Pride Month may be over, but the need for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at work is only getting stronger. Building on that idea, the theme for the June issue of the newsletter I edit for IABC/Toronto’s independent professionals was “pride and inclusion.”
To find out how well corporate Canada is supporting DEI (or not), I talked to Colin Druhan, Executive Director of Pride at Work Canada / Fierté au travail Canada. The organization aims to empower employers to build workplaces that celebrate all employees, regardless of gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
You’ll find our conversation in the July issue of my own newsletter, Wordnerdery. Besides questions around how companies are doing, I also asked these basic questions:
What is the right umbrella term to be inclusive?
The language is constantly changing. At Pride at Work Canada, we use 2SLGBTQIA+. That’s Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and a + for the other ways people self-identify.
That said, what a company uses should reflect what it’s doing. So if it isn’t taking meaningful action related to Two-Spirit employees, 2S probably shouldn’t be there. But we encourage companies to include as many identities as they can and plan their strategy to catch up.
What advice do you have about pronouns?
It’s one of more visible measures employers can take: Have employees include their pronouns in their email signature, Zoom name, on business cards and so on. And make it a regular part of a conversation, the way you share your name or your title. When one person does that, it’s an invitation to others to do the same. That creates a culture where everyone feels comfortable and it reduces misgendering.
Read six more questions and some advice for helping companies embrace inclusion and diversity in Wordnerdery.
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