Celebrate Pride in June, work for LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion the rest of the year
In Finland only 8% of LGBTI people report being very open about their identity at work, according to the EU report “A long way to go for LGBTI equality”. Most say to be selectively open, choosing when and where it is safe to reveal one’s identity. The number of people being fully silent is alarming: 27% of the study respondents say they hide who they are.
Paying attention to the LGBTQ+ community is the right and the wise thing to do
The silence around LGBTQ+ questions comes with huge costs. For the individual minority member it leads to increased stress: having to scan the environment and select what to reveal, when and to whom is an extra burden. This burden is made even heavier if the organizational climate is heterosexist, and little or no support mechanism exist for minorities.
According to research being open about one’s identity at work leads to higher commitment, better job satisfaction and lower levels of conflict between work and home. Research also shows that everyone, regardless of own identity, experience lowered well-being in heterosexist workplaces where for instance anti-gay jokes are present. Overall, companies with LGBT-friendly policies have been found to perform significantly better in economic terms. A study conducted by researchers at University of Vaasa and Aalto University showed that companies with LGBT-policies had higher profitability and higher stock market valuations.
How to break the silence?
Challenging the existing silence can seem as difficult at first. Where can one start, if no one in the organization ever talks about LGBTQ+ questions? How and with whom should the discussion be initiated? How could one find out how LGBTQ+ minorities in the organization want the issue to be treated, if one doesn’t know who belongs to the minority?
- Include questions about LGBTQ+ identities in your D&I survey
One way to start is by conducting a D&I survey, where the focus is on mapping the demographics of the workforce and different groups’ experiences of inclusion. Ask your employees about the minority groups they identify with, how safe they feel expressing belonging to the groups and analyse your employees responses to work related experiences along different identity lines. This way you will have data that allows you to identify the main challenges of inclusion and you have a good base for starting discussions. However, do note that D&I surveys have to be fully anonymous at all stages.
2. Support the founding of an LGBTQ+ employee resource group
One way to create a safe space for sharing and being open about one’s identity is by creating an employee led resource group for minority employees. As a leader, communicate about your organisation’s commitment to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion and about your willingness to support an employee resource group. While it is important that you let employees lead the group, make sure to provide the resources needed and nominate a person in the leadership group as sponsor for the group. You can read about Linnea West’s experiences and thoughts about founding the Finnish Police’s LGBT-network here.
3. Train your staff to act as allies
Most of your employees want to be good humans, good colleges and include everyone. However, we all have unconscious biases which can lead us to say things we don’t mean. In some situations we might also not know what to say, or while we try to be nice we might commit a microaggression. Saying “Oh, don’t worry it doesn’t make any difference to me!” to a college who tells about being gay can be meant as positive and encouraging but the impact is quite the opposite.
Becoming an ally, the good person most want to be, requires reflection, education and being intentional. Often it requires stumbling, making mistakes, apologising and learning. Provide your staff with training that offers the opportunity to pause, reflect, exchange thoughts and feelings and provide resources for growing as an ally.
4. Work from an assumption of diversity
We all have a role to play, regardless of our organizational position or our gender or sexual identity. We can all work for inclusion every day. A simple way to do so, is to always assume diversity in all situations. Assume your colleagues and clients have diverse backgrounds, and make sure that persons of any background could at any time join your discussion and feel respected and included.
Workplaces need the voices of everyone. To break the silence and to foster LGBTQ+ inclusion, the work for equality has to be done all year round.
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Research:
Bell, M., Özbilgin, M., Beauregard, T., & Sürgevil, O. (2011). Voice, silence, and diversity in 21st century organizations: Strategies for inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees. Human Resource Management, 50(1), 131–146.
European Union Agency for Fundamental rights (2020) A long way to go for LGBTI equality. https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2020-lgbti-equality-1_en.pdf
Fatmy, Veda and Kihn, John and Sihvonen, Jukka and Vähämaa, Sami, Does Lesbian and Gay Friendliness Pay Off? A New Look at LGBT Policies and Firm Performance (September 2, 2020). Accounting & Finance, forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3359814 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3359814
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June’s Includia Reflects is written by Includia’s CEO Jonna Louvrier. Louvrier has over 10 years of experience on D&I research in Finland, France and USA.
