Business Case: Recruitment and Retention
Employers that develop and implement workplace strategies that address create fair workplaces for GLBT employees can enhance corporate reputation, increase job satisfaction and boost employee morale. Results include enhanced corporate reputation and increased business opportunities, employee recruitment, retention and productivity, and decreased legal vulnerability.
Employee Recruitment, Retention and Productivity
Many businesses do not know they have any gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender employees. In truth, GLBT employees spend a good portion of their energy hiding and compartmentalizing their personal lives so as to avoid potentially negative consequences.
And while employers might prefer that all of their employees kept their personal lives out of the office, many of the casual conversations that occur daily make it extremely difficult to do so. Employees socialize by asking how their weekends were or asking about friends and family, and employers often have events to which families or significant others are invited. Whether or not a GLBT employee has a partner or children, these situations prove difficult and sometimes painful to avoid. Having inclusive protections and benefits are keystone practices to attracting and retaining a diverse workforce.
On adding GLBT protections to Ernst & Young’s policies:
“It was obvious that they had to make decisions every day on whom they could talk to and how much of themselves they could bring to work. I can’t imagine coming to work every day and feeling afraid. It just felt wrong. Do the percentages. [Irrespective of their] ethnicity, gender or GLBT [identity], people are our top asset.”
— John Ferraro, senior vice chair, Ernst & Young LLP (Fortune Article, p7)
Given the anticipated short- and long-term labor shortages, particularly among skilled labor, many employers are turning to associations for GLBT students and professionals.
“Over the next 10 years we’re going to need anywhere from 30,000 to 40,000 new employees. We can’t afford to turn our back on anyone in the talent pool.”
— Hayward Bell, chief diversity officer, Raytheon (Fortune Article p5)
- Progressive workplace policies can improve recruitment and retention, which is critical to the success of a company. “An essential element of Imation’s EEO policy states that it will not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation,” said former Imation CEO William T. Monahan. “In order to compete effectively for these individuals, the company has adopted policies that it believes provide a diverse, safe and productive work environment.”
- Training new workers is costly, and a huge waste if employees are leaving or being fired for reasons that have nothing to do with job performance.
- Work is not merely a means to meet basic needs. Many people take pride in their labor and seek emotional satisfaction from meeting the challenges work can offer. GLBT employees who are not valued or safe at work may not able to perform to the best of their abilities, which can affect the performance of an entire team.
Fair-Minded Employees
Inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees in workplace policies impacts more than the GLBT population. Fair-minded employees and consumers, particularly those in other minority populations, see GLBT inclusion as an indicator of an environment that supports all employees and their contributions.
Brad Salavich, program manager for GLBT workforce diversity at International Business Machines Corp., cited a recruiting event at which Asian women approached an IBM table set up with GLBT materials. The women told him they were interested not because the materials affected them personally, but because, “‘If you’re the type of company with these policies, you also accept women and minorities.’ They used it as a benchmark,” Salavich said.