In June 2021, Sumo Group confirmed its Pride Commitments – a series of pledges to improve policies, physical spaces and ways of working to better support our LGBTQ+ team members.
Two years on, we’re delighted to confirm that these pledges have been met and that we will be continually assessing and evolving our processes to ensure a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for all.
Continually improve pronoun understanding: 100%
Last year, Sumo launched its Pronoun Guide for all its people. This optional field within our HR system allows everyone to select pronouns that resonate with them and display them on their profile, their Teams and Outlook profiles, and in email signatures. As we grow as a business and introduce new tech, platforms, and ways of working, we’ll continue to evolve our processes to best suit our people’s needs.
Optimise the way we collect data: 75%
Our internal data collection and demographics survey (Sumo Census) ran earlier this year. This enables our people to tell us who they are, how they identify (if they’re comfortable doing so), and how we can better support them. This is the first year the survey has run in this format and is set to be an annual activity for us to better know our teams, set ambitious new goals for ourselves, and measure the progress of our journey year after year.
Improve accessibility in all studios: 100%
We continue to work with our studios to ensure they are physically accessible for our teams. Wherever we’re able, we have introduced both single-gender and gender-neutral toilets in all of our studios to cater to everyone’s needs, this now includes Sumo Sheffield with Red Kite Games in Leeds soon to follow.
Transition in the Workplace Support: 75%
We continue to move forward with our Transition in the Workplace guidance. While these preparations take place behind the scenes, we continue to support our people on an individual basis through paid time off for appointments, support resources, training sessions, and internal communication channels to discuss name/pronoun changes.
Finally, Sumo Group’s internal inclusion and belonging community, PRISM, now has over 300 members and houses four public streams: LGBTQ+, Ability & Wellbeing, Women & Marginalised Genders, and Ethnic Minorities, led by internal Diversity Champions who coordinate meetings and suggest changes for company policies, initiatives, and processes. Over the last year, the LGBTQ+ stream has reached a record number of members, and has put together panels, sessions and training for everyone at Sumo Group to get involved in.
Leon Killin, Sumo Group’s Head of Belonging and Inclusion, said: “As we reach the tail end of Pride this year, there are many things I’m proud of. I’m proud of Sumo’s ongoing commitment to creating a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment for all. In an ever-evolving world, we’re proud to introduce new policies and processes. And I’m also proud of everyone working hard to make it easier for our people to bring their whole, authentic selves to work every day at Sumo Group.”