Pride at Work Canada's Misha Goforth says recognizing Pride initiatives results in better workplace engagement and productivity
The first month of the summer is well underway as are the rainbow flags that have also started sprouting across the country. But what does it mean to celebrate Pride Month? While June signifies Pride season for most of Canada, Pride Month itself varies from province to province. Pride At Work Canada is taking the time to encourage employers to celebrate and support the visibility of the 2SLGBTQI+ community.
“It's really important to remember the importance of that visibility in the time that we're in right now,” says Misha Goforth, manager of programs at Pride At Work Canada. “Pride season and Pride parades have been around for a while now but we're really seeing a lot of political changes across the country. That visibility remains important.”
Goforth noted that the importance to recognize Pride should never be thought as less important, highlighting that Pride Month is ultimately the employer's chance to support their employees who are in the 2SLGBTQI+ community, as well as to highlight what they're doing to support the community throughout the year.
One idea for an initiative that employers can take could be hosting learning events and facilitating conversations around the 2SLGBTQI+ inclusion with their employees as well as asking questions like “Are we investing in 2SLGBTQI+ talent? Are we investing in a culture that is psychologically safe and inclusive? Is this a place where any person would want to work regardless of gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation?”
Pride At Work Canada is offering another initiative and a possible solution for employers to help “grade” their recognition of Pride in the workplace. The organization’s Workplace Audit is a questionnaire – or consultation - offered to employers that reviews employer policies and procedures, employee data collection, supplier diversity and procurement, to name a few, to find opportunities and improve practices for 2SLGBTQI+ inclusion. Goforth believes the Audit is an excellent tool to answer whether workplaces are rainbow washing and how to implement 2SLGBTQI+ inclusion in the workplace.
While an audit can be a scary or daunting task for some, it provides an opportunity to explore what the expectation and regulated standards are and how well workplaces are performing to that expectation. At the end of the process, organizations will receive a roadmap to fill in gaps for finding good practices and understand how to leverage opportunities more and continue to the next step.
“The Workplace Audit offers a good internal reflection on where the gaps are, where the areas for improvement are, and where some of the wins are,” says Goforth. “Of course, it's not possible to change everything overnight but what this audit helps do is to prioritize some of the actions that can be taken to have the greatest impact on employees.”
While Goforth admits she wishes employers would facilitate more Pride events during other months of the year, Pride Month is an exceptional time to lean into what Pride means. “Pride is a celebration and Pride is also a protest,” she said. “Companies don't like to think about protests necessarily, but what that can mean in a company context, is having space for difficult conversations to take place. Creating space for that is really important. It's also a great time to highlight the voices of 2SLGBTQI+ leaders that are inside or outside your workplace or in your industry.”
Pride didn’t start as a corporate event, Goforth explains. Companies only started recognizing and joining the conversation for Pride Month more recently over the last few decades. Brands haven’t always been willing to let their voices out either. It was only because queer, transgender and two-spirited employees in respective companies said they wanted to be a part of the conversation and wanted to see this brand be part of the conversation.
“When companies started doing that, it was really an effort to reach the 2SLGBTQI+ markets [and their employees]. Continuing that work and that effort is really why employers should be participating in Pride Month,” Goforth said.
One thing that is easily avoidable but also easy for employers to fall into, Goforth noted, is the rainbow washing trap. Rainbow washing, she explains, consists of having a company’s logo on a flag or object with a rainbow on it, but not doing anything else internally or externally to support the 2SLGBTQI+ community.
“The concern is when employers are only doing the actions that are going to get them recognition and not taking the time or investment into the community. We need companies to do the work internally, to improve workplaces for 2SLGBTQI+ employees and we need them to do the work externally to have a tangible impact in the community.”
Employers who take the time to evaluate how they’re celebrating Pride in the workplace may see results, Goforth says. Some of the benefits to employers who prioritize their diversity and inclusion efforts will see better talent acquisition, better retention and a better work culture, which Goforth says, “produces more engagement and psychological safety for employees. Not just for those in the community but for everyone else too.”
“If you're looking to genuinely engage with the community, then that engagement has to be genuine,” Goforth added. “Look at building those partnerships, look at having a tangible and economic impact in the community that's surrounding you and support what your employees are saying who are part of that community. Look to support what they're interested in and what they're doing. Show up to the events that are important to them.”
