The workplace as a safe space: 5 ways to help LGBTQ employees thrive

June 27, 2023 11:00 AM

With the increasing political and social opposition to LGBTQ rights, an entire community is facing daily reminders that they are not supported as they deserve to be. Employers who establish their workplace as a safe, inclusive space not only offer a sense of belonging to their LGBTQ employees, they promote allyship among their entire workforce.

In a 2022 survey from American Progress, more than half of LGBTQ adults said that recent rhetoric around their community's rights has moderately or significantly affected their mental health or made them feel less safe.

The survey also found half of LGBTQ employees have experienced some form of workplace discrimination or harassment, including being fired, being denied a promotion, having work hours cut or experiencing verbal, physical or sexual harassment. With the inescapable publicity on LGBTQ rights not appearing to ebb anytime soon, employers can show support by being intentional with their response and making employees feel good about their role within the company.

"This is the first Pride month where some retail storefronts and offices have the Pride flag and others don't," says Dave Wilkin, co-founder and CEO of talent experience platform Ten Thousand Coffees. "People have actually taken a step back, which creates a massive amount of conflict in the mind of any LGBTQ [person]."

As society struggles with forward progress, here are five ways employers can ensure their LGBTQ employees know they are accepted and appreciated at work.

Show extrinsic support

"If you're implicitly supportive, you're not supportive," says Wilkin. "Employers need to realize that LGBTQ people are watching people pull back, so until there is explicit advocacy or sponsorship or allyship, they're wondering whether they're actually accepted or valued, or whether they have a chance for success. Explicitly communicating your support could look like sharing an LGBTQ charity that you've donated to, sharing a piece of learning material that talks about the LGBTQ community. It can be as simple as donating to the Trevor Project or an organization that universally supports the LGBTQ community. Share that on your intranet, on your Yammer, on your LinkedIn."

Build community year-round

Leaders at every level can look for ways to interact and promote communication with their LGBTQ workforce. Whether through attending ERG meetings, engaging in small-group chats, or hosting Pride events outside of June, employers can make their commitment known by consistently spending time with their LGBTQ employees.

"[Is] every leader doing a town hall for Pride month, and then they are nowhere to be found for the rest of the year?" Wilkin asks. "Companies need to drive a deliberate strategy to help leaders stay connected, listen and support the LGBTQ community."

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Enable leadership to communicate

Equipping all levels of leadership to speak to their LGBTQ employees in a way that promotes respect and an interest in their career paths will help keep messages from going wrong.

"Are leaders enabled through technology to match without bias to underrepresented groups?" says Wilkin. "HR teams need to look at systematic ways to get leaders matched with these communities where there is no tokenism. We can no longer assume that even our most trained leaders know how to have appropriate listening dialogues with colleagues. The first point of leader connection requires deliberate enablement to help them have conversations with not just LGBTQ people, but any of their ERGs."

Establish relationships

By promoting a strong sense of empathy and establishing a mentorship program within the workplace, employers can get to know and be prepared to support all of their employees as the need arises.

"Leaders need to be proactive and not wait for a problem and hope that people will talk to them," says Wilkin. "As a gay entrepreneur, I would only go to leaders that I already have relationships with when I have an issue. Leaders need to say, 'Let's create relationships with these communities before they need them, so when they need them they're strong and ready.'"

He suggests commiting to mentoring an employee for just one hour a month for 12 months.

"This is a way that you can explicitly challenge your organization to make sure they have mentoring experience in place for these communities," he says.

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Measure and manage

"What gets measured gets managed," Wilkin says. "There should be a monthly or quarterly dashboard that helps people understand the reach, engagement and outcomes of these conversations in real time. If you don't measure these, you don't have accountability and you don't know what's going to happen, whereas if you measure them in real time, you have people show up differently and way better."

Technology solutions, including surveys and other communication tools, can be a starting point to keeping these conversations and progress moving forward.

"After you leave these group experiences, ask: Do you feel more connected to leaders? Did you get inspired about a career opportunity? And also ask leaders about how they felt — did they feel prepared? Did they feel they met people who they might be able to advocate for in future roles? Measuring each of these experiences is where technology comes in for DEI and talent leaders to move their programs from a moment to a movement."