1. Building an Inclusive culture for LGBTQIA workforce

The LGBTQIA workforce of today has seen a generational transition in terms of how it defines itself and what it wants from workplace culture of inclusion. LGBTQIA is a term that collectively represents people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (one's sexual or gender identity), intersex, and asexual/aromantic/agender. The LGBTQIA workforce, particularly among younger generations, is significantly more racially diverse and more likely to include women, transgender employees, and persons with a wide range of sexual orientations than in the past. Various organisations have made strides in expanding workplace diversity, but has inclusion kept pace?

Creating an environment in which employees feel comfortable disclosing their identities has enormous benefits for businesses. Surveys found that LGBTQIA employees who are out at work are more empowered and feel more comfortable about speaking up, being themselves, and building close friendships at the office. Apart from various known benefits such as increased productivity, greater collaboration, better performance, decreased employee turn-over rate, Inclusive Company Culture is also a necessity to regulate the upcoming world of work. Data shows that by 2025, Gen-Z workers will make up?27% of the workforce.?One major way in which Gen-Z workers are distinguishing their preferences from those of other generations is with a very values-driven approach to their careers and job prospects.?This generation is more attuned to an organization’s culture and is more likely to consider an organization's diversity make-up and values while applying for a job.

When it comes to creating an inclusive work environment for queer community, time is of the essence. For most LGBTQIA people, the first year in a new job is critical in the coming-out journey. Across the countries surveyed, an average of 70% of LGBTQIA respondents said that they came out either during the hiring process or within the first twelve months of starting their job (BCG’s Out@Work survey, 2021). Majority of individuals wish they could be out at work but they remain closeted in front of colleagues and clients because of fear of facing negative consequences due to their identity.

Initiating support: The inclusive policies have improved in past few years and certain non-discrimination policies were made but these policies were not enough to make LGBTQIA employees feel “included” in the workplace. The key solution to this is to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion at all stages of the employee journey, especially during recruiting and onboarding and in the day-to-day environment. The efforts should start from the initial procedures. Companies should ensure that there are no biases in the recruitment stage which can be achieved by providing training to hiring managers to mitigate the existing biases.?The anti-discrimination policies should exist in the system to attract and retain candidates. These policies also result in better onboarding experience for LGBTQIA employees.??

The overall work experience depends on the company’s culture and environment. To make it more inclusive companies should increase engagement in supporting queer community. They can increase the number of employees who are queer to decrease the feeling of “only one”.?Training sessions and awareness campaigns can drastically improve the work-experience for queer employees and reduce the rate of discrimination as well as unconscious microaggressions.?Allyship training is one of the most effective programs in this segment.?Apart from this the guidelines to use right pronouns can be set for all the employees. Companies should allow employees to self-identify as LGBTQIA and select their pronouns on internal systems and provide non-binary options while talking about gender.

Along with these suggestions, changing the infrastructure of the company can’t be missed.?Washrooms are a big infrastructural barrier that excludes queer people, trans employees in particular, at the workplace. They’ve been harassed and discriminated against for their choice of using a particular washroom. While building washrooms, organizations should consider the needs of non-binary employees. Gender-Neutral washrooms can be built to tackle this form of discrimination taking place in the workplace.

Company culture is an ever-evolving process and if the organization encourages discussions around discrimination and problems faced by the queer community while focusing on the aim to create a safe space for all the employees, a welcoming and inclusive environment with highly engaged employees can be formed which will foster Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the workplace.?