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LGBT Inclusion

LGBT Inclusion. A Business Case and Action Items. About us The Business Case for Inclusion Being Out What the Workplace needs to do The Business Case for an Employee Resource Group. Plexus, The Chamber of Commerce for the LGBT Community and Allies Mission:

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LGBT Inclusion

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  1. LGBT Inclusion A Business Case and Action Items

  2. About us • The Business Case for Inclusion • Being Out • What the Workplace needs to do • The Business Case for an Employee Resource Group

  3. Plexus, The Chamber of Commerce for the LGBT Community and Allies • Mission: • To provide proactive business development for the LGBT community and allies • Core Values: • Small business development • Supplier Diversity

  4. The Chamber’s Current Activities: • Network Nights • Roundtables • Supplier Diversity • Supplier Diversity Conference on September 20, 2012

  5. Plexus Education Foundation • Mission: • To improve the workplace environment for Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender individuals through education, research and development resulting in enrichment of the entire community. • Core Values • Promote Workplace Equality • Provide support for employee resource group development • Provide educational support for out individuals

  6. Plexus Education Foundation Current Activities • Employee Resource Group Series • LGBT Leadership Institute in partnership with The Weatherhead School Executive Education

  7. Goals for Today • Increase awareness of workplace issues for LGBT employees • Understand the business case for inclusion • Understand the business case for LGBT employee resource groups • Determine what you can do to help

  8. What did you do this weekend? • Where did you go? • Who did you go with? • What was the best part of the weekend? • Change all the pronouns to be non gender specific. No Him/Her He/She His/Hers

  9. For many LGBT employees sharing their weekend or previous evening can be difficult if they are not out at work. • Think about the amount of time and energy that needs to go into not revealing your authentic self.

  10. Workplace Current View • Research shows that 40% of LGBT employees aren’t comfortable being out in the workplace – the unseen minority • Stereotypes still exist – homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and heterosexism • Organization and fellow employees assume heterosexuality and therefor conforming to traditional gender roles • LGBT issues are not acknowledged or discussed • LGBT employees who are not out are spending time and energy hiding • Many employees who could be allies are not sure if it is “OK” to ask for fear they will “say the wrong thing”

  11. Some Facts and a Disclaimer • The LGBT “Community” is united around the issues of discrimination and harassment due to sexual orientation and gender expression. • The LGBT “Community” then breaks into individual groups that have differing issues. • I do not represent all LGBT people. • The point of view I will express is based on my experiences.

  12. Why an Inclusive Workplace • From A Social Justice point of view it is the Right thing • The hunt for talent – why would you want to exclude people when talent is hard to find • We frequent firms and organizations that support the LGBT community publicly

  13. Why an Inclusive Workplace • Freeing the time used to stay hidden to be more productive • Hiding and covering can detract from team productivity • A recent California study showed that when a person acknowledges and comes out to a team, the team is 27% to 35% more productive 1 • Employee Engagement is a key to retention and productivity • Gallup Employee Engagement Key Questions (Q12) 1 Everly, B. A., Shih, M. J., & Ho, G. C. (January 2012 Volume 48, Issue 1). Don’t ask, don’t tell? Does disclosure of gay identity affect partner performance? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 407-410.

  14. Gallup Q 12 of Employee Engagement • Do you know what is expected of you at work? • Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right? • At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day? • In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work? • Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person? • Is there someone at work who encourages your development? • At work, do your opinions seem to count? • Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important? • Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work? • Do you have a best friend at work? • In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress? • In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

  15. Business Case Summary • Increased individual productivity • Increased work team productivity • Higher employee engagement • More business from the LGBT community

  16. Coming Out • Is Coming Out an event?

  17. Coming Out • A LGBT Individual decides come out: • First to themselves • Friends ? • Family? • Co-workers? • Every time that they meet a new person • When coming out you need to assess: • Is it safe? • Will it create work team issues? • Will it impact my future at work?

  18. Heterosexism in the Workplace • The “norm” is to assume heterosexuality • A LGBT person has to disclose • Assumes stereotypical heterosexual gender roles

  19. How is Heterosexism expressed in your organization? • Are Company event invitations inclusive? • Are there special benefits for being heterosexual? • No partner benefits • Family leave policies • The language used to describe relationships

  20. What does Ohio have in common with 29 other states? • There is no Employee Non-Discrimination Act that protects for Sexual Orientation and/or Gender Expression • That means I and any other LGBT person can be fired for just being who they are

  21. What does your Business need to do? • Non-Discrimination and Inclusion Policies • Does it include sexual orientation and gender expression? • Is it easy to find on your company website and materials? • Do you provide partner benefits? • Do you provide inclusion and diversity training for all employees?

  22. What does your Business need to do? • Do you know where you would stand on the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Index? • Do you market or advertise to the LGBT community? • If you have employee resource groups, do you have an LGBT ERG? • Are inappropriate behaviors challenged? • Such as jokes • Comments

  23. Employee Resource Groups • Who has them in Northeast Ohio • What is the Business Case for them

  24. Cleveland Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Employee Resource Group active or emerging in Northeast Ohio • American Greetings • Cleveland Clinic Foundation • CWRU • Alumni • Students • Deloitte • Ernst & Young • The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland • Key Bank • MetroHealth Systems • Morgan Stanley Smith Barney • NEORSD • PNC • Progressive • University Hospitals

  25. The Pillars of the LGBT ERG Business Case • From the Company Point of View • Recruitment • Retention • Professional Development • Business Development • From an Employee Point of View • Visibility • Networking opportunities • Leadership Development • Peer mentoring • Help drive company policy and/or business development

  26. The Not so Standard Disclaimer • Most data that supports the impacts of employee resource groups is based on non-LGBT groups • Very few data sources regarding the effect of a LGBT ERG • Data is not collected at the organization level • No box to check • Data collected is self disclosed and not necessarily reflective of the LGBT population in general • Great deal of anecdotal data

  27. Conclusions and Thoughts • Employee Resource Groups in general have shown success in improving results along the four dimensions of the business case: • Recruiting • Retention • Professional Development • Business Development • Data has not been collected effectively to measure the impact of LGBT ERG’s to date. • The business case needs to be developed specific to the organization that the ERG resides in.

  28. Questions?

  29. Thomas Hawn, Board President P.O. Box 91697 Cleveland, Ohio 44143 Phone: 888.953.9879 Ext 13 Cell: 216.390.2111 Email: Foundation@thinkplexus.org www.PlexusEducationFoundation.org

  30. Recruitment • Studies Show: • People are attracted to companies that have policies that provide inclusiveness to them as individuals • Matching recruiter attributes to desired candidates increases recruiting pools • The environment of the employer must match in terms of policies and recruiter attributes • Anecdotal Information: • Ernst and Young wanted to move an out partner from France to Cleveland. The existence of the ERG and partnership with other groups persuaded the partner to relocate.

  31. Retention • Studies Show: • The involvement of female and minority employees has resulted in increased retention of those groups. • The data is mixed on the percentage impact. • Female and minority employees show a positive psychological contract between themselves and the organization.

  32. Professional Development • Studies Show • Mentoring programs and involvement with ERG’s has shown a direct impact on the growth of women and minority employees into mid-level management cohorts. • Involvement in ERG’s has shown increased visibility of female and minority employees to senior management through the programs and efforts of ERG’s • Intra-ERG mentoring programs can provide increased exposure and support for LGBT employees. i.e. role models

  33. Business Development • Many organizations use their ERG’s to provide input, direction and ideas to create and improve business results • Frito Lay has a business case showing the use of their Hispanic ERG to develop new products and appropriate packaging to reach the Hispanic market • A number of financial services companies have used their Hispanic and LGBT ERG’s to develop specific marketing and products to reach these respective populations. • Using ERG’s and inclusion policies companies market and promote their policies to LGBT individuals. i.e. HRC Indices, Target, Best Buy, etc.

  34. A Member’s Perspective • The Four Pillars of the business case represent a sponsoring organization’s point of view • Don’t forget the member’s point of view • What’s in it for me? • How will it help me? • Why should I join?

  35. The Employee Value Proposition • What’s in it for me? How will it help me? Why should I join? • Visibility • Networking opportunities • Leadership Development • Peer mentoring • Help drive company policy and/or business development

  36. Thomas Hawn, Board President P.O. Box 91697 Cleveland, Ohio 44143 Phone: 888.953.9879 Ext 13 Cell: 216.390.2111 Email: Foundation@thinkplexus.org www.PlexusEducationFoundation.org

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