Educate. Educate. Educate.
Continually educate your employees on LGBTQIA+ issues and history. Don’t wait for pride month to celebrate all the amazing employees you have within the community. Run workshops, education parties and make LGBTQIA+ inclusivity a core part of the D&I agenda.
Hannah, Events Marketing Manager, London
If you don’t feel comfortable on the subject matter, get training and train your employees to understand LGBTQIA+ inclusion, because we should all be concerned about people’s wellbeing at work.
Ornella, Global Traffic Coordinator, Paris
Don’t make one’s sexual orientation or gender identity the topic of every conversation. Even though it’s okay to ask questions, it’s not our job to educate every single person that interacts with us. It’s the 21st century and the internet is full of articles, essays, documentaries, and interviews that you can consult. You could even check some of LGBTQIA+ activists’ media who post about these topics to educate yourself. This piece of advice works in the workspace but doesn’t stop at the office door.
Yoann, UX/UI Intern, Paris
Understand that language is important
Consider your language – for example, how about using the word “partner” instead of a gendered term like “boyfriend” to normalize it for your LGBTQIA+ peers? Make sure when you meet someone new you take the time to consider their preferred name and pronouns, they’ll be happy to guide you if you’re not sure.
Tara, Customer Success Manager, London
Pronouns are so important to how we identify with our gender identity. Visible gender identity is a privilege. Whether an employee is non-binary, transgender, cisgender, or gender fluid, it’s important we understand that not everyone ‘looks’ like the pronouns they use and to be mindful of this when meeting new people.
Hannah, Events Marketing Manager, London
Keep in mind that for an LGBTQIA+ person there is not only one coming out (for example to their family) but every new encounter after that. When you arrive in a new company, every encounter is a risk. So at the coffee machine on Monday morning, don’t forget all the possibilities and say “your wife, your husband or your partner”.
Marie-Anne, Lead Customer Success Manager, Paris
Get your hiring process right
Try to avoid binary, gendered terms. When you’re writing a job post, don’t say “he or she will have these responsibilities.” Say, “they will have these responsibilities”. And above all, hire queer people for senior leadership roles.
Nick, Global Director, Digital Marketing, New York
A way to be sure that the office is an inclusive workplace starts during the hiring process, making sure that you don’t let prejudice come in the way of adding new talent to your team!
Yoann, UX/UI Intern, Paris
Create a safe, zero-tolerance workplace
Don’t out, don’t shame, and don’t allow discriminatory words or actions. The everyday ordinary and normalized discrimination and homophobia are often ignored. It should be normal to speak out against it and you should have zero-tolerance.
Maxime, Solution Expert – Team Lead, Munich
Take feedback, requests and complaints seriously. It takes a huge amount of courage for someone to ask for support. And don’t forget to champion diversity and inclusion of all kinds throughout the business. People look to you to know how to respond, so please consider your actions carefully, be inclusive with every decision, and educate yourself when necessary.
Tara, Customer Success Manager, London
Create a company charter of commitments on LGBTQIA+ inclusion (this is also true for all minorities) and put this charter on the job recruitment part of your website. It’s not a gadget, it’s one of the best ways to show LGBTQIA+ people that homophobic (and racist, sexist) behaviors are not permitted and that your workplace is a safe place.
Marie-Anne, Lead Customer Success Manager, Paris
Don’t stop at updating your company logo
LGBTQIA+ initiatives should go beyond changing your logo to a rainbow. Donate to charities, spread awareness about hard hitting issues. Make a statement and have a position. Homophobia is not an opinion. It’s a crime.
Maxime, Solution Expert – Team Lead, Munich
Create data-driven commitments to improve diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Updating your logo and doing nothing else is not only inappropriate but nowhere near enough!
Tara, Customer Success Manager, London
For myself and many of my gay friends, it’s been disappointing to see how superficially and apolitically most companies are engaging with Pride month. What if, in 2021, every company with a rainbow favicon on its website was instead lobbying politicians to drop anti-trans legislation? Would all these anti-trans laws still be getting passed?
In the worst cases, companies are using Pride insignia while donating to antigay politicians. More often, brands are simply co-opting Pride as a well-intentioned but empty marketing gesture, without taking any substantive action to support our agenda or community.
Before they publish Pride posts on Instagram, companies should ask themselves: Are we giving money or time to LGBTQ+ causes in our community? Are we using our full political leverage to fight against homophobic and transphobic laws and lawmakers?
Nick, Global Director, Digital Marketing, New York
It’s a no-brainer
One of the most overlooked parts of LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the workplace is that an inclusive culture reduces turnover and attrition. When queer people know they belong, when they can be their true selves at work, when they see queer people in senior leadership, then they go from feeling like guests to feeling like citizens. That in turn makes them more engaged, committed employees.
Nick, Global Director, Digital Marketing, New York
Happy Pride Month!
At Contentsquare, we believe in equality for all. So we love to shout out our incredible LGBTQIA+ advocates. Find out why Pride week is so important plus what it means for our employees.
