24 Mar Trans inclusion starts with a willingness to learn

Conversation between Aby Hawker, founder of TransMission PR and Maeve DuVally, Managing Director Corporate Communications, Goldman Sachs.

A recent article in Forbes magazine about how LGBT friendly businesses are more profitable, listed global financial institution Goldman Sachs as one of the best performers in this area. Goldman Sachs has publicly pledged its support for sexual minorities, earning it top ratings in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.

So I sat down with Maeve DuVally, Managing Director of Corporate Communications to find out more.

How did gender diversity get bumped up the agenda at Goldman Sachs?

Generally, I would say LGBT issues got elevated at Goldman Sachs because that’s what our employees, queer and non-queer, wanted. Of course, they received ample support from our Diversity and Inclusion group within Human Resources.

One example of this is our pronoun initiative, which gives employees the option of including their pronouns in their signature. Two gay employees elevated the issue as something important we should be focusing on, so we listened and it was implemented.

We have long had provision in place for LGB working groups as well as panel events, and these were expanded to include the trans and non-binary experience.

Since then, panel discussions have played a significant role in making people feel seen. In fact, it was one such panel discussion, on the use of pronouns, that led to me acknowledging my own truth – that I was transgender.

I knew I was coming out to a receptive environment and so I went for it. The old me went home one day from work and came in the next as Maeve.

How has this approach benefited the organisation?

It benefits us in multiple ways:

1. It gives us access to the widest pool of talent. There is a huge talent shortage and we want access to the best people from the biggest talent pool, it’s that simple. We want to be the employer of choice for the LGBT community.
2. It leads to greater job satisfaction. We want trans people to feel supported, to feel that they can have a fulfilling career with Goldman Sachs. That they will be seen for who they are and that they can flourish as their authentic selves. This is not only important for trans people but for the wider LGB community, as well as friends and family members who can themselves feel empowered by seeing positive action being taken at the highest level of the organisation. We have 45,000 employees and around a dozen openly trans employees and parents of trans kids at present, so I imagine there will be more to come.
3. It enables us to lead the conversation, to show other organisations what can be done and why being inclusive is so important. It is vital that we demonstrate our values to our stakeholders, both internally and externally, so they understand that Goldman Sachs is much more than just a corporate machine.

 

What does being gender inclusive mean at Goldman Sachs, can you give me some examples of what tangible things are being done both internally and externally?

We participate in international days that recognise trans people such as Transgender Day of Visibilty, Pride and Transgender Day of Remembrance but we don’t stop there. We support our people when necessary, which is especially important during our current times, with the proliferation of anti-gay and anti-trans rules and legislation.

We also hold regular panel discussions to help educate our employees. We want to create and educate a class of allies so that when someone comes out, their colleagues are already equipped with the tools they need to be supportive.

As part of this exercise, we have also created a number of best-practice guides both for trans people coming out, but also for those wanting to be able to offer support. These are reviewed and refined regularly, as our understanding increases.

Coming out is never easy but knowing that the room is full of people who are aware rather than ignorant can be really affirming. By being visible in our support it makes it easier for those who may be struggling.

What advice would you give to others looking to up-skill in this area?

Be open and willing to learn. You don’t have to know everything straight away. Every time you help someone to come out, or work with them to overcome a challenge, you are building your reserves and knowledge for future use.

There are so many organisations willing to support you with your learning. So the sooner you get started the better placed you will be when your first openly trans employee comes to you asking for support. Being clueless is no excuse!

To find out how we can help you to be more inclusive of your trans and non-binary team members get in touch for a no-strings chat.