Creating an LGBT-friendly workplace isn’t just the right thing to do, it makes business sense, too.
“Inclusive workplaces ensure employees are safe, respected and able to fully contribute” says Jackie Ferguson, Head of Content & Programming at The Diversity Movement.
As LGBTQ professionals are more able to be out at work, it’s every company’s responsibility to make its queer-friendly workplace by improving LGBTQ+ inclusion at work and creating an inclusive work culture to make queer employees feel safe, welcome, and accepted. From company culture to inclusive benefits, there are a number of ways to do this.
Beyond being a moral imperative, catering to LGBTQ employees is a plus for everyone involved. Research conducted by YouGov on behalf of LinkedIn in May revealed that 49% of LGBTQ professionals will not work at a company that does not have LGBTQ-friendly benefits.
According to Gallup, 7.2% of Americans identify as LGBTQIA+. With Pride Month approaching it’s important to make LGBTQIA+ people feel seen, heard, and represented every day, not just during June.
Creating a safe and adaptable workplace can also foster “freedom of emotional real estate” for queer employees, says Rosanna Durruthy, head of global diversity, inclusion, and belonging at LinkedIn.
In an LGBTQ-inclusive workplace, queer employees are “not scrutinizing every word coming out so it won’t be misinterpreted by someone else. You’re free to be yourself, meaning free to be more innovative, more productive. Here the company should promoting diversity at work.
Every company has to start somewhere. Even if you’ve never addressed the needs of LGBTQ professionals in the past, taking the initiative to building an inclusive work environment, to start doing so is a key indicator to making your workplace LGBT-friendly and to tell your queer employees that you’ll meet them where they are.
How to initiate LGBTQ friendly workplaces
The approach to creating LGBTQ friendly workplaces has to be multipronged.
- Employers must understand the scope of the law while going beyond the basic minimums offered by it, to create inclusive policies for all employees, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
- Every organization needs to build a culture of inclusion through engaging gender sensitization programs.
- It is important to have a culture of learning, where policy-makers learn from the community as well as allies, and have conversations, rather than taking a unidirectional approach.
Ways to Make Queer friendly workplaces
Here are 3 ways to make your workplace more accepting of LGBTQIA+ people.
It’s not all Pride and parties
Some of the colleagues may want to be inclusive, and probably having conversations about Pride Month this week but are silent the rest of the year. It clearly shows, they want to look like an ally without putting in the actual work. The companies make t-shirts, water bottles, and advertisements with rainbows and catchy taglines, but queer people need so much more to feel seen.
To make your workplace more LGBTQ friendly, start with including queer voices year round. Introduce ideas that could benefit your workplace by expanding your audience, produce Queer Content Outside of June
LGBTQIA+ people want to feel safe at work, but when their voices are only acknowledged during special months it doesn’t feel like employers are practicing genuine allyship.
“For anyone who’s a member of the LGBTQ community, we’re not a part of the community one month of the year. It’s a year-round experience. And so you would hope that companies are demonstrating that same kind of support on a year-round basis,” LinkedIn’s Durruthy says.
Recruit LGBT+ inclusion champions and allies from all levels of your organization, and make sure you have visible support and sponsorship from senior leaders.
Adopt Basic LGBTQ+ inclusion Policies
Put Your Pronouns, use inclusive language
The best way to keep someone from feeling not inclusive is by making an effort toward inclusion in your day-to-day workplace operations. Building queer inclusive language into company’s structure is a great first step.
When onboarding or otherwise collecting employee information, companies should provide the space for everyone to accurately self-identify. That guidance applies to any and all materials your company produces. “If you notice that things are gendered, your employee handbook, or whatever, says ‘he or she’ throughout it notice where that stuff pops up. Neutralize everything,” says Charlie Arrowood senior counsel to the Richard C. Failla LGBTQ Commission of the New York Courts.
Try calling people what they want to be called. Normalize queerness in your workplace by using your pronouns on Zoom, Slack, and in your email signature.
It is an effective way of normalizing discussions about gender and creating an inclusive work environment for transgender and non-binary people.”
Not everyone will feel comfortable sharing their pronouns. You could say something like: Anyone who wants to add their pronouns to their email signature is welcome to. This would help make it clear that there is respect in each other’s gender identities and also normalize conversations about gender.
Bathroom access
Instituting gender-neutral bathrooms or encouraging LGBTQ employees to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity is one important way to signal to those employees that they are valued. Diversity trainings should educate employee on the importance of being accepting and welcoming when they find themselves in a company bathroom with a LGBTQ coworker.
Dress codes
Organizations like Accenture amongst others, have begun to regionally implement gender-neutral dress codes. By making it explicit that employees may choose from various options, such as dress shirts, pantsuits, and skirt suits, companies can help destigmatize varying expressions of gender. Such policies may also aid in recruitment and retention by signaling that normativity is not expected.
Rethink Your Health Insurance
Having health insurance that’s inclusive of queer people, can make or break an LGBTQ employee’s decision to stay at your company. Many of them have been moving from one job to another depending on their requirement, so providing comprehensive coverage can be the key to securing employees for the long term.
Be Vocal on LGBTQ Issues
It’s a terrifying time to be queer in the United States. More anti-LGBTQ legislation has been introduced in 2022 than ever before. A 2022 YouGov study conducted on behalf of LinkedIn revealed that 1/3rd of LGBTQ professionals ages 18 to 69 believe their company has not made them feel supported and heard amid ongoing news around this legislation, and 36% of LGBTQ professionals say they would consider leaving their current company if it does not take a firm stance against
Support your LBGT staff by understanding that everyone is different. Set time aside to get to know your team and create a safe space for them to share any issues they’re having, if they wish to.
Coming out as transgender in the workplace can be extremely daunting. Companies can ease this stress for their employees by having clear transition policies already in place, both to meet the universal needs of LGBTQ people and adapt to an individual employee’s experience.
Queerness people are everywhere and they comes in all colors, shapes, sizes, and creeds and they are here to stay.
Inclusive and Not Inclusive Terms
Language matters. It can help people feel included, empowered and protected. When language is misused, it can leave people feeling alienated, lost and stigmatized.
Companies should create a list of inclusive terms (as listed) to help the employees use the right language.
Inclusive terms
- Hi all, folks, team, friends, team, everybody, everyone, or specific terms like customers, clients, employees
- Invite your partners, spouses to the event
- Chair, chairperson, door attendant, bartender, server etc
- Humankind
- Best person for the job
- The person in the green shirt
- Sexual orientation, sexuality
- Gender identity
- Trans, trans person, transgender person, trans man, trans woman
- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer (a reclaimed slur term that many people identify with, but others find offensive)
- Employees should read guidance carefully
Not inclusive terms
- Hi guys, ladies, gentlemen
- Invite your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife to the event
- Chairman, doorman, barman, barmaid, waiter, waitress, etc.
- Mankind
- Best man for the job
- The lady in the red dress
- Sexual preference
- Transgendered, transwoman, transman
- Decided to be/become a man or woman,
- Homosexuals
- The man in the green shirt
- Each employee should read his guidance carefully
Conclusion
When people feel totally authentic and connected with their organizations only then can they achieve their full potential at work. While the success of inclusion and diversity policies in any workplace will eventually depend on the strength of execution and adoption, companies should actively making efforts towards promoting LGBTQ+ acceptance at work.