“I think it’s important to be your true self at work. So if you’re part of the LGBT+ community, why not bring that to work?”
Part of LGBT+ History Month: Behind the lens at Imperial
Since finishing university, my career has been in project management, specialising in technology. I started out in the financial sector. After a few years, when the sector faced another financial crisis, I decided to find a happier environment and moved over to higher education in 2016. Since then I have worked for two universities in IT, supporting the delivery of large-scale digital transformation activities.
Over the last 18 months I have taken on a voluntary role in ICT to lead and champion equality, diversity and inclusion. I believe ICT is going through a complete change in mindset in terms of community, culture and recruiting diverse talent. It’s overwhelming to see the amount of positivity towards making the workplace an environment for everyone.
A couple of weeks ago in ICT we had a Time to Talk session that I arranged. I said to everyone, no work laptops and no talking about work, and I’d put a load of conversational prompts on the tables. I looked around and everyone was laughing and talking over a coffee and cake, and it was brilliant to see.
I think it’s important to be your true self at work. So if you’re part of the LGBT+ community, why not bring that to work. I’ve been busy distributing rainbow lanyards, putting up rainbow bunting for LGBT+ History Month, and sharing pronoun badges.
Even talking about your life outside of work can be part of it. I went to Brighton Pride last year, which was absolutely brilliant, and it was great to come back and tell those stories to colleagues. If everyone lets their personality show, you end up seeing the lovely variety of the people you work with.
Read Robert’s full profile along with our other three profiles for LGBT+ History Month