October is LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender) History Month in the United States, which is the perfect opportunity to not only celebrate the achievements of the LGBTQ+ community but also to consider ways your company can better support its diverse workforce.
Additionally, if you’re looking for a new job, now or in the future, you can use this list to help you assess whether a prospective employer is taking meaningful steps to be inclusive of LGBTQ+ employees.
How To Support Your LGBTQ+ Employees All 12 Months Of The Year
Now, let’s dive in. The following are 7 strategies you can implement to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round.
1. Assess your organizational culture.
“If employers want to focus on best supporting LGBTQ+ employees, the first thing they should investigate is their own culture,” says Shaina Semiatin, vice president at Safire Partners. “It’s critical, even before assessing benefits or other tangibles, to ensure that safety is a foundational part of your culture,” she adds.
Semiatin explains that employees need to feel completely safe in showing up holistically at work. “This doesn’t mean all employees will choose to volunteer personal aspects of their identities if they don’t want to, it simply means that they are supported and accepted by their workplaces if/when they do,” she adds.
As part of this foundational reflection on their cultures, Semiatin recommends that companies:
- Implement clear policies that prohibit discrimination and harassment.
- Provide DEI training and education to staff.
- Encourage leaders to emulate and demonstrate behaviors of inclusion.
Celia Sandhya Daniels, founder and CEO of Rebekon Consulting LLC, says, “Companies need to create a safe and inclusive workplace culture from recruitment to retention; companies should implement clear anti-discrimination policies that explicitly protect employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
“Change must happen both internally within the workforce and externally with customers,” she adds. “It is crucial to approach this with compassion, going beyond mere compliance.”
2. Develop a culture of belonging.
Next, consider the type of culture you want to foster for staff. “Workplaces can support LGBTQ+ employees by fostering a culture of belonging,” says Dr. Victoria Farris, president of Farris Consulting.
“One actionable way to do that is by ensuring that individuals are referred to using accurate pronouns and preferred names,” she explains. This requires both policy and training.
According to Farris, you want to allow employees to use their chosen name across their work life. Additionally, she says you want to ensure that colleagues, managers, and clients are well-versed in pronoun use and language.
“It is essential that LGBTQ+ employees can trust that they will not be outed at work, or put into unsafe environments,” Farris explains. “Protecting privacy while creating a culture of inclusion facilitates a safe workplace where LGBTQ+ folks can belong and thrive.”
“Training on respectful communication, inclusive language, pronouns, and gender-neutral restrooms is essential to fostering a supportive environment,” adds Sandhya Daniels.
3. Offer equitable and inclusive healthcare options.
Farris also recommends that companies offer equitable and inclusive healthcare options for LGBTQ+ employees and their families if they want to attract the best talent possible.
She explains that this includes ensuring that employees’ partners are eligible for healthcare benefits, even if they are not legally married. Additionally, she recommends that gender-affirming care, therapy, and IVF are covered and supported.
“Out-of-pocket, gender-affirming hormone therapy alone would cost our family over $60k annually,” explains Farris. “Having access to healthcare plans that cover much of these costs is essential to the wellbeing of our family, and it has absolutely been a consideration when changing jobs.”
Semiatin agrees, and says, “This is often a blind spot for non-LGBTQ individuals, but there are immense barriers to health and family planning for LGBTQ+ employees.”
4. Develop inclusive family leave policies.
As you review your healthcare options, also take time to reflect on and update your family leave policies.
“Families are created in many different ways, particularly within the LGBTQ+ community,” explains Farris. With this in mind, Farris says that companies can demonstrate their support for LGBTQ+ employees and their families by offering parental leave for new parents across the gender spectrum that is inclusive of adoption and surrogacy.
Companies can also show their support for LGBTQ+ employees and their families by offering benefits that aid in the substantial costs associated with adoption and surrogacy, she adds.
5. Start an LGBTQ+ employee resource group.
If your organization doesn’t already have one in place, consider launching an LGBTQ+ employee resource group (ERG). “Queer employees need time and space specifically allocated to them to socialize professionally with peers who share their lived experience,” argues Britt East, director of digital solutions at Greenheck Group.
According to East, ERGs provide LGBTQ+ employees an opportunity to form mutually beneficial professional relationships inside the company, which can be leveraged for advancement opportunities, direct contributor and project work, and social support.
“These intra-community relationships serve organizations by bonding employees to the workplace missions, visions, goals, and values, while increasing tenure and driving productivity,” he adds.
6. Improve your recruiting pipeline.
Beyond your current workforce, also consider how you cater to LGBTQ+ talent in your company’s recruitment processes.
East recommends developing employee recruiting pipelines that explicitly target people in the LGBTQ+ community. He explains, “There’s absolutely no reason Queer people can’t perform any given job at any given company, and in this day and age, there are plenty of third-party organizations thrilled to connect corporate recruiters with self-identified Queer prospective employees.”
According to him, “Queer people make great employees in part because of, not in spite of, our sexual and gender orientations. So the logic is simple: companies that want to improve culture and drive revenue should target publicly Queer job candidates.”
7. Invest in guest speakers from the LGBTQ+ community.
Learning is a lifelong journey. Consequently, East recommends hiring guest speakers from the LGBTQ+ community to facilitate workshops on “topics that highlight the unique strengths and challenges of Queer employees.”
Importantly, this work must extend beyond a single workshop or diversity month. “Our cultural norms and historical struggles cannot be appropriately conveyed in a single ‘Lunch and Learn,’” he says. “It requires a sustained commitment, beyond mere lip service and dabbling.”
“We all require continuing education as we continue to address issues of straight cis supremacy in the workplace,” explains East. “Local and federal employment laws are dynamic, and changes need to be communicated not just to HR professionals, but all people managers.”
“Hiring experts to host regularly recurring sessions and workshops to engage and inspire staff at all levels of the organization can help address stigma and change hearts, without requiring your Queer staff to undertake the associated unpaid emotional labor and risk retaliation from existing cultural gatekeepers,” he adds.
Supporting Your LGBTQ+ Employees Year-Round
Inclusion and belonging must remain a priority all year round, not just during a diversity month, if you want to attract and retain the best talent possible. Additionally, support for the LGBTQ+ community must extend beyond a well-crafted inclusion statement; it needs to be strategic, intentional, and coupled with action.
“True inclusivity in any company needs to start from the bathroom to the boardroom,” says Sandhya Daniels. “Leaders must build trust and aim to be meaningful, transformative allies, rather than simply performative ones. This requires not just showing up during Pride but making intentional behavioral, structural, and operational changes to fully integrate LGBTQ+ employees into the company’s culture and business framework.”
