Pride in the Workplace

Doing your part for a more inclusive workplace

At Working Well Trust we would like to wish everyone a very happy start to Pride Month 🌈. A time to celebrate the LGBTIQ+ community, their achievements and history but also highlight the ongoing struggle for equality.

It’s reported that over half of LGBTIQ+ people have experienced depression, and three in five had experienced anxiety.

Plenty can be done in your place of work to support your LGBTIQ+ colleagues and making sure that they feel welcome. It’s easy to assume your workplace is accepting and understanding but to truly believe in these ideals you do need to promote it at work. With that in mind here are just some ideas on how to better your place of work.

*Actively promoting your discrimination policies and enforcing them.
This allows your staff to see for themselves that there is no place for discrimination in your workplace and the process around enforcing these policies.

*Celebrating the diversity of your staff.
While this might seem obvious the diverse range of talent at your place of work should be one of your proudest accomplishments. While you should never force anyone to share if they do not want too if they’re comfortable however make time to highlight the amazing members of your organisation so everyone else gets to see just how great they are!

*Offering training to help build upon key skills.
We all have gaps in our skillsets and need a helping hand from time to time. Getting training around these issues will help make sure your colleagues, clients and partners get only the best level of support.

*Empowering your LGBTIQ+ staff in their careers
Career advancement when you’re a member of a minority group is sadly an ongoing struggle. So why not give those members of staff the support they need by making them both aware of events such as Pride themed networking events this month.

Finally if you’re supporting LGBTIQ+ clients simply the act of making sure that you’re offering a safe space for them will go a long way. Knowing that when they come to you the support they get will not only be top notch but full of understanding and care will make a world of difference.

For some Pride is a celebration but for others a reminder of how far we have to go but together we can do our part to make sure that come next year we’ll be even closer to a world where everyone can feel welcome and supported in their place of work.