Medium steps for LGBTQ Inclusion

It’s time for part 2 of the Pride Month blogs. This time, we will be sharing information on medium-sized things you can do or propose to your organisation to further enhance LGBTQ inclusion. These are things that might require more resources, budget, buy-in, or education before being able to fully implement them. However, they also will have a greater return-on-investment for current and future LGBTQ staff. Read on for more thoughts!

·      Recruit more LGBTQ staff, train & develop them, and promote them – I know, maybe this doesn’t feel medium-sized, but it’s so important! Hiring more LGBTQ staff helps create more inclusion in your organisation overall. First off, having more diverse identities represented in your teams allows everyone to build more empathy with each other. New and varied perspectives and ideas will also be brought to the table. Additionally, LGBTQ staff will be able to help further inclusion efforts by sharing feedback on the overall organizational culture, as well as identifying gap areas in inclusion that might have been overlooked.

 How do you recruit more LGBTQ people? One way to start is by having an inclusive hiring statement in your job descriptions, as mentioned above. Another is by highlighting during an interview process the organisational approach to inclusion (for instance, by not asking if someone has a husband/wife in the interview process or by highlighting the employee resource groups available to all staff). It’s unlikely that you will know someone is LGBTQ during an interview without them disclosing it, or having resume points that indicate that identity.

Once there are LGBTQ folks on staff, make sure that effort is put into developing and training them. Value their feedback and perspectives. LGBTQ folks often feel overlooked at work, so making sure to acknowledge contributions is key. It’s also necessary to create an environment conducive to folks being able to come out at the workplace. This allows LGBTQ staff to be more focused and less anxious, as they are not constantly worrying about coming out, office gossip about their identity, or being outed against their will. Of course, each individual staff member should make the choice to come out on their own; however, it is much easier to come out if it is clear that their colleagues, HR, supervisors and policies support them.

·      Support and encourage the creation of an ERG that is led by LGBTQ staff – Employee Resources Groups, or ERGs, are a cornerstone of many organisations. Different organisations will have ERGs for gender/women’s issues, LGBTQ, mental health awareness, minoritized racial/ethnic groups and more. These groups can serve as important touchpoints for a variety of reasons. They allow senior management to receive specific feedback and ideas on how to enhance inclusion efforts from specific identity groups. They can also be instrumental in bringing in speakers, workshops, and educational resources for other team members. Encouraging the creation of ERGs also send signals to LGBTQ staff that their identities and voices are valid and welcomed. ERGs need funding and resources in order to be successful; participation in them can also be considered when looking at folks for promotion, raises, etc.  

·      Hire external consultants to audit your LGBTQ-inclusion efforts – Bringing in external folks to look at hiring practices, parental leave policies, insurance policies, and overall organizational culture can be a great way to learn what gaps exist. External folks have no connection to the hierarchy of the organisation and are able to see issues more clearly, as well as be more direct in their recommendations. Allowing staff to speak with consultants confidentially and anonymously allows management to understand much more clearly how people are feeling about inclusion efforts. Consultants are also specialists that can help organisations that want to do better with inclusion, but aren’t sure how.

Bringing in external consultants also highlights the organizational commitment to doing better, learning more and enhancing the quality of work life for the staff. There is a level of transparency that an outsider can have with staff at all levels that simply isn’t possible under the constraints of hierarchy and pre-existing relationships.

·      Include LGBTQ identity in your non-discrimination statement – Most organisations have a non-discrimination policy that lists protected identities (i.e, “X organisation does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of gender, religion, race, etc”). If LGBTQ identity is not specifically noted in this statement, consider adding it! This is another way to attract and retain LGBTQ talent and it again signals the organizational priority to creating an inclusive work environment. Don’t forget to add gender identity as well.

·      If uniforms are required, have multiple options for staff to choose from – For work that requires uniforms, staff should have multiple options to choose from. Many organisations, and especially schools, will provide two options for uniforms, based on binary gender (i.e., male and female) and staff/students will be required to choose the one based on their birth sex. Allowing staff to choose from multiple options creates a greater level of comfort for transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse staff, as well as allows all staff to feel they have a little more flexibility in what they wear. All staff should feel comfortable in the clothes they are in while at work, especially if certain clothes are required for the job itself.

·      Choose insurance policies that are transgender-inclusive – It can sometimes be difficult for transgender folks to find and access trans-affirming healthcare. When choosing insurance policies, ensuring that the coverage includes gender affirmation surgery (previously known as sex reassignment surgery), hormone replacement therapy, and other transgender medical needs, will send a very strong signal to all of your staff that trans folks are welcome and valued at the organisation. This also allows trans folks to feel more comfortable to potentially undergo a physical transition while employed. Check out this resource for more information on the types of things that can be covered that are trans-affirming.

The above suggestions and strategies definitely take more planning and resources to implement, but doing so will make a significant difference to any current or future LGBTQ staff. It’s not enough for organisations to simply say they are inclusive- they need to be able to back it up. A general litmus test would be to imagine that someone asks, “What does your organisation do to include LGBTQ folks?” If it isn’t possible to name at least 3-5 specific policies, practices or resources, then it’s likely time to take a look at what else can be done to further inclusion efforts.