French employees are virtually unanimous (91%) on the fact that LGBTQ+ people encounter inclusion difficulties in different areas of their lives.
In fact, 88% believe that LGBTQ+ people encounter inclusion difficulties in their families, 87% at school, 84% in the business world and 86% in French society as a whole.
Employees of large companies are in line with this finding: 93% believe that LGBTQ+ people encounter inclusion difficulties, with 92% in their families, 87% at school, 85% in the business world and 87% in French society as a whole.
As far as the corporate world is concerned, the under-35s and people who identify themselves as LGBTQ+ are more likely to consider that these inclusion difficulties are frequent: 25% of employees consider that LGBTQ+ people “often” encounter inclusion difficulties in the corporate world, a score that rises to 31% among employees under 35 and 37% among LGBTQ+ employees.
For French employees, improving the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in France is everyone’s business.
77% consider that associations have a role to play (an identical score among employees of large companies), 70% cite companies (73% for employees of large companies), 70% cite the State (74% for employees of large companies) and 67% cite local authorities (69% for employees of large companies).
Here again, LGBTQ+ employees are more strongly convinced of the need for companies to be involved in the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people, with 78% believing that companies have a role to play (versus 70% for the average employee), and 41% even “completely” believing so (versus 25% for all employees).
More specifically, a majority of French employees are convinced that companies have a role to play in the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people.
Thus, 71% of French employees consider that French companies today have an important role to play in guaranteeing a respectful working environment for the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people, 63% believe that French companies could do more to promote the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people within them, and 53% consider it important that companies create a favorable framework for the visibility of LGBTQ+ employees within the company. This observation is shared by employees of large companies, with scores of 78%, 65% and 64% respectively.
Beyond this,amajority of French employees make a clear link between inclusion and company performance.
64% believe that good LGBTQ+ inclusion practices contribute positively to corporate performance and image (61% for employees of large corporations), and 59% consider that diversity of backgrounds and perspectives favors corporate performance and innovation (57% for employees of large corporations).
And more personally, for 57% of French employees, the fact that a company is recognized as inclusive of LGBTQ+ people improves their confidence in the company, and for 46% it is even an important criterion for their next job.
Employees of large companies are in line, with scores of 52% and 42% respectively. And quite logically, these scores are even higher among LGBTQ+ employees (83% and 76% respectively).
In a more measured way, 48% think it would be useful to compare companies with each other to see which are most committed to LGBTQ+ inclusion, and 47% think it’s important for companies to report publicly on their actions in favor of LGBTQ+ inclusion. Virtually identical scores are observed among employees of large companies (48% and 44% respectively).
Lastly, half of French employees (51%) consider that policies for the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in companies today are weakened or threatened, with this score rising to 67% among LGBTQ+ people.
To improve the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in the workplace, a significant proportion of French employees consider it important to publish an annual list of the companies most committed to this issue (43%, and 40% among employees of large companies). This score rises to 50% among the under-35s and 72% among LGBTQ+ employees.
Finally, for French employees, the elements that most encourage companies to make progress on the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people are first and foremost protecting and meeting employees’ expectations (47%, and 48% for employees of large companies), then the willingness of their leaders (41%, and 40% for employees of large companies) and then being publicly recognized and valued for their commitments (30%, and 29% for employees of large companies). More binding and explicit legal obligations and the example set by other players in their sector are also cited.
