Have workplace employee networks gone too far

Many workplace groups will help the executive when writing policies and also to reformat policies around equality. I know many groups have also done training sessions for executive and employees as a whole, many help HR with work experience programs and how to get rid of barriers they may have faced as working class young people going into that role. I'm not saying they are perfect at all, but in some workplaces they may be more performative and in others they may help to change the cultures have good talks to help those groups with networking or as pp mentioned a talk on burnout for autistic people which they're more likely to experience or talks on education on biases during recruitment, they also often do events for the companies corporate social responsibility so it helps them out there.

They won't be costing the taxpayer if it's a private company and I haven't seen many public sector workplaces doing this. Also, you said "BAME networks exclude the wrong type of minority" - which would be who?

You can say leave you prejudice at home but we know that people don't, just because something is illegal doesn't mean it doesn't happen and isn't prevelant. Disabled people face many barriers going into the workplace, on applications if they disclose it or ask for accommodations and we should care about all disabilities, whether that be physical and you have a wheelchair or a mental illness or a sensory condition (blind, deaf) or neurodevelopmental conditions or chronic illness. If you look at the Disablity Pride flag you'd see that all colours are represented for all disabilities and we should focus on making the workplace accessible for all disabilities not just having a ramp.

I fully agree that it's helpful to discuss things with people and realise that yu're not the only person who feels like that but do you really think you need to do that in work time? I don't think you do. In my workplace we talk about our menopausal symptoms plenty - in the staffroom on lunch breaks, or in passing as we are struggling to find the word for something simple and joke about it with a colleague . Does it REALLY need an official network?

Even if I DIDN'T feel able to discuss it with anyone at work, what about outside of work? Most people have female friends or relatives who they have heard talk about "the Change", or discussed their own symptoms with them. There is plenty on the internet and there was even in 2017.

@itsabeautifuldayjuly
I do audit
I work with hundreds of workplaces
and out of professional duty I read every relevant ET judgement summary
to try to save clients the eyewatering fees

If you are not aware of the financial and reputational harms caused by some employee networks
I can only suggest that you educate yourself

Dozends of tribunals a year at your work? because of employee networks? with all due respect, there is something deeply wrong with your workplace, and its not the employee networks…..

No because my work means I am constantly checking the procedures and controls of public sector bodies.

I therefore see it going wrong at dozens of places per year
as well as what I read by following Employment Tribunal outcomes

If you think that the current situation with the National Library of Scotland puts staff networks in a good light "you have no idea what you are talking about"

@Talkinpeace you are self employed, so in other words, you have no idea what you are talking about? lovely
tribunals are when things go wrong - in the vast majority they don’t
a bit like a person saying cars are evil and should never used because they saw some accidents….

For the most point I think these networks and attending these meetings are for people who don’t have enough work to do. I work for a similar organisation and it’s relentless and I’m always being badgered to join or contribute to a network or attend an event. No thanks. I have plenty of actual work to do.

Ha ha
I am self employed
But I follow Tribunal Tweets

Well, this says a lot about the company you work for.

A responsibly run business don’t simply respond to those who shout loudest.

It’s the networks’ job to make their voice heard. It’s your company’s job to listen to everyone.

Yes, but just having legal support when it all goes to shit is not the only way to make people feel supported.

Like I said in my comment upthread, my DP is autistic and is finding the ND employee network at his workplace very useful. They are not putting flags everywhere etc... they get in guest speakers and talk about stuff that is relevant. Their last talk was about how to handle burnout, and how to recognise the signs before it gets too bad.

As a result, he feels listened to and understood and feels able to stick at his job. The employment stats for autistic people are dire.

If it’s not meant for you then… it’s not meant for you.

But imaging the positivity and representation if it is?!

My family with neuro divergences, mental health problems, physical disabilities and social constraints live this level of support at work.

Why do you hate it so much?

@Talkinpeace my hr team are amazing, so are my network groups. HR make it possible for me to work (basics). my network team helps everyone to be fully integrated and seen. Equally important.

Embedding policies is not controlled by employee groups. That is the responsibility of executive managers and in a bank is overseen and enforced by regulators

These employee groups are a corporate marketing ploy and a way to make employees think they are getting something so that they complete the annual employee satisfaction survey correctly.

At my work, there is a network for people who are childless, but not by choice. I completely understand how some people may draw comfort from sharing their experiences with others, and have no issue at all with the network, but they tend to send fairly frequent emails to all staff about it, and I find it rather insensitive, as some people may not want to be reminded about their childless status when at work. It may be something they are trying to come to terms with. I think it should be an opt in comes, as opposed to an all-staff email, to minimise causing upset.

@itsabeautifuldayjuly
Eh ?
The requirements of the Equality Act towards disabled employees are not minor and cover much much more than the basics.
If your HR team are telling you otherwise, talk to one of the equality law experts on here or Linkedin or Xtwitter

@Talkinpeace the legal requirements are minor and barely enough to cover the basics. finding people who understand and can help beyond the absolute basics help a lot. Feeling welcome at work is more than just having the absolute basics covered!

I think theres no bigger microaggression or out and out aggression than telling someone they are making a (usually invisible and unknowable) microaggression toward you

Or in fact spending half your time putting the middle finger up to your colleagues by not doing your job because you're so busy organising a million pointless events.

Take that colleagues and fuck you!

No, they do not.

They end up costing employers millions of pounds in legal fees by misrepresenting the law.

Have you noted the pushback against perfectly legal SEEN networks
that will cost the taxpayer £££££ because management obeyed a lobby group
not the law.

Clean slate time.

I'm a logical person so I'm going to assume that you don't know every employee of the large bank you work for. Its a bit odd that you don't seem to understand that the very small number of people you know aren't representative of the entire company and that your experiences aren't reflective of everyone's experiences.

It is very well documented that minority groups face additional obstacles in the workplace. If you don't feel any benefit in the networks then don't join them. And however much a "chunk of money" working on projects costs your employer it frankly isn't your concern.

People like you are precisely why these networks are needed.

@XenoBitch
Adjustments to work around disabilities are a legal HR requirement since 1994
A 'staff network' is irrelevant.

@Talkinpeace i suggested you keep your personal opinions at home. you don’t need to participate in employee networks if you don’t want to, but there is definitely a need.
Are they perfect? no. but that just means we need to improve them, not that they are worthless.
Discrimination st work happens every day - networks help to deal with it and improve the situation

You can't leave your disabilities at home when you go to work.

"It’s one of those things that you are not forced to participate in, but others are free to do so and it doesn’t impact you if they do. "

It does if the workplace group demonises you

see Jewish Comics being "no platformed" by staff networks at Edinburgh Fringe venues

No we have not.

Activist networks are purity spirals who exclude those with moderate voices.

LGBTQI+++++ networks exclude lesbians and gays
BAME networks exclude the wrong sort of minority
Disability networks are now all about mental health not access ramps
Women's networks exclude females

Look up "self exclusion"
Ignore those who shout loudest
look for those who are genuinely excluded

Which is the job of the SLT and HR
NOT random activists with no knowledge (see also Isla Bumba)

Take your WORK self to WORK
Leave your personal opinions at home