Progress and Potential: The Evolution of the Global Workplace for LGBTQ+ Employees

It’s no secret that both the American and global workplace has undergone a radical transformation in recent years. While hybrid workspaces have redefined where many of us work, a growing culture shift has redefined how many of us work – specifically, with the adoption of policies that have improved the work environment for LGBTQ+ employees. […]

The post <strong>Progress and Potential: The Evolution of the Global Workplace for LGBTQ+ Employees</strong> appeared first on HR Daily Advisor.

It’s no secret that both the American and global workplace has undergone a radical transformation in recent years. While hybrid workspaces have redefined where many of us work, a growing culture shift has redefined how many of us work – specifically, with the adoption of policies that have improved the work environment for LGBTQ+ employees.

Just ten years ago, many LGBTQ+ employees concealed their authentic selves while on the job. The change since then is shockingly positive. The 2023 Out to Succeed 2.0 research report, the largest-ever global talent survey of the LGBTQ+ workforce, clearly illustrates how far we’ve come. Notably, the report shows that 80% of LGBTQ+ employees today report feeling comfortable being out at work, up from 36% in 2016.

Moreover, the change in office culture isn’t solely a victory for LGBTQ+ employees, it’s also an economic game-changer for businesses that prioritize equality. Inclusive businesses reap countless rewards, including improved recruitment and retention of talent, enhanced productivity, and increased employee satisfaction. And we’re not just talking about LGBTQ+ employees: more than half of all workers won’t even consider working for a company that doesn’t align with their values.

Advancement in the Workplace

When I first started my career on Wall Street, many of my colleagues didn’t have the words – or in too many cases, the desire – to entertain a discussion about LGBTQ+ equality in the workplace. They didn’t recognize how doing the right thing for LGBTQ+ employees, consumers, and communities would also create safe workplaces where the brightest minds could create, innovate, and collaborate to redefine entire markets and sectors: transformations that would also be the right thing for the bottom line. The data bears this out: according to Out to Succeed, 7 out of 10 LGBTQ+ employees indicate that being out in the workplace has had a positive impact on their career opportunities and advancement, with 66% also reporting a positive effect on their ability to do business or engage with clients.

Since then, I have been joined on the frontlines in the fight for workplace equality by the sharpest, most committed business and thought leaders the world over – gay and straight. I have witnessed the most successful, powerful companies in the world act as bulwarks against short-sighted, incorrect, and immoral anti-LGBTQ+ policies, all while leveraging the power of their businesses to actually advance equality.

The Cultural and Business Shift

Why the shift? Because smart business leaders understand that there are economic benefits to inclusion and economic consequences to discrimination. Sylvia Ann Hewlett’s groundbreaking “Power of Out“, revealed in 2011 that closeted employees, grappling with fear in the workplace, were 73% more likely to leave their companies within three years, creating a lose/lose scenario for both employers and employees (the vast majority of research since has confirmed this). Recognizing the instability that losing top talent creates – which increasingly identifies as non-white, female, and LGBTQ+ – and the steep price of turnover – estimated between $660,000 to $2.6 million per employee lost – businesses are publicly and privately embracing inclusion and diversity in their reporting metrics, their recruiting tactics, and their marketing.

Progress Despite Continued Attacks

And they’re doing it all while an increasingly hostile minority of politicians are attempting to roll back and even criminalize workplace equality. These politically motivated tactics cost states like Florida thousands of talented employees and deter critical tourist dollars. Louisiana forfeited one of its only pediatric heart surgeons to New York over its inhospitable climate for LGBTQ+ Americans, severely restricting the availability of lifesaving medical care for residents of the state. And in Texas, the state’s refusal to work with so-called pro-ESG “woke” banks is costing the taxpayers $416 million a year. The same principle prevents multinational corporations from effectively allocating their best LGBTQ+ employees around the world, where discriminatory laws limit partner recognition, life insurance, same-sex marriage, or (in 63 countries) criminalize homosexuality.

What we’ve achieved in the corporate realm highlights the potential for positive change, emphasizing the ongoing fight to win workplaces that are not just diverse but truly inclusive. The progress we’ve made thus far must be safeguarded, and challenges that continue to exist must be confronted. For example, transgender, nonbinary, and LGBTQ+ employees of color are still not fully reaping the rewards of workplace equality, and companies are missing out on the talent of these incredibly resilient, high-potential corporate leaders.

Nevertheless, we should be heartened by the accelerated advances we are seeing – like the 44-point increase in LGBTQ+ professionals who were comfortable being out at work in just six years – as an indication that even the most dire challenges can be rectified rapidly. And the improvements will continue – even if today’s political climate has nudged companies to speak about diversity differently, they continue to invest actively in equality initiatives because they matter and because they reap results for workers, investors, business leaders, and communities.

Todd Sears, a former Wall Street executive, is the Founder and CEO of Out Leadership, the world’s premier global platform for businesses to drive LGBTQ+ equality.  Out Leadership works closely with the world’s leading companies to develop extraordinary talent, produce cutting-edge research, advance powerful advocacy, and improve business outcomes. Since 2011, Out Leadership has advised hundreds of the world’s most powerful companies in the world on LGBTQ+ issues. To learn more visit: outleadership.com.

The post <strong>Progress and Potential: The Evolution of the Global Workplace for LGBTQ+ Employees</strong> appeared first on HR Daily Advisor.