During June, Citywide Pride—a coalition of local companies who celebrate diversity in the workplace—held a series of talks and other events. Windy City Times' Charlsie Dewey reports on a couple of the forums that took place.
Out at the Top
Citywide Pride kicked off Pride month on June 4, with the first of many events taking place this month to both discuss and honor diversity in the workplace.
Law firm Jenner and Block and the Chicago Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce co-sponsored 'Being Out at the Top,' which was a panel discussion with senior level executives, Philip P. Burgess, R.Ph., National Director Pharmacy Affairs, Walgreens; Raymond E. Crossman, Ph.D., President, Adler School of Professional Psychology; Toby J.F. Bishop, Forensic & Dispute Services Partner, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP; Gail Morse, Partner, Jenner & Block; Jerry Burgdoerfer, Partner, Jenner & Block, who discussed their ascensions to the tops of their respective professions and the role their sexuality played in their work life.
Robbin Burr, executive director of the Center on Halsted, served as moderator for the event and shared a bit of her own positive experience with being out when she mentioned how she has been 'gay for pay' for a while now.
While all the panelists have had positive experiences being out at work and are happy with their decisions, questions quickly popped up about whether or not young people today will experience a more accepting climate at the water cooler.
Although younger generations are coming out at much younger ages than in past generations, there is still a fear for many who are not in committed relationships over whether to come out and how they might be perceived if they do.
A particularly interesting comment was that even non-LGBT prospective employees are doing their homework about a companies LGBT policies, asking about domestic partner benefits to gauge whether or not a company is progressive and what values the company reflects in its policies.
Another important conversation centered on the issue of credibility. Panelists remarked on how being in the closet can hurt an employee's credibility, especially if people have assumed the person is LGBT and hiding it.
Panelists all seemed to agree that being out at work is important to the individual and to the organization.
'By coming out, we can help to shape the future. We can help to create the environment in which we work…be willing to take up the challenge, because when LGBT employees are invisible, they're not part of a federally measured statistic, and when we remain out of sight, if we remain unmeasured, then we're often not on the agenda,' Bishop said.
Leveraging Diversity in the Workplace
At the June 14 Citywide Pride event, 'Diversity and the Talent Wars,' hosted by KPMG International and UBS, panelists Dennis L. Kluge, Todd A. Solomon, Mina Biggs, Tori Carroll and Keith Baltz discussed how companies can successfully recruit and retain LGBT employees as well as other minority groups.
As the HRC Equality Index has shown, there has been a significant increase in companies vying to show just how LGBT-friendly they are, but whether the message is getting out is an open question.
Kluge discussed ways companies can gauge how well they are doing in efforts to attract and keep minority employees: Is their diversity at all levels, from the top to the bottom and amongst the highest paid employees? Is recruiting happening in ethnic American and LGBT publications, or at cultural or professional events? How about membership in ethnic American and LGBT professional organizations and charitable contributions to these types of organizations?
Solomon discussed a study conducted about minority law student attitudes that found that, '97 percent of students expressed concern that they will be treated differently because of their racial, ethnic and/or LGBT status by other attorneys within the law firm. Ninety-nine percent of the students expressed concern that they will not have access to informal networking mechanisms that are critical to advancement,' and '85 percent of the students expressed concern that they will be held to higher standards than non-minority counterparts.'
Carroll reminded attendees that it is a global marketplace and companies need a cultural knowledge worldwide to compete successfully today.
The bottom line seems to come down to respect. In order to attract and retain both minority employees and dollars, companies need to show respect in as many ways as possible to let these groups know just how welcome they are.