Believe in Pride 🌈

Is it just me or has the last year flown by like a unicorn farting rainbows??

Speaking of rainbows🌈...now there is a tenuous link if ever there was one...Pride Month is upon us. The importance of this month can be lost in the rainbow washing that besieges my social media feeds...which I am not against - at all (see later).

The last couple of years have been "interesting", to say the least, and Pride had to find ways to shine, without the opportunity to party in large numbers.

For me, the importance of Pride hasn’t gone anywhere in the last 2 years, it's equally important that the joy and power of recognising the full value of everyone on your team, your clients and your stakeholders, is still very much front and centre.

So let's take a whistlestop look at the ways to celebrate your LGBTQ+ employees and clients in the workplace during Pride Month 2022, even if your workplace is remote or even if your workplace isn't that proud...(pass me their names, we have work to do!) you can take your own measures.

Why is it important to celebrate Pride in the workplace?

We must not forget that the first Pride was not a celebration. It was a riot led by queer people of colour. Pride was born out of struggle. 

In 2020 we were forced into lockdown and the pandemic brought struggle back into the lives of many in our LGBTQ+ communities. Many once again faced with isolation and loneliness brought upon them by those sharing places and spaces with unsupportive, unaccepting family members.

Regardless of our working arrangements, whether remote or onsite, it’s important to celebrate Pride. To really create a workplace for all to feel connected and safe.

Here are a few options and ideas that we have collected over the years. Feel free to share your own ways that you celebrate and highlight Pride 2022.

Ideas for celebrating Pride Month

1. Get bright

You can’t lead if you don’t know where you’re going, equally if you don't know where you’re coming from. Create learning opportunities for your employees, that is a given, however, make sure you’re well versed yourself in the history and associated details of Pride and the LGBTQ+ rights movement.

2. Get active

Studies show that workplace rewards have a greater impact on engagement when they’re closely aligned with employees’ beliefs and values. If your employee rewards and benefits don’t already offer a way for employees to contribute to charities, now’s the time to get started!

Workplace rewards can go way beyond charitable giving, and half-hour massages at your desk - why don't you give your colleagues the opportunity to donate their time to NFPs, and get active in the local LGBTQ+ community.

3. Get stuff

This one is obvious. You can’t celebrate Pride without great accessories and sparkle! So splurge a little on rainbow flags, banners, and pins — and don’t forget to go beyond the rainbow, too. Did you know there are different flags to represent bisexuality, demisexuality, and asexuality, as well as a transgender flag, intersex flag, and many more?

"Plus it literally makes us all happier to see some colour...it is proven - in science."

4. Get supportive

Add your pronouns to your email signature, and consider adding the statement, “I am an ally of the LGBTQ+ community.” Only add this if you actually are an Ally - but it is amazing who might need to see that.

(Workie Tip: Pronouns mean how you identify — he/him, she/her, they/them, for instance — and how you’d like other people to refer to you. This is a great, inclusive practice for everyone, even or especially if you’re cisgender!)

 5. Get creative

Love it or hate it, we’re all on Zoom/Teams or whatever you have chosen in video call tech. So celebrate with your background!

While you’re at it, update company social media pictures with Pride frames or filters.

…and provide your employees with tips and resources for how to do the same.

I have seen many people alluding to the "Pride Washing" that happens in June - personally, I see where they are coming from...but for me it is a celebration and an opportunity to really show you care...the people that have a moan about logos turning back in July are the ones that are more than likely negative nellies about Christmas being too commercial and Halloween being Americanized...trick or treat anyone?🎃

6. Get visible

I want to see business really embrace this month and that means getting visible.

Run a few internal (or client) competitions, events or mixers and share them on Social Media, websites and newsletters.

• Post a Pride swag selfie
• Attend a company-sponsored Pride event
• Add their pronouns or ally message to their email
• Support an LGBTQ+ business

7. Get engaged

In the office? Remote? A bit of both and experimenting with a hybrid model?

June is an active month because it’s a chance to recognize our diverse voices, commemorate Juneteenth, and educate ourselves about the perspectives and range of employee experiences that make our business and community stronger. 

It is a brilliant month to take stock, and roll out data collation for your business - to understand the current DEI across the business.

It is also the best month to share plans and actions that will take place in the final 6 months of the year.

It is the best month to celebrate your business - BBQs, company trips or more informal gatherings before the summer holidays kick in and people need to be places.

Last but not least: be an ally

During the month of June, as well as every other month, there are many other ways to continue to educate and support others as part of the LGBTQ+ community and as allies:

• Support LGBTQ+ businesses
• Educate yourself
• Don’t treat straight and cisgender as the norm
• Don’t stereotype
• Don’t refer to them as ‘my LGBTQ+ friend’ - rude!
• Be inclusive
• Speak up 
• Offer to inform other friends and family
• Be vocal about your allyship
• Use the right pronouns
• Don’t ascribe heteronormative roles
• Don’t question their identity
• Understand that gender and sexuality are a journey
• Don’t invalidate their experiences
• Attend community events
• Don’t ask intrusive questions

Actually, this is last last point - Get safe spaces for all

As a leader, you have a unique amount of power to make your workplace both psychologically safe and celebratory for all. 

Thank you (genuinely!) for reading and exploring ways to celebrate Pride, and please, in these coming days, weeks, and years, think about how your workplace is a safe and inclusive space for everybody, particularly underrepresented employee populations.

And if you want to go further, that’s where we come in.

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If you have any thoughts or experiences you would like to share, or if you would like me to signpost you to more information on Inclusive Workplaces, please do drop me a message at [email protected]

Laura Bosworth is the Founder and CEO of Worket, an inclusive search consultancy that works exclusively with purposeful businesses across the Professional and Financial Services Sector, including the Investment and Asset Management Sector. Delivering high performance, diverse, impactful leadership that will demand progress and highlight opportunity.