Pride Month: how can employers cultivate LGBTQIA+ inclusive cultures at work?

June marks Pride Month and a time to raise awareness and bring LGBTQIA+ rights to the forefront of the public agenda. It’s a chance for us to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and come together to show our support in the fight against inequality.

Last year, we celebrated 50 years of Pride and reflected on how we can practise healthy allyship and the role we play in tackling discrimination. While incredible progress has been made in LGBTQIA+ inclusivity, we know there is still so much more to do over the next 50 years and beyond.

Research shows that LGBTQIA+ employees are more likely to experience conflict and harassment at work than heterosexual, cisgender staff. Not only that, but a higher proportion of LGBTQIA+ workers feel psychologically unsafe in the workplace. For many of us, our workspace is where we spend the majority of our time, so it is vital it feels safe and supportive for wellbeing and morale. As employers, we have a shared responsibility to ensure LGBTQIA+ employees can feel free to be themselves and have the same opportunities to reach their potential.

This Pride Month, we wanted to look at the ways we can collectively foster and promote diversity and inclusivity, breakdown barriers, and be better allies, so we can create welcoming workplaces where everyone can let their talents shine.

Including pronouns in work communications

 

Whether it’s in our email signatures, social media profiles or in online meetings, including our pronouns can help support our trans and non-binary workmates from being misgendered, normalise conversations about gender, reduce stigma, and encourage more inclusive language across all communications.

 

Train up with workshops

 

Empowering our teams through training can enable us to recognise and tackle discrimination, as well as build and sustain more inclusive cultures at work. Stonewall have a series of interactive workshops that provide a range of learning opportunities to raise awareness and understanding, from the first steps to LGBTQIA+ inclusion, to more in-depth workshops on mental health and service delivery.

 

Networking and inclusivity groups

 

Inclusivity groups can shape our policies and culture in a way that provides holistic support to LGBTQIA+ employees and establish safe channels for open communication. This can help us to listen and learn from lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ employees and foster representation across all levels to affect meaningful change. Regular networking opportunities also means we can nurture engagement with our team and take steps to adapt our approach to inclusivity where needed.

 

Embrace diversity in the workforce

 

At the core of it all, having a diverse team where everyone can feel valued for who they are cultivates a culture that is intrinsically supportive, inclusive and free from discrimination. As employers, embracing diversity in our workforce not only enhances overall wellbeing of our team, but our organisation too.