PRIDE: an acronym for Personal Rights in Defense and Education. Each June, symbolic rainbows and colorful flags reminds us of the years of struggle for civil rights across LGBT+ communities. In the workplace, minority groups are still looking to have more representation and acceptance, ultimately aiming for equality. A more diverse and accepting workforce starts with better recruitment practices, and at Oliver Parks we’re proud of our diverse working environment.

In a special celebration of Pride month, we reinforce how we believe diversity makes our team stronger, and how thrilled we are to support other organizations with their recruitment processes, in helping bolster more plural workforces worldwide.

What’s LGBT+ Pride and why do we celebrate this in June? 

Pride month commemorates years of struggle for civil rights and the still ongoing pursuit of equal justice under the law for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgenders, and queer communities (LGBTQ). The historical symbolism of this celebrations started on June 28th 1969, in an NYC Bar, when police raided a popular hangout for young gay individuals, arresting its employees and demonstrating strong signs of disdain with the community. Outside, a large crowd watched the atrocity, whilst bar’s owners were herded into police cars, increasing a general feeling of fury. Meanwhile, some 400 others rioted. As a symbol of support, crowds remained outside for the next 5 days, and these Stonewall Riots provided the spark that ignited the gay rights movement in the United States. Nowadays, Pride acts as a moment of education in pride history and willingness to move forward with equality.

LGBT+ Community in the Workplace

McKinsey research shows that despite visible support and public backing on corporate media channels, today’s workplace is falling short of full inclusion. Whilst study after study has proven that building a diverse team is a smart decision for your business strategy, companies still fail to expand their mentality and often still present clear biases in their recruitment processes.  

Lesbian women and transgender individuals are the most affected in the workplace, reporting higher levels of harassment and representing only 1.2%  percent of the workforce in Corporate US America, whilst gay men are represented by 3.9%. Whilst numbers are likely to be underrepresented, executives within the LGBT+ communities report numerous cases of homophobia, bullying and lack of support in the workplace, which encourages them to remain silent across their network. Diversity promotes new ideas and a more plural brainstorm in every single meeting. By ignoring the struggles of any individual in the workplace, businesses worldwide also miss the opportunity to learn from those differences and add those ideas in the release of new products and services.  

LGBT+ Community in Technology?

Workforces in the areas of Science, Technology and Engineering are those missing the most talents, as this study suggests that LGBT individuals avoid careers in those industries due to worries of discrimination and bullying. Due to the risks of homophobic bullying and outdated attitudes, LGBT+ members feel pressured and unwilling to disclose their sexuality. This has led to 33% of gay engineers claiming that they feel their sexuality was a barrier to the progression of their career in 22 US multinationals.

When looking for talented technologists, it is important to keep diversity on your radar, and make sure your workplace works towards a more plural approach to benefit all areas in the company. To support your business, specialized recruiters can help you reach these goals.

As a business, what recruitment practices can be adopted to transform your workforce? 

A more diverse workforce and, consequently, a group of more satisfied employees starts in recruitment. Practices towards diversity are set in different businesses with the objective of ensuring that your workforce represents the society around you - different individuals, with multiple backgrounds and varied perspectives. This is proven to increase the quality of your meetings, and research shows that diversity is noticed to be the main element for companies that create the most innovative products. Diversity doesn’t stand represent the LGBT+ community only, rather considering plurality across races, genders, and cultural heritages.

Here are some valuable insights: 

• If you’re concerned that your business isn’t diverse, speak with your HR representative or a recruitment consultant, they may be able to provide some insight.

• When posting job ads on LinkedIn or your Company Webpage, tailor your ads to speak to a broader range of candidates and provide assurance that you support diversity.

• If you’re a recruiter, ensure that your talent pool represents diverse candidates and as fair a representation of gender equality as possible.

• Encourage your diverse employees to refer their connections.

• In business strategy, work towards developing an employer brand that showcases your diversity.

• Make sure you have company policies that appeal to diverse candidates and take any source of discrimination seriously.

• Promote allies for LGBT+ people and assign key staff or HR members to be available to speak with employees regarding queries or concerns.

• Finally, and most importantly, go beyond social media and demonstrate through your actions that diverse employees are genuinely welcome in the workplace - and keep track of your success!

-        Dave Flores, a diverse employee at Oliver Parks.

 About Oliver Parks

Oliver Parks offers search-based recruitment solutions to the technology sector, specialising in ERP, CRM, e-commerce, Business Intelligence, Mobile Development. Data Science & Engineering, Cloud Computing, Web Development, Content Management and Cyber Security. The firm’s multilingual consultants operate in narrowly-defined niche market segments, enabling them to gain extensive knowledge of the people and companies operating in each technology.  Oliver Parks has a proven track-record with more than 100,000 candidates worldwide and more than 300 clients globally.