Pride in The Office

Holly Smith, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Partner, Personio discusses why an inclusive place to work is something to have all year round.

Pride Month is all about equality, acceptance and celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s important for raising awareness around diversity in the community, as well as the changes that still need to be made to ensure everyone has equal rights.

Whilst some progress has been made, there is still lots more to be done for LGBTQIA+ people to feel safe and protected in their day to day lives – as well as at work.

A report earlier this year from the charity Just Like Us found that a quarter of LGBTQIA+ young adults said they went ‘back into the closet’ when they started work. They found that 14% said they rarely or never feel able to be themselves at work, which increased to 20% for transgender respondents.

This demonstrates just how important it is for employers to take action to make sure LGBTQIA+ employees feel heard, supported and safe at work – and beyond.

Here, we share some advice for employers on how they can take action and implement long term positive changes that are needed to support LGBTQIA+ employees all year round.

Inclusive measures and initiatives

Firstly, it’s important that LGBTQIA+ policies are entrenched into workplace policies and strategies to show you are allies in sexual orientation and gender equality alike. For example, businesses should ensure pronouns are shared as default, they must include policies around equal parental leave for same sex couples, which include adoption and surrogacy, in addition to providing equal pay and representation in management, are embedded into their framework.

At Personio, as well as embedding inclusive policies and ways of working into our core strategies, we’ve also invested in LGBTQIA+ socials and events. For example, this year we have partnered with local charities to create content for our first ever Eurovision event, we’re also hosting a queer parent panel and allyship workshop as well as, raising money for charities including Kyiv Queer, Belong To and Albert Kennedy Trust.

Employee led networks

Providing resource groups and networks within a workplace is a great way to support employees by creating a safe space where people are able to talk to, and connect with, similar people. Employees can also identify any issues that affect them and inform employers on how to improve them, benefiting everyone and improving their sense of belonging and inclusion in the workplace.

At Personio, we have an employee-led Diversity Committee which helps us to prioritise and make progress towards our Diversity, Inclusion and Equality vision. Within this committee, various Employee Resource Groups, including LGBTQIA+ Allies, are able to represent and discuss the needs of their community at work – helping to improve the businesses policies and initiatives.

Education and training

Providing all year round diversity and inclusion education is a key way to directly foster awareness around the unique issues that LGBTQIA+ people face. As part of this, it’s important to include and hear from LGBTQIA+ employees to receive their insight. One example is inclusive language training; through this, employers can create an internal company guide that includes practical, accessible tips that can be put into action. This can be used to engage and educate employees who do not identify as LGBTQIA+, as well as to spread the message that diversity is celebrated by your organisation. At Personio we use regular awareness days to help reignite energy around this topic; this helps us to build terminology and create conversation in the organisation.

We also regularly host both internal and external ‘Ask Me Anything’ sessions as well as a Queer Parent panel for Pride, where parents at Personio can share their real experiences. In addition, we are also hosting an Allyship workshop to help individuals understand how they can show up to support their colleagues and create inclusive workplaces.

There is still lots of progress to be made, but here we’ve shown a few simple steps employers can take to create an inclusive workplace that makes everyone feel welcome. To create genuine change, businesses must commit to making their environment safe and inclusive for everyone, not just in Pride month but all year round.