6 Strategies to Put Your Action Where Your Rainbow Is

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes.

For those of you I met once at a conference who have followed me ever since or who know me from early in my career, Surprise! This is my first time being officially #OutOnLinkedIn.

I’m writing because I’m excited that I recently joined a company with an executive-level focus on creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Quorum’s efforts include frequent education around inclusion and bias as well as creating structures to mitigate unconscious bias that is harder to avoid.

I can take no credit for what has happened so far, but I can use my platform as an out woman in leadership to share what I’ve learned from those who got Quorum to where it is today (h/t Melissa Theiss). To that end, I thought I’d share six things I’ve seen at Quorum that you can implement to advance LGBTQIA inclusion at your organization.

Quorum’s Vice President of Operations and executive sponsor to the Diversity and Inclusion Council, Melissa Theiss, recently shared Four Ways to Advance Pay Equity at Your Organization. You can read her article here.

1) Rewrite Your Dress Code — Or Remove It

This is one of the most gendered relics left in company policies. At Quorum, we do not have a formal dress code, which makes our office environment a place where people can choose how to express themselves rather than a place where they are subjected to gender norms outlined in a formal employment document.

If you do keep a dress code, go one step beyond removing gendered rules by using intentionally inclusive language. Sample language:

• We recognize that there are diverse options and gender presentations when it comes to formal business attire; please wear whatever formal business attire makes you most comfortable and confident.

Also note that you can present more specific options for attire without aligning them with a particular gender. Sample language:

• For occasions involving contact with clients, please wear dress pants or a skirt with a matching jacket. Under your jacket, you may wear either a button-up collared shirt paired with a tie or a formal blouse.

2) Expand Your Anti-Harassment Policy

Workplace protections at the national level are limited, which means that employers have a high degree of discretion in how to write their employment policies. In addition to sexual orientation, Quorum includes "gender identity or expression" as a protected identity category in our "No Tolerance" Anti-Harassment Policy in our Team Handbook. The handbook must be reviewed and signed by all team members prior to their first day at Quorum.

3) Provide an Inclusive Parental Leave Policy

Equal benefits mean we support all the ways that team members can build families, including adoption and fostering. This is particularly relevant to the LGBTQIA community since we are substantially more likely to foster to adopt or pursue direct adoption than the rest of the population: same-sex parents in the United States are seven times more likely than different-sex parents to be raising an adopted child or fostering a child.

Quorum provides twelve weeks of paid parental leave and up to an additional eight weeks of unpaid parental leave associated with “the birth of a team member’s own child or the placement of a child with the team member in connection with adoption or foster care.” The policy applies to all team members with the same terms and conditions regardless of their gender, race, marital status, and/or sexual orientation.

4) Show *Public* Support for LGBTQIA Rights and Policies

What opportunities do you have to show leadership in the community at large?

If passed, the Equality Act would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, credit, and the jury system. You can join Quorum and show your support for this important legislation by signing the Human Rights Campaign's Business Coalition for the Equality Act. 

You can also host events that support the LGBTQIA community. I was thrilled to see that all five Quorum Leadership Team members attended our recent Pride happy hour, which sent a message to both queer Quorum team members (myself included!) and clients that we care. This past February, Quorum also hosted a panel on "Building Inclusive Spaces in Tech", inviting a diverse group of leaders from local tech companies and government affairs professionals from major tech organizations to discuss how we all can all provide more inclusive workspaces.

5) Train Your Team to Respect All Gender Identities and Expressions

Quorum team members Melissa Chenok and Coleton Whitaker taught a session just this month called Gender, Pronouns, and Respect. The session was standing-room only and thoughtful Q&A took up the majority of our time. When the discussion turned to how challenging it can be to adjust to new pronouns, Melissa pushed back gently.

“It can be nerve-wracking to try to get this right. However, please don’t share that feeling with a trans* or nonbinary person. The much bigger burden is held by the person who has to navigate this every day because their lived identity isn’t immediately obvious.” 

There were nods around the room and my queer heart swelled with gratitude that I had colleagues so eager to learn and that Melissa hadn’t let that moment go by.

6) Create a Dedicated Space to Talk About Inclusion

Quorum’s Diversity and Inclusion Council meets regularly to discuss progress and challenges, plan activities, and make policy recommendations. Many organizations have separate groups for different initiatives under the inclusion umbrella. There are benefits to that, but I have enjoyed having the same group focused on a broader spectrum of issues. Benefits include better education about intersectionality and energy given to important issues that may impact a contingent too small to form their own group.

The Diversity and Inclusion Council also fosters opportunity for team members to make recommendations on things the council should take on through regular office hours. We have an active, company-wide, open Slack channel dedicated to diversity and inclusion. In this channel, team members share articles and resources to help each other learn and grow.

Make Pride Count

The Stonewall riots occurred on June 28, 1969, which was 50 years ago tomorrow. Every year since, we have celebrated pride in June to recognize the impact LGBTQIA people have in the world — and many organizations choose this month to show their support for the rights our community is still working toward. There is always more work to be done, but the strides Quorum has already made make me proud to work here. If you haven’t yet put your action where your rainbow is, June is the perfect time to do some research and make improvements.

Are you looking for a job? We’re hiring! Visit our careers page to learn more.

To read more about how Quorum is addressing diversity and inclusion, read our 2018 Diversity and Inclusion report and our Diversity and Inclusion Council charter.

Disclaimer: Quorum does not endorse or verify any of the information cited in this article. When rolling out employment policies, it is important to seek appropriate legal counsel to be compliant with all applicable Federal, State, and Local laws and regulations.