June has arrived, bringing with it the celebration of Pride Month 2024. Across the UK and many other countries, this month is dedicated to honouring and appreciating the LGBTQ+ community. It’s a time to recognise and celebrate their liberation, showing love, respect, and support for the diverse and resilient queer community.
In recent years, many businesses and organisations that are authentic LGBTQ+ allies have embraced the month of June to show their support for the community. However, while true allies do this with love and respect, some businesses take advantage of this period to make a profit.
Enter “rainbow washing” or “pinkwashing”.
This is when big companies signal their support for the LGBTQ+ community by turning their logos rainbow, rolling out pride merch and trying to show off LGBTQ+ credentials.
Thankfully, Pride organisers are cracking down on this shameful practice this year. London Pride now requires organisations to join the year-round “Pride in the City” inclusion programme if they want to participate.
Here at Aspiring to Include, we fully support this new requirement. We believe that all businesses should offer deeper, more meaningful support to the LGBTQ+ community to promote inclusion in the workplace all year round.
5 Ways to Enhance LGBTQ+ Representation in the Workplace
Here are some ways employers can genuinely support Pride Month 2024 and boost LGBTQ+ visibility in the workplace:
1. Inclusive recruitment practices
Your support of the LGBTQ+ community begins at recruitment. As such, your job listings and descriptions should use inclusive language and explicitly state that your company is an equal opportunities employer. You can back this up by mentioning the inclusive programmes you offer and events you take part in.
A recent survey by BrightTalk found that 79% of HR professionals believe that unconscious bias exists in recruitment. Unfortunately, this is the issue with unconscious bias; we may not believe it’s happening even when it is. As such, it’s important to include LGBTQ+ individuals in hiring panels to bring diverse perspectives and reduce unconscious bias.
Another great way to boost inclusive recruitment practices is by partnering with LGBTQ+ organisations and attending job fairs aimed at the LGBTQ+ community. It will also help you attract a diverse pool of candidates.
2. Create an inclusive workplace culture
We then move on to the culture within the workplace. Establishing LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are a fantastic way to provide support, networking opportunities, and a voice for LGBTQ+ employees within the company.
Next up are your policies. By implementing and enforcing inclusive policies, you can protect employees based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression.
And let’s not forget pronoun usage. As an employer, you can lead the way in normalising the sharing of pronouns in email signatures, company profiles, and meetings to help create an inclusive work environment for all.
Neep help? Our Equality, Diversity, And Inclusion Policy Template will make creating inclusive policies a breeze.
3. Provide training and education
The only way to truly bring about lasting change is through education. We can’t act on what we don’t understand. This is why diversity and inclusion training is so important. Regularly conducting training sessions on diversity, inclusion, and unconscious bias, with a specific emphasis on addressing LGBTQ+ issues, is essential.
Employers can also run workshops and seminars on topics, such as gender identity, inclusive language, and how to be an ally. This type of training can help LGBTQ+ employees feel supported and safe in the workplace.
Bonus reading: Importance of Equality and Diversity Training at Work 👉
4. Support career development
Clear career progression and professional growth trajectories are essential for all employees to feel supported and encouraged. One way of doing this is through mentorship programmes. The aim of these programmes is to connect LGBTQ+ employees with senior leaders for career guidance and support.
For genuine representation, employers should actively encourage and support LGBTQ+ employees to take on leadership roles within the company. By doing this, your company’s senior leadership will accurately portray our society’s diversity. This can lead to more equal opportunities and improved long-term LGBTQ+ representation.
We think you’ll like: Equality And Diversity In The Workplace: Inspiring Examples 👉
5. Celebrate LGBTQ+ milestones and events
And finally, this brings us back to the reason behind today’s blog, Pride Month 2024. As we previously mentioned, it’s not enough to just celebrate EDI in the workplace for one month of the year. True allies and inclusive workplaces acknowledge and celebrate their employees’ milestones every single day.
Pride Month 2024 offers employers a unique opportunity to host events and activities that celebrate and support the LGBTQ+ community in solidarity with the global movement. It’s a time of unity and appreciation, an opportunity to acknowledge and learn from past mistakes, take responsibility, and envision a more inclusive and more colourful future.
Check out: A Guide on How to Be an LGBT Ally at Work
Key Takeaways: Pride Month 2024
There are so many ways we can all work to enhance LGBTQ+ representation, not just in the workplace, but across our society as a whole.
For employers who want to become more inclusive, you can start by simply following the 5 steps outlined above.
From there, we’re here to help. At Aspiring to Include, our aim is to connect employers with a diverse pool of talent. By listing your job vacancies on our inclusive jobs board, you’ll gain access to +10,000 diverse job seekers. Start enjoying the benefits of hiring LGBTQ+ candidates today.
Need help with job descriptions? Our team will carry out a Job Advert Inclusivity Screening to ensure the language used is inclusive towards all applicants, especially those with a protected characteristic.
Get started by creating a company profile and becoming an inclusive and diversity-positive employer.
Get in touch with our team – we’re looking forward to hearing from you.
