Interview with Katherine Parsons, Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at ISS UK & Ireland

As we acknowledge The Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, which is celebrated this month, we spoke with Katherine Parsons, Head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at ISS UK & Ireland to get into her insights on tackling discrimination, fostering LGBTQ+ support networks, and navigating the construction sector as a proud member of the community.

How does your company currently address issues of transphobia and homophobia in the workplace?

“We have a suite of policies around diversity and inclusion. Equality in the workplace, but those policies can be kept on a Word doc, a shared drive and a website, and never really touched. So, it’s absolutely critical they are enforced so if someone has reported an incident of hate speech, whether that be in person, microaggressions…”

“As an organisation, we do like to talk about a lot of ‘taboo’ topics, I’m not afraid of taboo (referring to herself), I actively enjoy making a conversation out of it..”

“in an organisation, of over 30,000 people you’ll get some that believe that LGTBQ people should even belong in the world, and we can’t necessary change their opinions, but what is really key is to make sure that people from the LGTBQ community feel they can be themselves in ISS, and if they do experience any form of discrimination, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia etc… that it is taken seriously, and goes through a strong process, through our HR process, as you would with anything else.”

What policies and procedures are in place at the ISS to prevent discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation?

“We have training modules and pieces to upskill our staff. I think something we, and other companies need to do more of, as a business we need to make sure our staff are safe when they are commuting to work, when they’re in the workplace, but I’d never put anyone in a (unsafe) position.

“I’ve experienced this myself, I wear a tux, you'll never see me in a dress and I do look like a lesbian I will have my pride badge on, and I’ve got myself in situations where I’ve been on public transport or walking across the road where I do not feel safe, and I’ll be very quickly trying to take off my bow tie, and put my hair down so I don’t stand out, and I think that’s very much part of an organisations remit as well if you’re sending people to these celebratory events, pride month as an example, you’ve got to make sure you have a safe means of travel to their homes, or you know wherever it is, so you’re not putting them at risk.

“The office, the way we say this at ISS, is a safe space, no matter if it is UK & Ireland, or whether it’s globally, or religiously, what is happening in that country, that office, is the place you can be whoever you are absolutely safe. Again, it’s what happens outside the office when that person leaves”

Can you share any initiatives or campaigns the company has undertaken to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion and diversity within the business?  

“We make sure that there is a full pride calendar throughout the year. I think a lot of people think that as soon as June hits us, flags come out, everyone’s logo is changed to a logo, there’s new fresh lanyards and all sorts, that’s great and it’s great to do, again it’s like what changes you’re actually making in the business for that month, but we stretch that pride calendar out so we will celebrate lesbian visibility week, coming out day, trans awareness day, intersex visibility day. These are all dotted across our calendar, and a lot of them get forgotten…”

“We do a brunch event where we have our CEO, we get people from across all over the organisation from front line staff, managers, SLT, all sorts and we’ll have an open, unrecorded conversation about what this actually means to you and the business, you as an individual, we’ve really set the tone, to be honest, so psychological safety – can this go on any longer?.”

“It’s amazing how quickly you can create a space where people are sharing some really traumatic stories they’ve been through. There’s people in tears about things they’ve experienced whether that be in our business in the past, in their personal lives, and how it’s affected them and to have the CEO of the business hear all this first-hand is absolutely golden.”

Are there any support networks or resources available for LGBTQ+ employees at ISS, this can include employee resource groups or counselling services?

“So, we have employee resource groups, pride EIG, which is for the UK & Ireland, but we also have a global pride EIG, which filters back and forth across best practises in our country, and across. For example, we’ve had a new policy across the UK & Ireland, same with parental policy, we have a full-on inclusive parental figure, which is now a full-on inclusive policy.”

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community working within the construction sector, have you faced discrimination because of your sexuality?

“Since I’ve been at ISS, no. I think facilities management is a completely different space and I am at a very different point in my life journey/career, and no I’ve been perfectly fine internally. As a young female entering the construction industry, straight from university, I found it hard enough being a woman in charge of groups of men, on male construction sites was tough so adding ‘lesbian’ - I couldn’t even say the word lesbian on site, It wouldn’t even come out of my mouth. It was just another layer I wasn’t willing to discuss, and it did take me a while to come out at work.

“in the construction industry, you’re never in one place for over a couple of weeks so there’s this kind of constant having to come out yet, as you’re moving around a lot. It’s so exhausting having to risk assess and self-check, have I given a pronoun (referring to the gender of her partner), it was exhausting.

“I felt like when I came out because I was shape-shifting to be one of the ‘lads’ anyway, and I was taken seriously and respected on-site, but because I was gay, and therefore I liked women, it was expected that I would catcall women as well, and join in. You know, it was absolutely baffling, I sorta look back at it and think that I would never catcall a woman, but you're trying to fit into a situation while trying to keep the respect of your team, and bond. It was a very uncomfortable position to be put in. “I have a feeling if there was another woman on site, who was not gay, they would have absolutely not done it, and that person would have got more respect.”