Humanity has burst through the corporate layers and demanded its rightful place at the centre…
How inclusive is your workplace?
Across the globe this June, millions of us will be marching through the streets to celebrate Pride. But what about once we’re back at work? According to Stonewall, more than a third of LGBT staff have hidden or disguised that they are LGBTQ at work, because they were afraid of discrimination. It’s clear that the battle for inclusivity in the workplace is far from won.
So, this June, we’re celebrating Pride by calling for organisations to drive inclusivity with 5 key actions.
1. Celebrate (with meaning!)
The issue: In a recent government report, 30% of LGBTQ people said they hadn’t come out to senior colleagues.
Take action: Make sure your employees know exactly where your company stands on inclusivity by going big on celebrating Pride throughout June. Articles, employee events, social conversation starters etc are all great for getting your message out there. And make sure your celebrations are rooted in change – use them to set inclusivity goals or celebrate real successes.
2. Get recruitment right
The issue: Almost one in five LGBTQ people who were looking for work said they were discriminated against because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
Take action: While diversity is often included in recruitment policies, it’s still often overlooked in practice. Do your managers understand what diversity at your organisation really means and have undertaken unconscious bias training? Do your recruitment ads make it crystal clear that everybody is welcome?
3. Campaign to listen
The issue: 18 per cent of LGBT employees say they’ve been the target of negative comments or conduct from work colleagues, simply because they’re LGBT. While one in eight say they wouldn’t feel confident reporting homophobic/biphobic bullying to their employer.
Take action: People often don’t report issues because they simply don’t believe anything will happen as a result. Roll out a strong campaign to make sure your people are clear on who to tell, encourage whistle blowing and make clear what will happen if they do.
4. Create conversations
The stat: According to the Human Rights Campaign, nearly two thirds of non-LGBTQ employees believe it is ‘unprofessional’ to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace.
Take action: Creating an inclusive culture means nobody has to hide who they really are. Setting up pages on Workplace, advocate groups and specific campaigns to discuss inclusivity are all good ways to open up the conversation. Ask your LGBTQ leaders be role models, sponsoring individual campaigns.
5. Choose training
The issue: According to Catalyst, in 2018 over half of LGBTQ employees heard lesbian and gay jokes at work, while 37% heard bisexual jokes and 41% heard transgender jokes.
Take action: Do your people know exactly what’s expected of them? Do they know how to refer to each other? Or what questions are acceptable? Make inclusivity language pride of place in your core training programme.
Ready to take action on inclusivity?
Then we’ve got the research, behavioural strategists and campaign planners to make it happen.
Contact Lucy for a chat.
