With June approaching, you’re probably wondering how best to acknowledge Pride Month in the workplace. Should you purchase custom Pride T-shirts? Create a press release of support? Host speakers or sponsor a party?
You want to get it right because if employees believe you are observing Pride superficially, the gesture may be seen as perfunctory lip service–or worse, as opportunistic.
Pride Month should start with understanding how your employees experience your workplace.
A 2023 Harris Poll study revealed that more than half of LGBTQ+ employees are not out at work. And 55% of those who are out said they’ve experienced or witnessed anti-LGBTQ+ comments by co-workers.
Maybe the best way to observe Pride Month is to focus on making the workplace more inclusive. But where do you start?
If you believe you’re ready for inclusion training but aren’t sure about your workforce’s skillset, it’s a good idea to try out a diagnostic tool. These surveys can help you better understand your team’s knowledge around bias, racial harassment, and discrimination based on homophobia. And, it’s vital to gauge employee willingness and comfortability around speaking up as a bystander.
There are many free diagnostic options on the market, and they range in complexity and depth. Some are simple questionnaires, while others, like our Culture Diagnostic Tool, are video-based and put employees in the shoes of someone different from them to play out real-life scenarios.
Depending on the results, you might decide that your efforts and resources are best spent teaching basic concepts like unconscious bias. If your team is ready for more advanced inclusion training, you can focus on concepts like empathy and allyship.
So, instead of jumping into Pride Month with mere lip service and swag, make a real investment in improving your workplace. Do something substantial so that LGBTQ+ employees love coming to work there all twelve months of the year. That’s the real way you show your pride.
Click below to learn more about the WILL Interactive Culture Diagnostic Tool.
