How To Celebrate Pride Month At Work

Pride Month is crucial for LGBT community and supportive businesses. It's global and essential for pro-LGBT image and UK businesses' success. This guide explains Pride Month's significance and making workplaces LGBT inclusive.

June is celebrated as Pride Month all across the world, including the UK. It's a time when members of the LGBT community go on parades, openly express their sexuality and build awareness on LGBT issues. With more and more people coming out of the closet, it wouldn't be unusual if your businesses had a few LGBT employees.

As a business, you can stand to build awareness and customer loyalty by showing that you care for your LGBT employees. Pride Month is a great time for businesses to showcase their support and welcome the LGBT community to become their customers. You could even inspire exceptional LGBT employees to come work for your business. You show them that you've created a workplace that's conducive to them and their needs, and they bring your business talent, recognition and customers.

Creating A Welcoming Environment: How To Foster LGBT Inclusivity In The Workplace During Pride Month

LGBT inclusivity in the workplace is becoming the norm for businesses. Organizations of all sizes are doing their best to showcase their support for the LGBT community, especially during Pride Month each other. By making your workplace LGBT inclusive, you ensure that employees of all sexualities as well as gender expressions feel safe working for you. This can help your business by increasing productivity among your employees, which in turn increases your profits.

With the help of inclusion policies, businesses can save thousands of pounds on an annual basis. They would no longer have to worry about avoiding costs relating to employees feeling stressed or developing health problems. For LGBT employees, workplace discrimination can severely impact their performance.

To ensure your workplace is LGBT inclusive, first look for existing policies on LGBT exclusion. Ensure existing policies, such as those for pensions, parental leaves and the like, are LGBT inclusive. You'll also need to start diversity and equality training programs at work. There are simpler changes you can adopt as well, such as adopting a gender-neutral language at work. Let your LGBT employees know that you actively support them.

Pride Month Activities For Employees: Engaging And Celebrating Diversity In The Workplace

There are several workplace activities that you can enjoy during Pride Month, that raises awareness among your employees. You could set up a fundraiser at work. Have your employees bring in baked goods or small items that could be sold. All the profits from the sale can go towards a charity that supports LGBT issues. You could also consider doing a rainbow themed potluck for your employees.

This allows your employees to enjoy great food with each other, while also partaking in Pride Month. It's possible that you and your employees might not be able to participate in a Pride Parade. This especially applies if you have hybrid or remote teams. If this is the case, create a virtual Pride Walk for your employees. One or more employees can be at the actual parade, and your other employees can join in on the experience virtually.

You could also give your employees the opportunity to volunteer for an NGO that supports LGBT issues. It's also a great time to educate your employees on the history of Pride Month.

Here are some ideas for you to try:

• Do a trivia on Pride Month history
• Provide employees with a rainbow dress code for Pride Month
• Visit LGBT landmarks in your town
• Invite prominent LGBT personalities to give talks at your workplace

Policies And Practices: Building An LGBT Friendly Workplace Culture In Honor Of Pride Month

Putting certain policies and practices into place can safeguard the lives and interests of your LGBT employees. Diverse organizations generally outperform businesses that aren't diverse. By making your workplace LGBT friendly, you will gain the support of not just your employees but their community as well.

While having a written policy that is anti-harassment and bullying is important, it's not all that you can do. Employees need to be made aware that the workplace is LGBT friendly. Sensitization can be achieved through awareness training. Give your employees incentives during Pride Month to actively participate as well.

Allyship And Education: Resources And Training For Supporting LGBT Employees At Work

Pride Month workplace celebrations are in full-swing and employers want their LGBT employees to join in on the fun. Employers who are allies adopt diversity and equality initiatives through the month to showcase that they support the LGBT community. But one thing you should take note of, is whether a certain employee is out or not. If an LGBT employee wants to sit out of the celebrations, or don't want other employees to know their sexual orientation, then consider leaving them be.

The idea is to get all your employees enthused about Pride Month celebrations and turn them into allies. Key to making this happen is training programs and initiatives. Invite LGBT personalities to come and hold training sessions at your workplace. You could also consider promoting LGBT individuals to leadership positions. Having at least one LGBT in management can go a long way towards making your workplace more inclusive.

If you do want to train your employees, this is what you can train them on:

• Popular LGBT terminology
• What gender neutral language is
• What inclusive conduct looks like
• Addressing implicit bias
• Becoming an ally
• Reporting bullying or harassment if they notice it

Sustaining Inclusivity Beyond June: Incorporating LGBT Into Year-Round Workplace Practices

The changes you bring into your workplace during Pride Month shouldn't be forgotten as soon as Pride Month is over. Instead, you should strive to carry those changes through to the rest of the year as well. It's not enough for your LGBT employees to only feel safe at work during Pride Month. They should feel safe and valid through every month of the year.

Let your employees know, right as you're implementing changes, that those changes are meant to last. This means that if you've asked your employees to be inclusive of the LGBT community, they are expected to be inclusive through the year.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you run a business, there might be several questions that you might have about Pride Month and workplace inclusivity. Here are three of the most commonly asked questions.

 How can I encourage LGBT employees to participate in Pride Month if they are not out? What if they are not comfortable with revealing their identity at work? 

If an employee isn't out and is uncomfortable with being outed, then you should consider leaving them be. Let them know that you are there to support them should they choose to come out at any time. However, also ask them to participate in your Pride celebrations. Let them know that all employees, irrespective of their sexual orientation, are invited to celebrate through the month. Providing incentives for participation can also encourage more employees to participate.

What are some simple ways to show support for LGBT employees and create an inclusive workplace during Pride Month? 

To make your workplace more inclusive, you'll need to sensitize your employees on inclusivity. Let them know why Pride Month is important to you and why your business will be partaking in the celebrations. Having LGBT employees in leadership roles can help showcase that your workplace is inclusive.

There are simple things that you can do as well, such adding Pride decorations to the workplace. Have Pride themed events and training sessions through the month as well.

How can businesses measure the impact of their Pride Month initiatives and ensure they are making a difference?

LGBT inclusivity in the workplace is important if you want to build a positive reputation for your business. Pride Month workplace celebrations are a great way to let your employees, clients and the general world know that your business is inclusive. But implementing inclusivity practices isn't enough, you should also measure what you're gaining.

Is there a marked increase in productivity among workplace employees? Are more LGBT employees applying to work for you? Are you building a customer base that consists of members of the LGBT community and their allies? Before you implement your inclusivity practices, first set clear goals for your business.

Your goal could be to increase awareness about your business among the LGBT community. You can do this by showcasing to the LGBT community that your business is inclusive. Donations and volunteering with LGBT organizations can also help you increase your customer base. At the end of Pride Month, analyze if you were able to reach your set goals or not. If you did get more LGBT customers, then you know what your business needs to do to attract LGBT customers in the future. Your next step lies in understanding how you can retain them.

LGBT allyship at work can help members of the LGBT community feel accepted, valid and important at work. This can also have the effect of helping your business develop a popular reputation among the LGBT community as well. For policies that proved useful to you through Pride Month, remember that the end of June shouldn't be the end of celebrating Pride in diversity. Your business should be viewed as pro-LGBT through the year.