Multinational companies seeking the best talent must prioritize diversity or risk losing significant ground in the global economy. The International Labour Organization recently released a report detailing the necessity of diversity to boost productivity and resilience.
LGBTQ+ employees face unique struggles when looking for a new job, and inclusive recruitment processes that intentionally support the experience of queer candidates can result in a more authentic talent pool and reveal qualified candidates from traditionally marginalized communities that might otherwise become discouraged or non-responsive during the recruitment process.
A recent Household Pulse Survey in the US launched in 2021 revealed that LGBTQ+ individuals are more likely to live below the poverty line, and yet work more hours per week than their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts. A 2021 survey from UCLA’s Williams Institute revealed that nearly half of LGBTQ+ employees have experienced a form of discrimination at work.
When qualified employees struggle to participate fully in their work environment, everyone loses. Intentional inclusion of LGBTQ+ employees benefits the individual and the company as a whole and makes a company more profitable overall.
What are the benefits of having a diverse and inclusive workplace?
Different voices bring multiple solutions
When it comes to solving a problem, diversity is an unbeatable asset. Diversity fosters innovative solutions through a variety of viewpoints. When a team is made up of members who have had different life experiences, there is a rich gathering of informed perspectives that can tackle a problem from multiple angles.
Pushback is a good thing
Because diversity brings together different viewpoints, there is more opportunity to challenge standard procedures and ways of thinking and offer pushback against established norms. This encourages new ways of approaching problems. When diverse voices are valued, the challenges they present can result in novel proposals and solutions.
Cooperation becomes a lived value
Every organization wants to stress their internal cooperation and shared values, but a diverse company is forced to establish a baseline of cooperation in a more authentic way.
Different nationalities, native languages, ages, sexualities, economic and educational backgrounds, and family systems can cause initial friction between colleagues. However, if navigated properly, diversity necessitates honest cooperation on a level that a homogenous company may never achieve.
Why prioritize inclusive hiring?
First impressions establish values
An organization’s hiring process sets the tone for operations. Candidates begin making value calls about a company the moment they’re contacted by a recruiter or member of the hiring team. The language and accessibility used by the ambassadors of a company establish that essential first impression.
If the process is LGBTQ+ inclusive, signaling a curiosity and openness to a variety of lived experiences, that process will attract similar candidates: curious and open recruits who are made to feel comfortable.
Diversity becomes a focus, not an afterthought
Diversity does not truly grow if an organization’s focus on it is primarily inward. Making a company LGBTQ+ friendly requires examining processes through the full recruitment cycle – a step beyond assuring the comfort of current LGBTQ+ employees.
Promoting diversity and an inclusive recruitment process from the moment a candidate encounters a recruiter or reads a job description means that the candidate can immediately resonate (or not resonate) with your commitment to encouraging wide perspectives.
Every HR team will tell you that a company’s greatest asset is its people. Embracing stated diversity at the outset of the hiring process means that candidates who might not fit the mold apply and reveal themselves to be assets in later steps.
When your organization is actively promoting diversity, especially for LGBTQ+ candidates, you will receive a wider pool of candidates and a greater opportunity to identify value.
