Happy Labor Day Weekend!
If you’re in the US, we hope you’re getting an extra long weekend to rest and recreate. As we take a moment to celebrate and honor the hard work of individuals across the nation, we want to discuss what organizations are doing to create more inclusive environments for their employees.
A supportive workplace can be crucial for employee happiness and engagement. Most large companies are recognizing that it’s better for morale and productivity to have inclusive policies toward trans people - for the right or wrong reasons, this can be good for our community. Here are some efforts that indicate a company is serious about protecting trans employees:
Inclusive Policies: Companies should specifically address the needs of transgender employees by having non-discrimination policies, inclusive health insurance that covers gender-affirming treatments & surgeries, and allowing employees to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
Gender-Inclusive Language: Using gender-inclusive language in all communication, such as emails, meetings, and official documents. “Hey guys,”—> “Hey all.” This also means using the pronouns and preferred names of all individuals.
Training and Education: Providing training and education to all employees about transgender experiences can help create a more supportive and understanding work environment. The consulting firm Accenture has been a great model for this initiative. When done right, education can influence the company culture at large.
Supportive HR Practices: Human Resources should support transgender employees during their transition by facilitating a name and gender marker change in company records, and providing support for any harassment or discrimination faced. HR may know you are trans, but they should not be sharing that information with anyone else in the company.
Employee Groups: Creating or supporting employee groups for LGBTQ+ employees can provide a supportive network within the company. For instance, the Salesforce corporation has an employee group called “Outforce” which represents LGBTQ+ employees.
Advocacy: A company can have all the best internal policies for trans people, but they should also be advocating for LGBTQ+ rights at the local and national level.
Here is a list by the Human Rights Campaign of companies with excellent pro-trans policies. Just remember, policy can be different from company culture. They should be doing the culture work to make it inclusive, too. This also doesn’t absolve them of other workplace issues.
Take some time to reflect on your current work situation - has your company made any of these commitments? Most importantly, do you feel included and heard?
Eat a hot dog for us,
Your friends at the Sideburn Saloon