The Aspiration of LGBT Inclusion In The Workplace

By Wendy Oliveras on Monday, May 16 2011

As humans, we live in a world of vast differences and backgrounds.  Our opinions of others begin in our private homes as children, spread into public places, and subsequently extend into the workplace as adults.  But, does being different mean we have the right to discriminate, judge, or prevent another from employment because of his/her individual differences, whether black or white, tall or short, young or old, gay or straight?  The fact of the matter is companies face rising challenges inherent in hiring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees.  Challenges such as self-identification, fear of retaliation, confidentiality, starting the process of awareness and creating a plan, influencing the right corporate culture throughout the organization, and providing equal benefits and policies, are but a few.

The purpose of this article is to shed positive light on the goal of companies to hire LGBT individuals because this is a large part of the workforce.  In order to remain successfully competitive, LGBT awareness and inclusion must be addressed, including having a best practice hiring plan.  According to the Human Rights Campaign, despite inconsistent laws regarding sexual orientation and gender identity here and abroad, thousands of employers are improving their employment policies, benefits, and other practices reflecting a more positive equitable treatment of their LGBT employees.  Keep in mind, however, unlike other diversity categories, such as race and gender, employers are not required to collect statistics on the number of LGBT individuals they hire for reporting purposes with the EEOC.  So, what can a company do to help identify existing LGBT employees?  Perhaps gather statistics through anonymous confidential employee surveys.  This way, the employee is assured that any disclosure of sexual orientation or gender identity is optional, voluntary, and strictly confidential.

Logically, understanding diversity, accepting differences, and including LGBT employees in the workplace is crucial for any organization’s growth and long-term stability.  If you are not a team player, expect to be regarded as a company whose views are unfair and discriminative in nature.  You take the risk of losing your ground as a leader in your industry.  Remember, the key to a successful company is a company which has a solid plan to help recruit, retain, and promote diverse and LGBT employees.  This plan would be vital to any business success in this evolving and diverse marketplace.

Moreover, the advantages of having a diversified and LGBT workforce over your competitors can be evident in providing approaches towards team building, proactive problem solving, increasing creativity and productivity, employee loyalty, higher synergy and moral standards, increased leadership commitment and interest, stronger values and integrity, as well as integration of business and consumer support.  Additionally, with globalization as a motivator, the openness and acceptance of diversity and LGBT inclusion in your workplace helps broaden the mindset of global thinking and understanding.  All efforts to provide a fair work environment based on mutual understanding and consideration of LGBT employees must be carefully planned, cultivated, nurtured, and measured to ensure overall strategic success.

Equality in the workplace is just good sound business.  If you create an environment where all employees feel respected, valued, and included, then you have established a best practice which can be simulated or modeled after.  Lastly, since the marketplace is so diverse and global, attracting, developing, and retaining the best talent from diverse backgrounds and the LGBT community is significant to remaining the employer of choice.

Please also visit Wendy Oliveras at http://www.twitter.com/wendyoliveras; http://www.linkedin/in/wendyoliveras; or http://www.examiner.com/x-22670-NY-Search-Consultant-Examiner.