often with “reverse mentoring” programmes, which can see junior staff coaching more senior colleagues.

讓同性戀員工成爲看得見的榜樣和高級管理人員也很有幫助，與“異性戀盟友”聯合支持平等也是一樣——往往通過“逆向輔導”方式，讓職位較低的員工輔導更資深的員工。

Gay networks also offer a social and business function and help gauge reaction to policy. Education workshops and engagement programmes with clients are also effective as is involving gay partners. Companies must offer guidance on challenging homophobic behaviour.

同性戀網絡也提供社會和商業功能，並有助於衡量政策引發的反應。教育研討會和客戶參與項目也很有效，讓同性戀合作伙伴參與也是一樣。在挑戰厭惡同性戀的行爲方面，企業必須提供指引。

Staff need to be supported globally, too: as being gay is illegal in more than 70 countries, and with different legislative frameworks abroad, postings overseas need careful management.

員工也需要在全球範圍內得到支持：目前同性戀在70多個國家是非法的；由於國外有着不同的法律框架，向海外派遣人員需要謹慎的管理。

IBM is another company that prides itself on its record of diversity. In 1997, it provided full domestic benefits to lesbians and gays. Fred Balboni, IBM’s global leader for business analytics and optimisation, stresses that diversity is “deep in the DNA of IBM because it creates innovation”.

IBM是另一家爲自己的多元化記錄感到自豪的企業。1997年，IBM就對同性戀提供全面家庭津貼。IBM全球商業分析和優化主管弗雷德•巴爾博尼(Fred Balboni)強調，多元化“深入IBM的基因之中，因爲它有助於帶來創新。”

He says: “Populations of the world are very diverse so it is important to stay close to our clients, to look and act like them. LGBT is a subset of a broader diversity agenda as it creates innovation. It’s also good for social justice, so right for our people.”

他表示：“世界人口多種多樣，因此，與客戶保持密切關係、與他們言行一致很重要。LGBT是一項全面多元化議程的子集，因爲它能夠帶來創新。而且這也有利於社會正義，因此對我們來說是正確的。”

IBM’s “Eagle” – employee network groups in the local community – started in the US about 15 years ago and now operate in 25 countries. The company’s “About You” indicator enables employees to identify themselves formally as LGBT workers. This then enables HR staff to track equal pay and career advancement.

15年前，IBM在美國發起的“鷹”計劃——當地社區的僱員網絡團體，現在已經擴展到25個國家。公司的“關於你”指標，讓僱員能夠正式確認自己是LGBT員工。這樣，人力資源部員工就可以追蹤他們是否獲得了平等薪酬和職業晉升。

Dianah Worman, diversity adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, reminds employers that once staff are “out” they cannot go back. Employers can raise expectations for gay staff but people will grow disillusioned if nothing is delivered.

英國特許人事和發展協會(Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development)的多元化顧問戴安娜•沃曼(Dianah Worman)提醒僱主，一旦員工“出櫃”，他們就沒有回頭路可走了。僱主能夠提高同性戀員工的預期，但如果什麼都沒有兌現，人們會大失所望。

She thinks champions and other initiatives work well but personal responsibility must also be cultivated and line managers equipped to look at the issues in a broader context. Rigid cultures of any kind can be daunting so people need both to feel respected and respect their colleagues.

她認爲，冠軍和其他倡議效果良好，但也必須培養個人責任，部門經理必須學會在更廣闊的背景下看待這些問題。任何僵化的文化都會讓人望而生畏，因此人們既要感覺得到了尊重，也要尊重自己的同事。

Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme offers specialist resources for organisations seeking to become an employer of choice for LGB talent. A starting point is asking staff what they want – for example via anonymous surveys – building in a question on sexual orientation.

“石牆”的多元化冠軍計劃爲尋求成爲LGBT人才首選僱主的組織提供專業資源。一個起點是詢問員工他們想要什麼——例如通過匿名調查——其中植入一個關於性取向的問題。

But for some employees, gay friendly policies cannot mask the fact that problems remain. According to one senior media professional: “The idea of a diversity champion fills me with dread. If I knew that a company was not gay friendly then I probably wouldn’t go and work there – not because I would be concerned that people wouldn’t respect me, but because I wouldn’t want to work somewhere that doesn’t display the kind of tolerance and equality that I believe should run through all of society. I recognise that it doesn’t, but it is up to me to make my own choices and stand up for myself.”

但對某些僱員而言，對同性戀友好的政策，不能掩蓋問題仍然存在的事實。一位資深媒體專業人士表示：“多元化冠軍的構想讓我充滿擔憂。如果我知道一家公司對同性戀不友好，那麼我很可能不會去那裏工作，不是因爲我擔心人們不會尊重我，而是因爲我不想在不願展現寬容和平等的地方工作。我相信，這種寬容和平等應該充滿社會每個角落。我知道現在的社會還沒有走到這一步，但我有權做出自己的選擇，勇敢地站起來。”