2021 Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Index & Awards

Advance and promote your LGBT+ inclusion efforts with Community Business’ LGBT+ Index and Awards – key components of our Creating Inclusive Workplaces for LGBT+ Employees Campaign, a long-term and sustained effort designed to encourage and support companies to put LGBT+ inclusion firmly on their corporate agenda.

Run every other year, the Index is Hong Kong’s definitive benchmark on LGBT+ inclusion in the workplace and beyond, driving best practice and setting a comparative ranking of organisations across all sectors. Launched in 2014 and leveraging more than a decade of thought leadership and experience in Hong Kong and Asia, Community Business employs a robust methodology and rigour to ensure that the Index is credible and a valuable tool for organisations to advance their LGBT+ inclusion strategies. With each iteration of the Index, we raise the bar of performance, stretching companies further in the direction of best practice and adding a number of new elements to reflect the state of maturity of the market.

Community Business’ annual LGBT+ Inclusion Awards recognise outstanding achievements by individuals and organisations in driving LGBT+ equality and inclusion in the workplace and wider community.

Although the submission and assessment processes of the Index and the Awards are entirely separate, they follow parallel tracks from a timing perspective, culminating in the 2021 Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Vitrtual Gala in May 2021, where the Index results and Award winners are revealed. The tentative timeline is as follows:

The Index is Hong Kong’s definitive benchmark for organisations to measure their progress on LGBT+ inclusion in the workplace and beyond. We encourage organisations of all sizes and from different industries to participate. In 2017 and 2019, in addition to the main Index, we also provided a SME version for smaller companies. Though the SME version will take a different track this year, we look forward to continued engagement with this sector.

To participate in the Index, organisations indicate their interest to our team and are then given supporting materials and directed to the Index submission landing page. Participating organisations respond to an online questionnaire regarding their internal and external efforts in promoting LGBT+ inclusion in Hong Kong. In 2019, the Index had 9 assessment categories, and a total of 30 questions*. For each question, a description or supporting documentation may be required to be input. The online submission platform enables multiple users per organisation, and a signoff from a senior leader is required.

After the participating organisation completes their submission, it undergoes a detailed and robust assessment by the Community Business team, which scores and ranks all submissions. Besides a numerical ranking, submissions are awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze Standard according to their performance in the 9 assessment categories*. The top-ranked organisations are publicly announced at the LGBT+ Inclusion Gala virtually. If eight or more submissions are received for a specific industry, the top 3 organisations for that industry will also be announced.

The overall results will be analyzed and published in a consolidated report which provides an overview of LGBT+ inclusion in Hong Kong from the data provided by the participating organisations. The report will not attribute results to any individual organisation.

To participate in the Index, organisations pay a fee which will depend on the type of organisation and the extent of reporting requested. Please indicate your interest by emailing Adrienne Davis. 

Index submission is now closed. Thank you for your participation. Results will be announced at our Virtual Gala.

For more details on the 2021 Index, please see the separate Index page

Take a look at our previous Index results: 2015, 2017 and 2019.

The Awards were launched with an aim to recognize the outstanding efforts and achievements of individuals and organisations in promoting LGBT+ inclusion in Hong Kong. The number and categories of Awards varies each year, with 5 Awards offered in 2021.

Awards submission is now closed. Thank you for your participation. Results will be announced at our Virtual Gala.

Find out more about the 2021 Awards on our Awards page.

Take a look at our Previous Award winners: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020

What is the difference between the Index and Awards?

The Index and Awards are two different LGBT+ programmes with separate aims and processes. The Index provides an in-depth analysis of an organisation’s LGBT+ workplace inclusion practices and initiatives, benchmarking its progress with other organisations. To achieve this, participating organisations are required to provide responses and supporting evidence for 9 assessment categories and 30 questions.*

In contrast, the Awards’ submission and assessment is less involved and focus only on a few key areas of LGBT+ inclusion. The applications are shortlisted, and a panel of judges (including Community Business, LGBT+ community members and business representatives) then invites the finalists to speak about their work before deciding on the winner, which will be announced at our LGBT+ Inclusion Gala virtually.

Please refer to the table for a comparison between the Index and the Awards.

What is the LGBT+ Inclusion Gala?

Community Business’ LGBT+ Inclusion Gala Dinner has become the premier event of its kind and is highly anticipated each year. Held in May to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOTB), the Gala Dinner is Community Business’ annual fundraising event, helping to sustain Community Business’ work. The event includes a networking reception and dinner with award ceremony and silent auction. In the year when the Index is also held, the Index results will be revealed as well as the Award winners. Over 300 guests are expected to attend, including business leaders, HR/D&I professionals, LGBT+ opinion leaders, NGOs and community groups, Hong Kong, and regional media.

Table sponsorships are available as well as individual ticket sales. Check out the Gala page here.

Can I get involved in the Awards without making a nomination?

You can show your commitment to LGBT+ inclusion by sponsoring our Awards. We rely on Award sponsorships to sustain this impactful programme. Award sponsors will have branding benefits, be involved in the Award judging panel, enjoy discounts on Gala Dinner tables and present the Award to the winner at the Gala.

How do you choose members of the judging panel from the LGBT+ community?

We select judges carefully from our community partners and known contacts. Do you know someone who you think would make a great addition to our judging panel or to our network? Get in touch.

Why is the Index only conducted every two years?

To give organisations sufficient time to make progress on their LGBT+ inclusion strategies.

My organisation is at an early stage and would like to learn about best practice and audit our internal work in LGBT+ inclusion, but we are not prepared to have our results announced publicly. How can we participate?

Organisations can choose to participate anonymously if they are not sure of how well they will do or to use the Index to assess their progress. Their participation, ranking and/or standard achieved will remain confidential unless the organisation is one of our top 10 companies.

Will my organisation’s internal information appear in the Index Report?

The information that your organisation will submit for the Index will be kept confidential unless it is public information, or we receive explicit, written permission to include your information as a best practice example in our report. The Index Report mainly showcases the overall trends and performance and will not attribute results to any specific participants. While we also include best practices from participating organisations, we will seek their consent before publishing these findings

Can I have a copy of the Index questions?

The 2019 Index is available for purchase on our website – this contains the questions asked in 2019. 2020 LGBT+ Index questions will be released to participating organisations once they confirm their participation.

What kind of supporting information do I have to provide for the Awards or Index?

Essentially anything that can support your submission or nomination. For example, this could be an extract from your employee handbook, pictures from your internal events or a description explaining the work that has been done. Each question in the Index will describe whether and what kind of supporting information is required.

If my organisation is making an Index submission, do we still have to nominate for the Awards?

Yes. The Index and the Awards are two different programmes with two sets of submission and assessment processes. Joining one does not automatically sign you in for the other. You will have to submit separate entries, and the results of one will not impact the other.

How do I find out more?

Please email Adrienne Davis, LGBT+ Senior Programme Manager at

Adrienne.davis@communitybusiness.org or at info@communitybusiness.org.

Footnote:

The number of categories and questions may vary with each iteration of the Index, as the standard is raised while maintaining similarity to facilitate tracking of progress.

Note 1: SMEs are defined as:

· Manufacturing firms which employ fewer than 100 persons in Hong Kong; or

· Non-manufacturing firms (including firms engaged in construction; mining; quarrying; electricity and gas; import and export; wholesaling; retailing; catering; hotel; transport; warehouse; insurance; real estate; business service; community, social personal service) which employ fewer than 50 persons in Hong Kong.

For the purpose of this Index, we also allow branch or subsidiary companies of global organisations with less than 50 employees based in Hong Kong to choose to participate in the SME version. This is in recognition that some global or international organisations have a very small or recently set up a presence in Hong Kong and therefore expecting the same level of maturity or sophistication around LGBT+ inclusion may not be realistic.

IP Statement 

The Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Index and Awards and the India LGBT+ Pre-Index and Inclusion Index are part of Community Business’ Creating Inclusive Workplaces for LGBT+ Employees Campaign - aimed at raising awareness of LGBT+ as an important business issue and encouraging companies in Asia to adopt best practice in terms of promoting workplace equality for their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) employees. Unauthorised use of any of these initiatives, including copying, republishing, reprinting, recreating (in whole or in part) is prohibited without Community Business’ prior written permission.  

©2021 Community Business Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of this document (in whole or in part) is not allowed without prior written permission of Community Business Limited and due acknowledgement of authorship. If the use of this document (in whole or in part) will generate income for the licensee, prior written permission to that effect must be obtained from Community Business Limited. To obtain permission please write to ip@communitybusiness.org.