13 Jul Halifax Pronoun Campaign was a Hit, and Here’s Why

As Pride Month 2022 drew to a close, Halifax announced the addition of pronouns to its employee name badges with a simple statement:

Pronouns matter. #ItsAPeopleThing pic.twitter.com/vj9UdlBnLy

— Halifax (@HalifaxBank) June 28, 2022

“Pronouns matter. #ItsAPeopleThing”

As with any corporate statement regarding representation there are three key considerations:

• • Will the act be perceived as performative?
  • Will the organisation be accused of ‘rainbow-washing’?
  • Will the act result in negative backlash?

All of which can negatively impact an organisation’s reputation.

These considerations are especially true during Pride month when companies are vying for visibility to demonstrate just how supportive they are of the LGBT+ community.

What Halifax did right

The simplicity of this Tweet (and the accompanying image of employee, Gemma’s name badge, complete with she/her/hers pronouns) coupled with the low-key method in which this change was communicated, succeeded in coming across as genuine.

Halifax’s integrity was further underlined by the way in which it responded to backlash it received from some members of the Twitter community.

The Backlash

Shortly after the Tweet was posted on the morning of the 28th of June, it began to cause a stir. Despite many responses within the trending discussion being positive and appreciative of Halifax’s move to allow employees to share their pronouns, accusations of ‘virtue-signalling’ and threats to take business elsewhere littered the replies.

The media turned to ex-Halifax employee, Howard Brown – the face of the 00’s Halifax advertising campaign – to get his “expert” opinion. Brown criticised Halifax in an interview with the Daily Mail, labelling the choice as ‘disgraceful’. He stated that, in his opinion, with the addition of the new, optional name badge, the bank had “got this one wrong”.

Halifax’s Response

The social media team behind the @HalifaxBank Twitter account were quick to react to many of the high-traction Tweets shared in response to the statement. The team outlined the bank’s choice to ‘create a safe and accepting environment’ and stated its enthusiasm to ‘open the conversation around gender identity’ – a move that many of us, both transgender and cisgender, stand to benefit from!

The replies showed care and compassion for their customers and colleagues alike, explaining that the inclusion of pronouns on name badges was ‘a very simple solution to accidental misgendering’.

When one of these Tweets was met with an allegation of ‘pathetic virtue signalling’ which stands to ‘alienate people’, the Halifax communications team hardened its stance on the subject further. The reply, which arguably garnered more media attention than the original announcement, saw Halifax representative ‘AndyM’ explaining again, the company’s goal to do ‘what’s right’, before stating “If you disagree with our values, you are welcome to close your account”.

This confident, steadfast position of inclusion and equality sent a clear message to Halifax’s transgender and gender diverse colleagues and customers that the bank’s commitment to its values are thorough and consistent, leaving little room for criticism of this stance being performative or insincere.

The Result

Despite the seemingly vocal and somewhat intimidating initial response on Twitter, the threats to boycott the bank appear to have fallen flat. An insider at Halifax has been quoted as describing the amount of official complaints received concerning the addition of pronouns to name badges as ‘fewer than a handful’. The same source spoke on the rate of account closures since the announcement;

“it is understood that account closures since the row began have been lower than the normal daily average for Halifax and have been more than offset by openings.”

What Does This Mean?

As stated by Halifax themselves, pronoun badges present a simple low-cost solution to accidental misgendering in the workplace, helping to provide a safe and comfortable environment for all staff, regardless of gender identity or expression. While this past week, the pronoun-badge discussion has centred around Halifax, it is wonderful to see other large brands such as McDonald’s, O2 and Marks & Spencer also providing staff with ways to share their pronouns at work.

Halifax’s communications in relation to the pronoun ‘debate’ showed that company integrity and values were important within the bank’s ethos and this, in turn, proved positive not only for the comfort of the bank’s customers and colleagues, but also for the success of the business.

It is also important to note that the more the pronoun conversation enters the public consciousness, the quicker our understanding around its importance will grow and the easier it will be for us all to be more considerate in our interactions.

To find out more about how TransMissionPR can support you with your work around trans inclusion and awareness get in touch.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash