Is Your Organization LGBTQ2S+ Inclusive?

(Image Credit: Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash)

Your organization should aim to be a safe and inclusive space, and that includes showing continuous support for those who identify as a part of the LGBTQ2S+ community.

With June being Pride Month, celebrations have been taking place to honour those who are LGBTQ2S+ and their accomplishments. With this in mind, some companies have a habit of only promoting wellness and support to the LGBTQ2S+ community during this month when they should be working to create an inclusive workplace and improving their inclusion strategies each and every day. 

While some companies do try to implement good inclusion strategies for LGBTQ2S+ employees, only 63% have an LGBTQ2S+ champion at the CEO/Executive level and only 59% of companies communicate a strong leadership message on the importance of LGBTQ2S+ inclusion in the workplace to all employees. There is a definite need for more inviting workplaces, so it should be a top priority to create an inclusive work environment so everyone can excel. 

Here are 5 ways that you can create an inclusive workplace and help your employees feel welcome, so they can belong and soar. 

1. Hire LGBTQ2S+ Candidates

An inclusive workplace starts with your recruiting process, so hiring candidates regardless of their gender or identity is the future of employment. The sad truth is a lot of Canadian companies have not created safe and inclusive spaces for LGBTQ2S+ employees. According to Benefits Canada and a study commissioned by Telus, a survey of 814 Canadians, with half of the respondents being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer, found that one-third of Canadian companies don’t see their work as LGBTQ2S+ safe or inclusive. Additionally, 45% of the respondents also said the same for transgender employees as well. 

So how can you fix this? 

Your organization should be constantly evolving to meet and accommodate the needs of your employees and work to dismantle any forms of discrimination. One way you can do this is through the way you hire new employees. Organizations can be more inclusive by adapting the hiring process to recruiting potential employees who are diverse in terms of their gender to create a space that is comfortable for everyone. Along with this, you can also make your organization known as an equal opportunity employer to promote and reinforce the drive for inclusion when hiring. When you aim to create a more inclusive and comfortable workplace, your employees will not only feel like their needs are being met, but will feel safer within the organization as well. 

2. Provide Resources to Eliminate Discrimination

Unfortunately, there are people who feel they need to hide their sexual orientation to fit into their workplace because they believe their colleagues or employer will not support them. Suzanne Mills’ study on LGBTQ2S+ experiences in the workplace found that 50% of participants were not out to their employers and in the mining and construction sectors, 64% of employees hid their sexual orientation from their managers and coworkers in fear they would be treated differently.  

In order to make your employees feel comfortable with expressing themselves in your organization, implementing resources for your employees and showing that your organization supports your LGBTQ2S+ employees will demonstrate your solidarity to stand with them. 

Having resources is a good first step to inclusion but making sure your employees understand, learn and live by them is the second step. Ensuring that your employees understand the importance of creating an inclusive work environment will also show them why it is not okay to judge others and reinforce the importance of respecting everyone. 

3. Offer Organization-Wide Diversity Training

Another way to ensure that your organization can be an inclusive space is to provide Organization-Wide Diversity Training. Pride at Work Canada says that organization-wide diversity training provides related training to all employees and can offer support to those who need it. This training should include a review of discrimination and harassment policies as well as education on the use of respectful vs. harmful language. Organization-wide diversity training can also include a detailed plan on how your organization will support an employee that has experienced or witnessed discrimination or harassment. 

Organization-wide diversity training should not only reflect the roles and responsibilities of the organization but the individual dynamics of each business area, and be reinforced with appropriate behaviours modelled at all levels of the organization to ensure these initiatives are practiced on a day-to-day basis. 

For some tips on how to create a diversity and inclusion training program click here!

4. Prioritize Your LGBTQ2S+ Employee’s Comfort 

Creating a comfortable workplace can be as simple as prioritizing what your employees are feeling and showing that you respect them. One way to show respect for your employees can be by encouraging everyone to list their pronouns next to their names so everyone is referred to properly, or even adding gender-neutral restrooms to your organization. By making respectful changes, it can add to the overall comfort of your employees and shows that you respect and accept them for who they are. Making it a practice to treat everyone with respect and create comfort in your organization can ultimately help to end discrimination in the workplace as well. Also, by making it known in your organization that everyone matters and their opinions do too, you show your support for your employees. 

But creating inclusive practices does not stop here. Modifications to your organization to create more inclusive spaces should be ongoing, so always make sure to listen to your LGBTQ2S+ employees and to make changes that will benefit them, their ability to improve in the organization, and make them feel comfortable. 

5. Introduce LGBTQ2S+ Mentorship Programs

Introducing mentorship programs aimed at LGBTQ2S+ employees into your organization can be a great way to encourage workers to develop their professional careers and promote identity management. Identity management means improving efficacy while fully acknowledging their LGBTQ2S+ status and can be useful for businesses that have no visible senior-level LGBTQ2S+ employees or executives. 

Having a mentorship program can encourage employees to talk about any opportunities or obstacles that they are facing in the workplace and help them to excel within the organization. Along with this, mentors can be very beneficial for professional development because when employees can be honest about who they are in and out of the workplace, they feel that they have that level of trust and can truly be successful. 

Aiming to make companies more accommodating for the LGBTQ2S+ community will open many doors on the path to inclusivity. By actively making changes within your organization and working to implement good practices to benefit LGBTQ2S+ employees, you can ensure that celebrating and acknowledging pride lasts much longer than one month alone.