LGBTQI+ INCLUSION COUNTS - …and Generali counts on our LGBTQI+ community

D. Bosio, D. Bisaro e E. Berardi

On 20 October 2020 over 200 people around the world connected virtually to celebrate the first meeting of the Generali Global LGBTQI+ and Ally Network: We Proud.
We Proud’s mission is to support LGBTQI+ employees and their allies to improve workplace inclusion, raise awareness of the challenges they face and improve how we understand the needs of a diverse workforce and customer base.
During the launch event, Jean-Laurent Granier, Group D&I Sponsor, said that the Employee Resource Group (ERG) “will help to go beyond HR people management and be open to everybody. It’s absolutely critical to create a place to dialogue, listen, speak, to be open. It’s a way to enable a new smart way of working in order to release the full potential of everybody”.

The objectives of We Proud
The ERG has been designed by Generali Group employees, who have also acted as advocates to uphold equality, share an open-minded culture and stand up against discrimination. In a nutshell, LGBTQI+ inclusion counts.
The importance of inclusivity is also reflected by the needs of a diverse customer base, as Alessandro Musto, Credit Analyst, Financial institutions at GIAWM – Generali Insurance Asset Management, shared: “It is estimated that almost half of the LGBTQI+ Community is closeted at work, because they fear losing their job or not progressing in their career, and this is a defeat for us as a community. LGBTQI+ equality means a lot for Generali, especially in the context of our ambition of becoming a Lifetime Partner in insurance and asset management.This ambition is based on empathy and care, and there is no empathy and no care without equality. How can we achieve more? By acknowledging the diversity of our customers’ needs and expectations.”
Equal opportunities are important for organisations to prosper and when we support one another, we thrive together to build better teams, products and companies. To create a safe environment and promote good practices, allyship is key and it implies going beyond the daily job, participating actively in community life, listening, teaching respect by example and challenging the status quo by, standing up against discrimination. Elise Ginioux, Head of Communications, CSR, Public Affairs at Generali France, is one of our strongest allies and is on the front lines to promote it. Generali France has created an LGBTQI+ working group, gathering colleagues and volunteers from the whole organisation to work with communication and HR teams to define concrete measures and policies to improve LGBTQI+ inclusiveness and boost allyship.
The We Proud community leverages Generali’s internal e-learning platform to share information, organise awareness-raising events and share best practices to contribute to the cultural transformation of the group. One week after its launch, it already had almost 500 members – 44% LGBTQI+ and 56% allies, from over 40 different countries.

Beyond the ERG: Generali’s action plan
We Proud is one of the actions that the Group has launched to promote LGBT+ Inclusiveness. Generali has taken a strategic approach to embracing the principles included in the United Nations’ LGBTQI+ Standards and launched a structured action plan focusing on 6 priorities. Communication and training are key to raising aware- ness in order to embed inclusive language and behaviours in day-to-day managerial practices. Generali has also launched the internal campaign “LGBT inclusion counts” where LGBTQI+ employees can speak openly about the benefits of an inclusive organisation, while specific managerial training will be provided to over 9000 managers worldwide. To guarantee the rights of LGBTQI+ employees, minimum HR standards are being developed that will be measured through our Group’s Global Employee Engagement Survey. In addition, Generali is adopting a long-term approach to enhancing the understanding of LGBTQI+ within the group’s business strategy while exploring possible inclusive business opportunities.
To boost this cultural transformation, Generali knows that LGBTQI+ inclusion counts and Generali counts on its LGBTQI+ and ally community.