9 Ways to Celebrate Pride Month at the Workplace
Some studies have found that between 15 to 43% of LGBTQIA+ people have experienced harassment or discrimination in the workplace. In addition, 90% of transgender employees say that they have experienced mistreatment or harassment while working.
Even if you have an inclusive company that focuses on diversity, there still might be instances where LGBTQIA+ employees don’t feel comfortable in their workplace. However, this Pride Month, you can take some initiatives and host Pride celebrations to make them feel welcome and support them.
But what are some of the best things you can do this June? Keep reading to find out how to make this community feel like a welcomed group in your workforce.
1. Evaluate Your Diversity Policies
One of the best things you can do this month is to review your diversity and inclusion strategy. When you have the right policies in place, your organization can develop a culture where you value each employee and make them feel welcomed every month of the year.
Regardless of how your employees identify, they deserve a safe space to work and voice their opinions.
When you craft these policies, outline your company’s values and communicate the guidelines to all employees. You may even require training to ensure that these employees understand the initiatives. This proves that your company is taking these issues seriously, which can create a more positive workplace.
2. Take Time to Recognize Your LGBTQIA+ Peers
While you should recognize LGBTQIA+ employees throughout the year, it can be nice to acknowledge them or offer awards and recognition during June. You can take time to call out their excellent work at a Pride party with a customized thank you note, award, or a monetary prize.
Even if you can’t do it in a physical office, you can send something through a recognition platform or a digital award. This will help your employees feel valued by you, especially during this month.
3. Donate to a Good Cause
Saying that you support the LGBTQIA+ community is excellent, but you can show seriousness by donating to a good cause. You can start by searching for nonprofits in the area that you can support. You may even want to choose a charity that is recognized globally.
If you can’t find a good charity to donate to, you may want to let employees choose where to donate and then offer to match their donations. You could also send a corporate gift. In some cases, your company could even receive recognition on the charity’s website or promotional materials. However, you’ll also want to ask about tax deductibility and benefits ahead of time.
You could even let your employees vote for what profit or charity they would like you to donate to. This can be a great way to support a good cause while giving your employees a voice.
4. Hire an LGBTQIA+ Speaker
One Pride event you could host would be hiring an external speaker. This LGBTQIA+ individual should have experience or knowledge of the group, and they can raise awareness by educating and empowering your employees.
There are many different speakers that you could hire, but some of the most famous ones include Charlie Martin, Richard Coles, Katie Neeves, Steph McGovern, Kellie Maloney, and more. Again, if you aren’t sure who your employees would like to hear, ask them for input or have them vote!
5. Host a Virtual Pride Parade
One of the most significant events during June is the Pride parade. While COVID-19 was limiting large gatherings, many people held Pride parades virtually. This can be a great solution if you’re remote as well.
This way, you can engage your employees and promote the LGBTQIA+ community simultaneously. You can record members of your staff walking through the road or their kitchen wearing rainbow costumes or accessories. You can ask them to decorate their workspace while recording as well.
Once employees have sent you the recordings, you can edit them together and create a virtual Pride video. While it may not be the same as marching through the streets downtown, it can be a fun way to make some fun through the workplace.
If you want to make the Pride celebration even more fun, you can even hold a contest for which employee or department sends in the best parade video.
6. Create SWAG
It wouldn’t be much of a Pride Month if you didn’t have swag to celebrate with. It would be best to buy some rainbow pins, banners, and flags to decorate the office with. Or send it to virtual employees to let them decorate their own space.
However, remember that you should go beyond just the rainbow. Different flags can represent demisexuality, bisexuality, and asexuality as well. There is also an intersex and trans pride flag, and many more!
If you’re going to hold Pride events that focus on inclusion, make sure that you’re inclusive to everyone.
You could also provide materials for employees to make their Pride swag. To engage your employees, you may even want to host a Pride swag contest.
7. Host a Pride Month Reading Club
Whether you have a book club at your company, it can be fun to do one for the month. You may even find that your employees love it, and it can be a great way to improve your company culture.
You can host a Pride Month book club that will meet during June. The club could read many different books on the LGBTQIA+ community. Whether it’s lighthearted, educational, or enjoyable, it can be a great way to bond employees through the shared experience of reading the same book.
The book club will also give them a chance to talk over what they read, which can open up discussion. When there is an open discussion on these complex topics, it can promote more inclusion and a sense of community and belonging.
8. Host a Pride Trivia Event
If you want to add some competition and team bonding, you may wish to host LGBTQIA+ trivia events. You can celebrate Pride Month virtually or in person, and you can test your employee’s knowledge of LGBTQIA+ culture and history.
You can ask questions about different famous people, movies, music, movements, history, and more. This is both engaging and educational. You can even end the Pride Month games by offering different Pride swag as the prize for the team who knows the most trivia!
9. Focus on Inclusion Throughout the Year
While Pride Month is a good reminder for everyone to accept and have diverse workplaces, businesses need to maintain that energy throughout the entire year. Doing all of this just for June won’t mean much to potential employees, and they’ll be able to see right through it.
You want to ensure that your actions follow your promises, missions, and values. So take time to review your policies, reduce bias in your hiring process, and be inclusive throughout the whole year.
Discover More Ways to Celebrate Pride Month at the Workplace
These are only a few ways of celebrating Pride Month at the workplace, but there are many other best Pride Month ideas that you can use. The most important thing to remember is that your LGBTQIA+ employees feel welcomed and included in your workplace, whether it’s Pride Month at work or not.
It can be challenging to create an inclusive workplace, especially if you have such a diverse range of employees. Thankfully, Recruiter.com has experience working with a diverse group of employees.
If you need more advice or information on creating and hiring a diverse workplace, contact us today!
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