Going Beyond the Rainbow 🏳️🌈
How companies can champion meaningful inclusion year round
Fostering a truly inclusive environment goes beyond a once-a-year Pride parade float or turning your company’s logo rainbow for the month of June (a bit cringe, am I right?) 😬
As we anticipate the launch of festivities for Pride Month, it is essential for organizations to reflect on their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for their LGBTQIA2s+ team. To truly support LGBTQIA+ folks, organizations must enact meaningful DEI policies and programs throughout the year and make good on their promises. As a member of the queer community, as well as a DEI consultant and strategist, I am passionate about guiding organizations in this journey of creating a more inclusive workplace. In this post, I will outline some key strategies to support your LGBTQIA2s+ teammates year-round.
Foster an Inclusive Culture
Building an inclusive culture starts from the top down. Leadership should actively promote LGBTQIA-inclusion and ensure that all teammates feel safe and respected, first by educating themselves, and then modeling respectful and compassionate behavior at all times. They should not only encourage open dialogue on LGBTQIA+ topics, but prioritize appropriate resources for education, awareness & community-building across the organization. By establishing a culture of acceptance and understanding, organizations can create an environment where LGBTQIA+ employees feel empowered to bring their authentic selves to work every day and safe to speak up when actions don’t align with stated intentions.
Develop Robust DEI Policies
Formulating comprehensive DEI policies is crucial for promoting equality within the workplace. Explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity in anti-discrimination policies, and ensure that they are clearly & repeatedly communicated to all employees as well as the staff responsible for their implementation. DEI best practices and terminology are frequently evolving and companies should be proactive in keeping their policies current & up-to-date by having them critiqued by both internal and external experts, including employees inside the organization. Review and update standard operating procedures including onboarding, benefits enrolment, insurance coverage and parental leave policies and remove unnecessarily gendered terms or outdated language. Regularly assess these policies to ensure they remain aligned with evolving best practices and legal requirements in your operating region.
Champion Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
Employee Resource Groups, or ERGs, provide a platform for any marginalized group (in this case LGBTQIA+ employees) to connect, network, share their experiences and support one another. These groups offer a safe and non-judgemental space for people experiencing oppression, micro-aggressions or just regular everyday job stress to access a community of trusted peers for not only support, but mentorship, professional development and social engagement. Organizations should encourage the formation of LGBTQIA+ ERGs, providing them with resources and executive sponsorship to enhance their impact. Engage ERGs in your organization’s cultural decision-making processes and leverage their expertise to shape inclusive policies and programs. Beyond internal engagement, many employees in ERG’s may also be eager to help vet external messaging, PR and marketing campaigns to ensure they align with the organization’s values and culture.
Offer Non-Lame Diversity Training and Education
We’ve all sat through those cringe-inducing mandatory DEI training programs, but diversity training doesn’t need to be a snore! Education is a vital component of creating an inclusive workplace and for it to be truly meaningful, it must engage and speak to the real-life experiences of people in the 21st century.
Organizations can develop their own diversity training curricula that cover LGBTQIA+awareness, inclusive communication, and unconscious bias, or engage any of the amazing and talented DEI trainers or consultancies operating today to provide this for them. Providing ongoing education and resources to all employees (tailored to their tenure & job level) and encouraging them to broaden their understanding of LGBTQIA issues can be a critical bridge when it comes to building truly inclusive cultures from the bottom-up. In addition to asynchronous or “just-in-time” trainings, you can also invite external experts and speakers to lead live team workshops and group retreats, or just share their insights and experiences via talks or shorter Lunch & Learns, which are always impactful. Efforts should be made to ensure these events are attended by highly visible leaders including your executive, setting a strong example of participation for the rest of the company.
Ensure Gender-Inclusive Practices
Gender inclusivity is essential for supporting transgender, non-binary & gender non-conforming or questioning employees in the workplace. Organizations should implement policies that respect gender identity, such as encouraging employees to freely share and use preferred pronouns, reducing or eliminating gendered language and updating administrative systems to accommodate gender diversity. It’s 2023 — there’s no excuse for only having two gender options in your HRIS! Providing access to gender-neutral restrooms and lactation spaces, and ensuring that healthcare benefits are inclusive of gender-affirming care are also critical components of gender inclusivity. By embracing gender inclusivity in this way, organizations demonstrate their commitment to creating a truly inclusive workplace for LGBTQIA+ staff.
Foster Allyship and Advocacy
Allies play a vital role in creating an inclusive environment by modeling positive behavior and actively supporting and advocating for their LGBTQIA+ peers. However, it’s not always clear how to best support your teammates, so organizations can encourage employees to become active allies by providing allyship training and resources informed by a recognized anti-oppression training framework. Promoting allyship networks and creating platforms for allies to engage, such as community-moderated Slack channels can help amplify LGBTQIA voices. Recognizing and celebrating positive allyship efforts will reinforce the importance of inclusion and demonstrate to other employees what this behavior looks like in action.
Measure and Track Progress
To gauge the effectiveness of DEI initiatives, establish measurable goals and regularly assess progress against those goals. Collect data on employee demographics (ethically & always with informed consent,) conduct DEI and engagement surveys, and analyze employee feedback for actionable suggestions. Use this data to identify areas for improvement and track the impact of DEI efforts over time, such as via a global Diversity Score metric or similar KPI. Leaders need to take accountability for when the organization is falling short of its diversity and inclusion goals & acknowledge these shortcomings. Transparency in sharing progress and challenges will build trust and accountability within the culture over time.
Celebrating This Pride Month
While organizations absolutely should plan festivities to celebrate this Pride Month, supporting LGBTQIA+ employees year-round requires more than just participating in parties, parades and PR. It demands a continuous and unwavering commitment to fostering an inclusive culture and implementing meaningful DEI policies and programs at every level of the organization. By developing robust policies, nurturing ERGs, providing education, embracing gender inclusivity, fostering allyship, and tracking progress transparently, organizations can attract amazing talent and ensure their LGBTQIA+ team can show up and do their best work everyday.
Happy Pride!! 🏳️🌈🦄
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How can my business do a better job at supporting our LGBTQIA+ leaders?
Get in touch with us to arrange a free consultation — we’ll be happy to provide some high level advice in this area as well as work with you to develop a plan for how we can bring value to your DEI & Employer Equity strategy.
Disclaimer: All views contained therein are solely those of the author and do not represent the interests, views or values of any employer, client or partner-current, past or future. Portions of this article were written with the assistance of AI composition tools.
© Jaguara Consulting 2023, All Rights Reserved. Originally Published 05.30.2023
