IBM has been named the country’s most gay-friendly employer by gay rights campaigner Stonewall in its 2010 Workplace Equality Index.

Previously first in 2007, the technology company came back from eleventh position last year to reclaim the top slot in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers list. Second place went to Hampshire Constabulary - which was also named public-sector employer of the year - and third position was awarded to financial firm Ernst & Young.

“Over the past year our GLBT (gay, ***, bisexual and transgender) career development has really helped us clinch top position in the list,” Des Benton, IBM’s European GLBT programme manager, told PM.

“Enhanced voluntary monitoring of staff identified as GLBT is enabling us to track talent and high-potential individuals to ensure they are being supported in development and promotion, and it also enables us to build a pipeline of GLBT executives.”

IBM, which employs 23,000 staff in the UK and Ireland, was also recognised for its development of a dedicated sales and marketing team for the GLBT marketplace, plus global and regional networking groups, leadership forums and task forces.

Benton said that encouraging people to discuss issues through networking groups and to be open in the workplace about their sexual orientation increased staff productivity and built trust between work colleagues.

“Any environment where people can be authentic means they work honestly and do the best job they can,” Benton added.

IBM also has a policy of only working with companies which share its corporate diversity values. “In the past we have refused to do business with suppliers or organisations when we’ve found that they’re not complying with our equality policies or not behaving in line with IBM’s own ethics,” Benton said.

Organisations from 19 different sectors are represented in this year’s Top 100 list, with local authorities predominating. Professional services and financial retail companies were the top performers in the private sector, and police authorities and central government the highest in the public sector.

Over 350 employers applied for inclusion in the current Top 100 - a fifth consecutive year of record application numbers, and more than double the figure of 2006. “Even at a time of economic turmoil the best employers are choosing to recruit and retain the very best talent regardless of sexual orientation,” said Ben Summerskill, Stonewall’s chief executive.

The index was complied by assessing organisations’ submissions on equality practices and considering anonymous feedback from over 7,000 employee surveys.

The top 10 in full is IBM, Hampshire Constabulary, Ernst & Young, Brighton & Hove City Council, Goldman Sachs, Home Office, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Manchester City Council, Kent Police, Nacro.