National Coming Out Day

In celebration of National Coming Out Day, Menlo invited a panel of therapists to offer tips and discuss the challenges of supporting LGBTQIA+ friends, family, and coworkers on their coming out journey.?

The hour-long webinar was organized and hosted by our Pride & Allies Employee Resource Group (ERG), a group of employees that was founded to promote a safe, inclusive, and welcoming work environment for LGBTQIA+ Menlovians and to support ongoing education, career development, networking, community service, and workplace collaboration.?

The thought of “coming out at work”, “bringing your authentic self to work”, and even the very notion of ERGs may seem superfluous at first glance. Companies and employees succeed when we “Get It Done” (that’s one of Menlo’s core values, after all); it might seem that everything else is simply irrelevant. But the reality is that we all express ourselves in the workplace everyday. Whether it’s a personal spin on business casual attire, a funny anecdote from a weekend family trip, accepting girl scout cookie orders, or chatting about the game last night, we all (often without realizing it) broadcast aspects of our identities.?

These seemingly casual acts of self-expression can be fraught with anxiety for colleagues whose lived experience is different from ours. They may wonder: How will my coworkers react to my same-sex partner? Will they think I’m less committed to my career because I’m a mom? Will they feel differently about me or my role because of my religious customs??

At Menlo, we believe that providing a safe and welcoming workplace is not superfluous: it is critical to making Menlo a great place to work, and it’s the right thing to do for our colleagues. We congratulate our Pride & Allies ERG on hosting this successful event, and we’re excited to see more ERGs forming and thriving at Menlo.

What steps are you taking in your workplace to make it more inclusive, safe, and productive?