Employee Recruitment, Retention and Productivity

Many businesses do not know they have any gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer employees. LGBTQ+ employees may spend a good portion of their energy hiding and compartmentalizing their personal lives so as to avoid potentially negative consequences in the workplace.

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 LGBTQ+ 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.

• Progressive workplace policies can improve recruitment and retention, which is critical to the success of a company.
• Training new workers is costly, and becomes wasteful 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. LGBTQ+ 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

Inclusive workplace policies impact more than the LGBTQ+ population. Fair-minded employees and consumers, particularly those in other minority populations, see LGBTQ+ inclusion as an indicator of an environment that supports all employees and their contributions.