Thought Leadership Article

Transgender Awareness Week: Advocating for Workplace Inclusivity and Equity

Held annually between November 13th and 19th, Transgender Awareness Week is a significant period dedicated to highlighting and addressing the challenges faced by the transgender community. It serves as a platform for individuals within the community and allies to take proactive steps in educating people, promoting understanding, and raising awareness about the issues encountered by transgender people.

Within the workplace, half of transgender people hide their authentic selves in fear that they will be discriminated against. It has been recorded that 1 in 4 trans people are encouraged to hide or disguise their identities by a work colleague (Stonewall 2018).

McKinsey’s research in the US on transgender and nonbinary peoples’ experience within the workplace (2020) found:

transgender and nonbinary adults were twice as likely as cisgender adults to be unemployed;
cisgender employees made 32% more money per annum than their transgender and nonbinary peers despite having a similar level of education;
people who identify as transgender or nonbinary felt less supported at work than their cisgender colleagues.

Focusing on inclusion and wage equity for trans and non-binary colleagues is morally the right thing to do. McKinsey’s research found that it also has the potential to increase consumer spending by $12bn per year.

To create a more inclusive and supportive workplace for transgender employees, Charlotte Sweeney Associates recommends starting by implementing these top 3 measures:

Consider Your Policies

Make your policies more inclusive by revising or establishing the following policies:

1. Bullying & Harassment policy
2. Transitioning at Work policy
3. Family Leave policy

Be respectful of inclusive pronouns

When implementing policies, it is important to be respectful of inclusive pronouns. Care should be made when conforming to the binary of ‘men’ and ‘women’ as many individuals who experience gender fluidity may not associate with such essentialist terms. For example, talking about ‘parental’ leave instead of ‘maternity’ or ‘paternity’ leave is more inclusive from a gender perspective as well as for LGBTQIA+ colleagues more broadly.

Collaborate and support

Collaborate with LGBTQAI+ network groups within the workplace to promote understanding, inclusivity, and support for transgender employees. (read more about this here)

We have numerous articles on our website to help you understand how to support transgender people in your workplace. If you would like to learn more about implementing inclusive practices within your organisation, you can request a free 30-minute call with us today:

https://www.charlottesweeney.com/contact-us/contact-form/

Read our thought leadership articles here:

Improving Transgender equity in the workplace UK

https://www.charlottesweeney.com/thought-leadership-articles/2022/06/16/improving-transgender-equity-in-the-workplace-uk/

Inclusivity, coming out and support in the workplace

https://www.charlottesweeney.com/thought-leadership-articles/2022/02/21/lgbt-history-month-inclusivity-coming-out-and-support-in-the-workplace-by-leng-montgomery/

International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia

https://www.charlottesweeney.com/thought-leadership-articles/2022/05/17/idahobit-2022/

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Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/oct/05/record-rise-hate-crimes-transgender-people-reported-england-and-wales

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/being-transgender-at-work