Esha Sugarman-Buckle, financial crime officer at Vitality, speaks to Health & Protection about being ‘out’ since the age of 16, how Vitality is embracing a “rising” movement and never encountering anyone at Vitality who has had a problem with her sexual orientation.
What have been your own experiences with regards to attitudes towards LGBT communities in the sector?
I’ve been an ‘out’ lesbian since the age of 16 and have never hidden my sexuality throughout my working life.
I believe that you should never have to alter who you are to appease others. I was previously employed in the retail and travel sectors. Since starting work in financial services, I have always been surrounded by other colleagues who are LGBTQ+ and happy to show that they are. It is just the norm in the office, and no one treats you any differently.
How have attitudes evolved in the sector?
Having been born in the 1990s, I feel I have been lucky with how society’s views of the LGBTQ+ community have changed over the past 30 years.
Diversity and inclusion with regards to sexual orientation have gained momentum in recent years – people feel more comfortable to talk about it and ask questions to understand it better. I think this has been helped by the additional sexual orientations that have been ‘labelled’ in the past few years.
What is the sector doing well and where does it need to up its game?
Embracing a rising movement. I have worked at Vitality for eight years now, and this year I’ve felt a real change in how the company views its LGBTQ+ employees. When I heard that they were putting together an LGBTQ+ forum, I was so happy and incredibly proud. The company had always sent emails acknowledging Pride month, but this was the first step into the limelight of showing how diverse and inclusive we are on a much larger stage.
Vitality’s LGBTQ+ forum has great support and involvement from senior leaders in the business, and they have really listened to what we have to say.
This year will be the first year that we are taking part in the various Pride events near our offices, and I can’t wait to be part of that.
Do you feel encouraged and enabled to bring your whole self to work?
I do feel very encouraged and enabled to bring my whole self to work. I have never encountered a single person at Vitality who has had a problem with my sexual orientation.
It’s been quite the opposite. It’s been embraced by all my work colleagues as a crucial part of who I am, and what I bring to the company.
In my first two positions here, my bosses were also part of the LGBTQ+ community. They understood and had their own stories to tell, and it created a positive culture in the teams.
Vitality is really committed to diversity and inclusion because they believe it’s good for employees, for the business, and for society. Diversity fosters innovation, which is part of Vitality’s DNA, and inclusive diversity promotes social cohesion, which benefits society.
Annual diversity and inclusion training is offered to all employees, and they’ve rolled out unconscious bias training for all managers.