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Tolerance is not inclusion. Here are 3 tips to help you create a workplace that is inclusive for LGBTQIA + employees by @Colleen_Batch

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by Dr. Colleen Batchelder

Imagine, if you will, a neighborhood brimming with people. The community is vibrant with vivid landscapes and joyful smiles, but each resident remains cloistered in their home. They wave to one another through the glass panes and enjoy the morning breeze from their own front yard. But they never leave their welcome mat. They refuse to venture outside of their box. Now, this picture might look familiar because the majority of us are still living within this reality of social distancing during Covid-19. But, what if this type of behavior became the norm for the next fifty years?

Many within the LGBTQIA+ community have been a victim of social distancing and segregation within the workplace for eons. However, it didn’t always come in the form of outright bias. Often, it was masked under the guise of tolerance. When the movement towards tolerance became popular, it seemed like a quick-fix solution for corporations. However, it didn’t necessarily create a culture of inclusion. If anything, it birthed organizational discrimination based on assumption.

Brynn Tannehill, a board member of the Trans United Fund, describes her own journey with tolerance and explains, “You aren’t a threat to them, but you are alien, you are other. People smile and nod, but they don’t see. Living in a tolerant but not accepting workplace means walking on eggshells, talking around your history, and being surrounded by people who keep conversations and relationships strictly professional.” For Tannehill and countless individuals, tolerance failed to provide inclusion for LGBTQIA+ individuals because it solely deferred to the lens of heteronormativity. This deferment not only stripped certain people groups of protection. It also removed their ability to protest. Jump forward a few years, and justice for all is still waiting to come to fruition.

According to a recent report from USA Today, “About half of LGBTQ people in the U.S. – 52% – live in states where they could be fired, nixed for a promotion, refused training or harassed at their jobs, all because of their gender identity and sexual orientation.” It’s 2020, and less than half of all states have any form of legal protection for 11 million people who identify as LGBTQIA+. These statistics should lead everyone to repulsion, but more than that, they should compel business leaders to action. Tolerance isn’t working. However, inclusion could create a lasting solution. So, how do business leaders go from tolerance to inclusion? Here are four tips to get you started on the right path:

Inclusion Means Leaving the Welcome Mat and Getting on the Dance Floor

Verna Myers said it best, “Diversity is being invited to the party; Inclusion is being asked to dance.” There is a strict difference between these two ideas. Dancing requires trust. It’s a conversation between two people that weaves back-and-forth. Inclusion, as a dance, requires leaders to take the lead and follow. If business leaders want to create a culture of inclusion, then they have to change the music and make it danceable. When they shift in their interaction and enter into a conversation with their LGBTQIA+ employees, they present them with the opportunity to respond and react. This means that companies need to make the first move and ask for input. This requires a willingness to listen and a readiness to change. It requires business leaders to get on the dance floor and to learn a new rhythm.

Inclusion Means Flagging Discriminatory Comments; Not Just Flying the Pride Flag Annually

Repeat this with me and post it on every mirror that you have in your home: inclusion is not branding. LGBTQIA+ discrimination cannot be changed through artsy merchandise or a rainbow logo during June. Inclusion is more than showing up for a march. It requires business leaders to operate from a place of respect, representation, and reconstruction. One of the easiest ways to develop these aspects of inclusion is to form committees that are diversified. This presents LGBTQIA+ employees with the opportunity to educate and lead the conversations of inclusion. When business leaders provide space for people to be educated, they not only create a more inclusive work environment. They also present a united front of support for their LGBTQIA+ employees.

Inclusion Means that Pronouns are Learned and Gender Identity is Respected

One of the most basic ways that companies can create an inclusive environment is to learn an employee’s pronoun. This requires business leaders to take on the stance of a student; not a teacher. When companies take the time to interact and understand gender identity, they operate from the position of inclusion; not assumption. In order to prevent gender biases, companies must implement this standard within mandated policies and hold all levels of employees accountable.

Intention is imperative for change. However, when intention only manifests as idealism, it leaves vast amounts of people at risk for discrimination. Inclusion has to go beyond idealism and mission statements. It must be greater than branding and tokenism. If business leaders desire to create a culture of inclusivity, then they have to be willing to take the risk, learn the language, and enter into collaboration with their LGBTQIA+ employees. After all, inclusion, much like a vehicle, has to be run––it has to leave the garage once in a while and venture onto the roadway.

 

8 Ways To Create A Workplace No One Will Ever Want To Leave by @AngeKYoumatter

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by Angela Kambouris | Featured Contributor

People are the engine that keeps companies growing, improving and innovating. Given the nature of today’s workplace, environments demand collaboration, the ability to tap into deep thinking and the embodiment of mentorship. When people blend these skills, they become their own inspiration and maximize opportunities where both people and business thrive.

Harvard Business Review article “Creating the best workplace on earth” highlighted that your business is operating at its fullest potential by creating environments where individual differences are nurtured, where companies add value to employees rather than suck the energy out of people, when information is not suppressed and when business stands for something meaningful.

Here are 8 ways that a workplace operates at its fullest potential by allowing people to do their best work, bringing their whole selves to work, and never wanting to leave.

Development and progression are your own business

When people can express their full selves at work, they exhibit higher levels of organizational commitment, individual performance and a burning desire to help others. By allowing people to tap into their fullest potential, they engage in discussions, debate ideas and bring their perspective to conversations that enable a richness for innovation and growth.

Managers make their expectations clear, but individuals decide how to meet them. Self-determination means delineating your path and being accountable for your success. Facebook, the largest social media network, deeply invests in the professional development and well-being of its people through delivering quality training, employees having the flexibility to set personalized work schedules as their progress is measured by impact not hours and unites global employees for team connection.

Thriving culture club

Gallup released their State of the American Workplace report highlighting that 70 percent of the American works are disengaged at work. Employees are checking out because of the lack of growth and opportunity within the company.

Wayne Dyer said, “There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love; there’s only scarcity of resolve to make it happen”. When professional and personal development program opportunities knock at your door, identify what elevates your profession, skills, status, and circumstances. There is no progress without taking a risk.

Forbes partnered with Statista to identify companies specific to ranking America’s best employers for women. Principal Financial Group, Iowa ranked number one spot with a workforce containing 59% of whom are women, support flexible work schedules, prenatal care programs, and onsite childcare center. Career development became a priority to elevate women however investment in how both men and women can support each other in the workplace was deemed paramount.

Business leaders today invest in personal development for themselves as it helps you improve as a leader, so what do you think it will do for your people?

Let the water flow – create a culture of honesty

Companies must not deceive, distort or spin information, challenges or celebrations. In a digital world where all is posted, swiped or filtered, telling people the truth must be a core business value. Respecting your people’s need to know what is really going on about their jobs or workplace, demonstrates the greatest level of respect.

Leaders must eliminate the need to put a positive spin on even the most negative situations. They mustn’t strangle the flow of information because of not wanting to be the bearer of bad news.

There will be times where critical information requires confidentiality and sensitivity. Honesty won’t necessarily stop problems from arising, however, senior leaders must err on the side of transparency.

When trust levels amongst the workforce are low and background noise is high, companies must work hard to communicate what is going on if they are to be heard and believed. Complete, transparent and timely communication is vital.

Stand for something bigger

People want to live brands. By making the environment more meaningful, people choose to stay. People want to do good work, to feel they matter in an organization that makes a difference. They want to work is an environment that amplifies strengths, where autonomy is promoted, and transparency is not negotiable.

Forging powerful connections between personal and business values fosters individuality and a strong culture at the same time. Great Place to Work surveyed employees working for companies around the globe. Salesforce, a global CRM leader, hit the number one spot again as a company that works to deliver success as a team for customers while giving back to communities. Salesforce demonstrated its commitment to their people through the quest to provide a healthy workspace that limits its impact on the environment through having installed filtered water taps in all its offices. On a global scale a positive impact through volunteer efforts such as having launched “CoderDojo” in Kenya for the visually impaired, providing opportunities for every child to learn how to code.

Mentorship

If you don’t have a mentoring program in your business, it’s time to implement one. In a workforce management insights report, Adecco advised that 61% of companies believe mentorship is essential to employee happiness. Chronus reported that 25% of employees who took part in a company’s mentoring program had a salary grade change, compared with 5% of employees who didn’t participate in the program. Mentors were promoted six times more often than those not in the program; mentees were promoted five times more often than those not in the program.

Great companies use both coaching and mentoring to develop strong, efficient teams while identifying the next group of company leaders to mentor. Giving people a chance to succeed and grow, supports companies to recruit and keep talent.

Promoting from within

If you are not investing in your people, you are not investing in the future of your business. When your people feel like they are stagnant, employees will look for employment opportunities elsewhere. Setting up an individual development plan creates a conversation to identify both short-term and long-term goals. Individuals empower themselves to ask quality questions about how they can close the gap to where they are and to where they want to be. Using this as a platform for monthly check-ins creates opportunities for both the individual to progress and creates collective growth for them and the business.

A culture of friendship and inclusion

Women and men having a best friend at work leads to better performance. Gallup stated that “employee engagement shows that two out of 10 U.S. employees strongly agree they have a best friend at work and by moving that ratio to six in 10, organizations could realize: 36% fewer safety incidents; 7% more engaged customers; and 12% higher profit.”

Forcing connections is indeed not the message, and investment in creating spaces where a human connection can be fostered and nurtured is worth the investment. Yearly team retreats, attending conferences as a collective group, or hosting team building activities is another way to invest in the workforce. Another alternative may be implementing a mentorship program, identifying a specific project for the team and incentivizing such as a bonus-based opportunity on the achievement of the goal.

A caterpillar must come out of the pupa to fly away like a butterfly

Expanding your unfamiliar zone is critical if you are committed to investing in your development. Breaking through your fear, insecurity or lack of self-confidence allows you to prioritize your potential and open doors to possibilities. You know that is it easy to go with the flow rather than swim upstream.

When your business is operating at its fullest potential, you have achieved an inclusive environment where work can be liberating, where the human potential at work is fully realized and your workplace remains the exception rather than the norm. A place where people dare to lead, live their dreams every day and will never want to leave.

Why You Need to Embrace and Nurture a Culture of Diversity and inclusion in Your Business. by @Myowntotell

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by Denise Ingabire-Smith

From the controversy of the DOVE commercial to the recent H&M hoodie incident, the damage that a lack of diversity can have on a company are undeniable. In one way or another most of us have encountered that awkward situation where a word was uttered, an action was done, or a comment was mentioned to either us or a fellow human in the room that left our jaw hanging in disbelief. When it comes to big incidences like the ones mentioned above the same question keeps haunting my mind: how did this mistake pass through all the channels and all the levels of a big company’s paid representatives to make it to the public? And the simple answer is a lack of diversity. Diversity in gender, age, race, cultural background, ideology, lifestyles, ethnic group, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background … diversity in everything and at every level in the company. It is easy for a man to brush off a misogynistic comment and it can be easy for a young entrepreneur to bypass a need that will benefit the elderly…My point is, if it is not personal it is likely to be minimized.

We can say it a lot and give a lot more reasons why diversity is so important in every aspect of our lives but the simple fact is DIVERSITY and INCLUSION IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. Embracing a culture of diversity help us develop and grow both as individuals and as entrepreneurs. When we enclose ourselves in our own bubbles, we are more likely to have very narrowed lives, lives that are deprived of the rich experiences, understanding and knowledge that each and every one of those with different gender, race, religion or creed can bring into our lives. Diversity expands our point of view on many topics and impacts our decision making. When we diversify our circle people bring in their own originality, their enriching life experiences.

As an entrepreneur or a business, diversity takes on another important step, which is to make sure that diversity is not being done just for the picture. What I mean by this is that businesses shouldn’t just diversify for show, but that they should actually give diversity a voice and listen to it. Listen to the people with various life backgrounds, listen to the ideas of those who may be able to relate better or to offer more from their own lives experiences. Entrepreneurs and businesses should also put emphasis on making sure that diversity is at each level of management or that it has an important voice in decision making. We often hear of examples of male dominated businesses whose idea of diversity is the female secretary who types everything they agree on. Or sometimes see examples of big companies who hire minorities for their custodial or gatekeeping duties and call it diversifying. This form of diversity though a step in the right direction towards diversity in the workplace, it does not in much way affect the big decisions made at the top level of management in that company.

Investing in a culture of diversity and inclusion at every level in a company is a wise investment towards its human capital. This step ought to be taken seriously and strategically carried out. Diversity gives the business or the entrepreneur a glimpse into the audience they aim to attract and to serve. This also enables us as entrepreneurs and business owners to reach out to people beyond our own comfort zone. Diversity at every level of a company magnifies its impact and expands its reach. It means that the company has a representative in every culture and walk of life. A diverse workforce can present clients and audience with an image that they are easily able to relate to. Diversity and inclusion makes any business a place where people from all aspects of life can feel comfortable, welcome and relatable and therefore, a place for everyone to get services.