Companies that are inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex communities tend to connect better with global markets. Such companies are not only better oriented with customers but are able to find the best of talent and retain them too. They also perform well in terms of international business, reveals a study by the Boston Consulting Group.
The survey quantitatively analysed the financial effect of LGBT+ inclusion and found that Indian companies are increasingly becoming more open to not discriminating against LGBT+. As a result, they have experienced a hike in revenue from doing business in global markets of about 20 percentage points. Many companies, such as Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Dr Reddy’s, Lupin, Wipro, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Apollo and Godrej have put in place formal inclusion policies making it clear that they do not discriminate on the basis of gender or sexual orientation.
These companies are committed to respecting the LGBTQ+ community and are even experiencing better productivity. Through their policy, they are doing their bit in terms of contribution to the GDP. They have also busted the myth that by openly supporting the LGBTQ+ community, they would lose out on customers.
LGBT employees of IBM regularly post videos on YouTube talking about their experiences. It was reported that many of its employees were comfortable coming out at work while being unable to do so at home. Even employees at Accenture are able to share their experiences on an online platform, where they even answer queries from their supporters from the non-LGBTQ community. At Mahindra & Mahindra, an employee was fired for for making unpleasant comments displaying his displeasure for and disapproval of the community.
