2021 Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Index

This index is the first benchmark on LGBT+ workplace inclusion practices and initiatives in Asia. Introduced by Community Business for the first time in 2015, this pioneering initiative provides organisations in Hong Kong with a credible and robust tool to assess, progress and promote their efforts towards LGBT+ inclusion.

To give organisations sufficient time to make progress on their LGBT+ inclusion strategies, and to give time to help prepare new organisations to participate, Community Business conducts the Index every two years.

Index submission is now closed. Thank you for your participation.

Results of the Index will be revealed at the prestigious 2021 Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Gala held on 21 May.

The Index is based on the recommendations outlined in Community Business’ leading publication: Creating Inclusive Workplaces for LGBT Employees in Hong Kong – A Resource Guide for Employers. We assess organisations based on the following nine categories.

For more information on documents provided to Index participants, please get in touch.

Organisations can choose to participate in the Index at three different levels - Basic, Standard and Advanced. The fees for the 2021 Index are as shown in the following table:

The results of the 2021 Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Index will be announced at the 2021 Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Gala Dinner, which will be held in mid-May 2021.

Community Business invests significant time and resources to ensure a highly rigorous and credible assessment process.

All submissions are then reviewed and assessed by at least two senior members of the Community Business Team. A scoring pair is assigned to each submission and assessors review each submission individually before coming together to discuss, align and agree the final score.

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

We conducted five Index information sessions in 2020 to interested companies:

• 26 Aug: Information Session for Newcomers
• 3 Sep: Information Session on Index Questions 1 
• 16 Sep: Information Session on Index Questions 2 
• 23 Sep: Information Session on Index Questions 3 
• 13 Oct: Information Session On Index Questions 4

If I have already submitted for the Awards, do I still have to submit for the Index to enter?

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.

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.

What kind of supporting information do I have to provide?

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.

What do Gold, Silver and Bronze Standards mean?

Community Business reviews the distribution of scores and assigns Gold, Silver and Bronze Standards to participating organisations. Whilst the number of points needed to achieve each Standard will not be published, it will be kept fairly consistent with previous iterations to allow more direct comparison. The percentages of organisations achieving each of the standards set by Community Business are illustrated in the below graph.

Do we need to be supporters of Community Business to score well on the Index?

No, Community Business does not require organisations to make financial contributions to us in order to perform well in the Index. Community Business has a robust methodology to ensure objectivity in the Index assessments.

If an organisation supports any local LGBT+ programmes and events that are run by not-for-profits, including Community Business, this will be recognised under the COMMUNITY & ADVOCACY category in the Index Assessment.

Can I have a copy of the Index questions?

The 2019 Index questions are available for purchase on our website via the 2019 LGBT+ Inclusion report. 2020 LGBT+ Index questions will be released to participating organisations once they confirm their participation.

What are the previous index results?

Click to see the results for 2015, 2017 and 2019 Index.

Please refer to the 2021 Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Index & Awards page for more information. Contact us for any enquiries.

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.  

©2020 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.