The Manila Times

Where are we on LGBT+ inclusion in the workplace?

LLOYD MORAÑO

THE Pride March returned to the streets of the Philippines last June 25 — the first time since the pandemic started. It was a joyous, nationwide highlight of Pride Month and a visible reminder of how far the LGBT+ community had come since the first march was staged in the country in 1994 — an event that drew a little more than 30 activists and a smattering of arrest threats from the police. But while this year’s thousands of attendees were free to gather and celebrate the richness of the LGBT+ community, the march remained a timely reminder of the long journey toward equity and inclusion.

Earlier this year, Deloitte conducted a study to see how that journey was coming along, particularly in the workplace. Six hundred members of the LGBT+ community who were employed across various sectors and located in 12 geographies were surveyed about daily realities in their organizations. While the Philippines was not included, the findings can still provide local business leaders with practical insights into the experiences of their LGBT+ workers and hopefully inform their actions toward creating a truly inclusive culture.

The good news

Around 80 percent of the respondents said their organizations had introduced LGBT+ inclusion actions and initiatives and an even more significant proportion — 95 percent — said these had led to meaningful support for LGBT+ employees in the company. The initiatives ranged from leaders openly speaking about LGBT+ inclusion in their communications to employees (39 percent) to including a commitment to LGBT+ inclusion in external recruitment campaigns (33 percent) and establishing an LGBT+-focused Employee Resources Group or ERG (30 percent).

Drilling down, Deloitte focused on the respondents who worked for a global employer (55 percent of those surveyed). An overwhelming 93 percent of these respondents said their employer’s LGBT+ inclusion initiatives resulted in meaningful support for LGBT+ employees in their home countries. How, exactly? Fifty-seven percent said they believed their employer would speak up against anti-LGBT+ actions and comments in their location while 49 percent said their employers had conducted LGBT+ inclusion training locally. Fifty-five percent said they could be “out” at work because of these inclusive actions.

These results suggest that business leaders’ inclusive behaviors and actions reverberate well beyond the confines of workspaces. Imagine the power this kind of influence and support can have in territories where members of the LGBT+ community still face systemic persecution and discrimination. Here in the Philippines, for example, although great strides have been made in recognizing and accepting the diversity of the LGBT+ community, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression Equality bill is still not a law, more than two decades after it was first filed. As the Deloitte survey shows, legal protection is a much-needed recourse for workers who continue to feel marginalized or attacked even in professional settings.

However . . .

Over 4 in 10 survey respondents said they had experienced noninclusive behaviors at work, even during the height of the pandemic when many offices emptied out. Forty-seven percent said they experienced the non-inclusive behaviors in a physical office while 20 percent experienced them in a virtual setting. The behaviors included making unwanted comments or jokes of a sexual nature (experienced by 33 percent), making jokes at their expense (31 percent) and making disparaging or belittling comments about their gender identity (25 percent). Alarmingly, 21 percent also said they experienced unwanted physical contact.

It is not surprising then that less than half of the LGBT+ employees were out about their sexual orientation or gender identity to the majority of colleagues at work. While over 50 percent said it was a personal preference, about 20 percent said it was because they were concerned that being out to their wider organization could adversely impact their careers. This tells us that while organizations have made good progress in institutionalizing LGBT+ inclusion, there is still much work to be done to ensure that those actions and values trickle down to the “everyday culture” that has a direct impact on LGBT+ employees’ feelings of inclusion and acceptance.

One way business leaders can address this gap is by encouraging and even leading on allyship. Eighty-two percent of the respondents believed that allyship helped them be out at work. This is particularly important for transgender employees. Allyship can take on many forms but in the Deloitte survey, 42 percent cited having allies supporting an LGBT+ ERG as one of the most important examples. This was followed by having allies speak up when they witness noninclusive behaviors (40 percent) and dedicating time to listen and learn from LGBT+ colleagues (38 percent). These are by no means difficult steps to take in order to make LGBT+ colleagues feel safer and more welcome in the workplaces where they make invaluable contributions everyday.

And so as another Pride Month closes, it’s a good time to check on your organization’s LGBT+ inclusion journey. How much progress have you made? What else can be done to build an inclusive and equitable work culture for everyone? These are questions we should be asking ourselves, not just because they affect talent retention but because finding the answers is the right thing to do.

The author is an audit and assurance partner and the diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) Leader at Deloitte Philippines (Navarro Amper & Co.), a member of the Deloitte Asia Pacific Network. For comments or questions, email llmorano@deloitte.com. Deloitte Asia Pacific Ltd. is a company limited by guarantee and a member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. Members of Deloitte Asia Pacific Ltd. and their related entities, each of which are separate and independent legal entities, provide services from more than 100 cities across the region, including Auckland, Bangkok, Beijing, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Melbourne, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo and Yangon.

Business Times

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2022-07-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/281801402659845

The Manila Times