Making a Workplace Where Everyone Can Feel Welcome

This month – which, coincidentally, is National Pride Month – the Supreme Court is expected to decide whether the 14 states that still ban gay marriage have a legal right to do so. At the same time, the Court will rule on whether all states must recognize same-sex marriages that take place out-of-state. This momentous decision could effectively legalize same-sex marriage throughout the United States.

This isn’t just a sea change; it’s a tsunami. Only two years ago, when the Supreme Court struck down a federal law restricting, for the purpose of federal benefits, the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples, only 12 states had authorized gay marriage. Thanks to a recent judicial decision to strike down South Dakota’s ban, same-sex marriage is now legal in 36 states.

But what if getting married could also get you fired? At the federal level and in 28 states, civil rights statutes do not explicitly ban discrimination against gay and transgender people.

According to a recent Washington Post article:

Nineteen states and the District bar employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a gay rights think tank. Three more states have protections that extend only to gay people.

But the remaining states and the federal government have no explicit legal protections for either group in their civil rights statutes. Although court rulings are increasingly relying on other ways to protect these groups, gay rights advocates say the lack of explicit protections has left the door open for discrimination, not only in the workplace but also in housing, public accommodations and other arenas.

Imagine always looking over your shoulder, worrying whether a chance word about your private life will cost you a promotion – or your career? According to a recent survey by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, most LGBT employees (53 percent) remain closeted on the job.

Simply put, this is bad news for employers.  Research from the Center for Talent Innovation found that among LGBT employees who feel isolated at work, closeted employees are 73 percent more likely to say they plan to leave their companies within three years. Conversely, out lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees – LGBTs – are more satisfied with their rate of career advancement and more engaged at work.

LGBT employees aren't the only beneficiaries of an inclusive workplace; employers benefit, too.

With LGBT buying power comprising $830 billion in the U.S. alone, companies bolster their bottom line by building and sustaining connections to this large and expanding market. Inclusive companies find that publicizing their support of LGBT equality boosts their standing among consumers across the board: 71 percent of LGBT adults said they are likely to remain loyal to a brand they believe to be very friendly to the LGBT community even when less-friendly companies may offer lower prices or be more convenient. Further, three-quarters of heterosexuals and 87 percent of LGBTs said they would consider choosing a brand known to provide equal workplace benefits.

LGBT employees are crucial to reaching this market, as CTI’s recent research on Innovation, Diversity, and Market Growth reveals. Companies that employ and leverage diverse talent, including employees with LGBT smarts and an understanding of the LGBT global market, better understand their end-users and produce novel solutions for diverse consumers.

The ultimate dividend: the combination of a diverse workforce and leaders who get that diversity makes companies measurably more innovative. Employees at publicly traded companies with both inherent and acquired diversity (2D diversity) in leadership - are 75 percent more likely to see their ideas implemented in the marketplace and are 70 percent more likely than non-diverse publicly traded companies to report that their firm captured new markets in the past 12 months.

It would seem obvious that an inclusive workplace makes sense on many, many levels. Yet despite advances in workplace acceptance, workplace discrimination and its ripple effects will remain daunting hurdles for many LGBT individuals until they enjoy the explicit legal protection conferred on their heterosexual colleagues.

Even if the Supreme Court makes same-sex marriage legal throughout the land, there’s still plenty to be done to make all workplaces an environment where everyone can feel welcome.

Photo: Adam Fagen, Flickr