As I’ve said before, we all deserve to be loved, and all forms of love should be celebrated today, during PRIDE month, and always.
We’ve been through a lot in 2022. We’ve witnessed grave injustices based on economics, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation —here in the U.S. and worldwide. And right now, it’s crucial to take a stand for all of our communities and build a more loving and inclusive society.
For this year’s PRIDE month, I want to speak about how we, as a collective workforce, can make a conscious effort to ensure we are working together and creating workplaces that support equality, love and tolerance.
What we can do to better our workplaces
We’ve come a long way, but there is still a lot to be done for the LGBTQ+ community. I implore everyone — myself and my staff included — to continue developing inclusion efforts to ensure everyone is bringing their best selves to work. Consider these small but essential steps we can take now:
- Learn and educate ourselves on the latest terminology. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has a report on talking about pronouns in the workplace and a glossary of terms that can help us all better understand and communicate about gender identity and sexual orientation.
- Realize that awareness of people’s preferred pronouns is important. Consider adding a section to your email signatures to include personal pronouns. That way, everyone with whom you and your teams interact can be better informed and conscious of pronouns.
- Provide training. Numerous resources are available at LGBTQ+ Workplace Education Center for how to support LGBTQ+ colleagues, including e-training modules on creating respectful workplaces that employees can take.
- Establish allies and personnel groups specific to inclusion. Establish groups or appoint interested advocates to lead the charge in creating a culturally responsible environment. At SingleStore, we’ve established a new role: director of employee engagement, diversity and inclusion. This allows for more intention to be put behind how the company invests in creating a more inclusive and impactful workplace.
Towards a greater good
As I’ve said, this is a “we” proposition. The CEO can set the course and lead by example, but the whole team is needed to do the heavy lifting. Each individual has a personal responsibility to embrace and routinely practice ethical behaviors in the workplace. One of SingleStore’s core pillars states that we will work with the best and most diverse minds because we believe this approach creates the brightest and most forward-thinking teams.
“Together” is the only way we can make our workplace inclusive for LGBTQ+ individuals and other minority groups, and inspire them to have a voice.Let’s continue the fight for equality and inclusion, in the workplace and in our lives, and remember that love is love. And love conquers all.
