SingPost pushes diversity envelope with non-binary gender disclosures

SINGAPORE Post (SingPost) has blazed a trail for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in Singapore, becoming the first major listed company to measure and report non-binary gender statistics.

In its sustainability report for the year ended March 2023, SingPost added the category “Non-binary, gender diverse or unknown” for statistics on the gender composition of its workforce and on training hours. The report stated that 55.5 per cent of the company’s employees were male, 44.1 per cent were female, and 0.1 per cent were non-binary, gender diverse or unknown.

Checks done by The Business Times show that SingPost is the only one among the 50 largest companies by market capitalisation – as at Aug 24 – listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to disclose non-binary gender statistics. A spokesperson from SingPost said that the company established its diversity and inclusion policy in the 2022 to 2023 financial year, and included non-binary as a category to “promote greater inclusiveness”.

However, the postal service provider declined to comment or share details about how the decision to include the statistic came about.

The push for greater recognition of non-binary gender identities has been a slow but growing movement globally, especially in developed markets like the United States and the European Union. An Ipsos poll of 22,514 adults from 30 countries in the first quarter of 2023 showed that 3 per cent of respondents did not identify as either male or female. That 3 per cent included those who identified as transgender, non-binary, non-conforming or gender-fluid, or anything other than male or female.

Sustainability-related reporting standards mostly do not address gender identities directly. For instance, the widely used Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards on diversity and equal opportunity require that companies disclose gender metrics, but not whether those metrics should include non-binary identities.

SingPost’s move puts it in an exclusive club of companies worldwide. Globally, companies that report non-binary gender figures include tech giants Google and Salesforce and HSBC bank.

Tech corporations Meta and Apple have publicly either acknowledged that gender is not binary or rolled out initiatives in support of non-binary people, although they have not made non-binary disclosures in their annual diversity reports.

In Asian markets, including Singapore, non-binary gender recognition has not been as prominent an issue. While there has been a growing demand from policymakers, investors and consumers for companies to implement policies and programmes to promote greater diversity, especially at the senior management level, the key diversity metric in the Asia-Pacific region is still on increasing female representation on corporate boards, said Kim SK, vice-president for Asia-Pacific ESG and climate research at MSCI.

A spokesperson for ESG ratings provider Sustainalytics said that non-binary-related corporate disclosure is still low. “This could be related to the options in a corporate survey or a hesitancy in some cultures for non-binary employees to disclose openly.”

But SingPost’s move may be an indication of the growing importance of non-binary disclosures, which may one day be a diversity metric that ESG ratings companies look out for.

Sustainalytics said it views companies working towards inclusion of non-binary gender as an appropriate indicator under DEI inclusion disclosures and hopes to see more companies disclosing “a broader scope of gender” even as the ESG ratings provider continues to advance its DEI reporting indicators.

David Smith, senior investment director of Asian equities at abrdn, said that companies are already making more disclosures on diversity metrics as they respond to investor interests and regulatory requirements.

However, he noted that diversity reporting is “far from straightforward”, even as a growing number of companies are recognising that traditional gender categories may not be sufficient to fully communicate diversity at a company.

“This development would appear to be consistent with that view, and is, I suspect, something we’ll see more of in Asia,” Smith said.

The immediate benefit for companies making such disclosures would be the ability to attract and retain talent.

Smith said abrdn believes companies that embed diversity and inclusion standards are better placed to attract talent, get the most from their workforce, and meet the needs of their customers.

“If the company is perceived to be welcoming and open-minded, no doubt it is easier to attract talents even though other elements like compensation may be a bit short,” said Gabriel Nam, partner at human resources consultancy Page Executive.

However, Nam noted that any commercial impact or financial returns would likely not occur overnight. There are also no reporting requirements by SGX to report on non-binary gender statistics.

“But if the company has a vision to move ahead of their industry fellows or competitors, and foresee that eventually it may become a compliant requirement, then of course the company will enjoy the headstart,” he added.

Companies that recognise greater gender diversity may also cater to broader viewpoints and ideas when making business decisions or developing strategies.

While financial returns are still the priority for investors, ESG considerations are becoming increasingly important, especially impact investors, who are keen on measuring and assessing social impact, Nam said.