Celebrated globally every June, Pride month honors the LGBTQ community as society seeks to achieve equal justice and opportunity for everyone, specifically lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, queers (LGBTQ).
Why June?
The month of June was chosen in commemoration of the Stonewall riots in 1969, which was a turning point for the gay liberation movement, paving the way for the on-going fight for LGBTQ rights. This month is celebrated in many ways such as parades, picnics, parties, workshops, and more!
In an effort to promote an equal society, we wanted to highlight how a diverse workplace can impact employees and businesses. Diversity in a workspace is a working environment filled with individuals of varying gender, religion, race, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, education, and other attributes, without any unwelcoming biases.
Diversity in a workplace or workspace is not just a trend, it’s something many companies and workspaces around the globe want to achieve.
Grow your network
If you want to really grow your network, you’ll need a diverse workspace. By being surrounded by individuals with other backgrounds, it portrays a very welcoming work environment. This allows coworkers to be open and able to connect through sharing their unique experiences without the fear of being judged.
Diversity supports businesses’ internal and external networks. Employee retention increases when individuals feel that their opinions are welcome. Eventually lessening expenses and time spent for recruitment. When people feel respected and valued in their workspace, it’s unlikely that they go looking elsewhere. As for recruiting, a company that is actively in search of diverse candidates has access to a wider talent pool, resulting in better-qualified candidates.
Increase engagement and productivity
Engagement is also improved through diversity and inclusion. The more included an individual feels, the more engaged. When we value the opinions of the people around us, there would be more initiative from coworkers to provide inputs and ideas without hesitation. It also opens the door to learning different perspectives that could ultimately lead to better business ideas.
When coworkers don’t feel accepted in the office, it will likely decrease their motivation and the quality of their outputs. It’s a lot less intimidating for individuals to be in a room with a representation of all kinds of people, allowing these individuals to fully be themselves and reach their full potential.
More creativity and innovation
With globalization, more competition only pushes for more creativity and innovation. Being in a diverse environment, ideas as people within the discussions have been through different experiences, leading to effective brainstorming. Having a diverse group of individuals look at things from their own perspective, helps understand the needs and opinions of the consumers. Furthermore, you can determine where the company or product stands in the eyes of consumers, and think of possible solutions.
New circumstances and environments are known to spark fresh ideas. People with similar experiences will tend to have the same approach to solving a problem, and having the same ideas won’t lead to any breakthrough efficiently. With different backgrounds, skills, and perspectives, more ideas and views will be shared, creating the best possible output.
To promote inclusion, we need to change how others perceive the LGBTQ community. As an ally, it’s important that we continue to show our support for the LGBTQ community and educate people around us on the current issues that society faces. We all have the right to equal opportunities and a diverse workspace is a step in the right direction. Whether you’re a part of the LGBTQ community or an ally, spread love, be yourself, and live with pride!