Inclusion of LGBTQ+ Executives – A Long Way to Go

HR Technologist published a bylined article, “Inclusion of LGBTQ+ Executives – A Long Way to Go,” authored by Russell Reynolds Associates Consultant Tina Shah Paikeday featured the firm's research, "LGBTQ+ Inclusion: A Leader’s Guide." The article is excerpted below. 
 

• Organizational programs can improve inclusion levels of LGBTQ+ employees via training, affinity groups and ally programs. 
• Inclusive leadership practices are critical to changing the perceptions of LGBTQ+ executives. Effective leaders can model inclusive behaviors by communicating the importance of LGBTQ+ inclusion, setting and communicating LGBTQ+ hiring and retention goals, holding leaders accountable to those goals, investing time to learn the right language as it relates to LGBTQ+ talent and amplifying the voice of LGBT executives by becoming an ally. 
   

Inclusion of LGBTQ+ Executives – A Long Way to Go 

The perceptions of LGBTQ+ executives of D&I efforts in the workplace are starkly different from those of their straight counterparts. A likely cause of this discrepancy is the fact that fewer than half of LGBTQ+ employees are out in the workplace, signaling an inability to be fully authentic at work. There are undoubtedly many reasons why this is the case, and a recent Russell Reynolds Associates study on the inclusion of LGBTQ+ executives highlights a few: 

- LGBTQ+ executives believe their companies are not doing enough to attract and retain diverse talent. Only 49 percent of LGBTQ+ executives think their organizations prioritize attracting diverse talent, vs. 57 percent of total respondents. When it comes to diverse talent retention, the numbers are bleaker; only 37 percent of LGBTQ+ executives think their organizations are taking sufficient measures, versus 51 percent of total respondents. 

- Relative to the overall executive population, LGBTQ+ executives attribute much greater importance to a lack of inclusion as a factor that prompts diverse executives to leave their organizations. 43 percent of LGBTQ+ executives say that diverse talent has left their organization due to a lack of inclusion vs. only 29 percent of the overall executive population. 

- LGBTQ+ executives see less leadership commitment and accountability to D&I compared to the overall executive population. Only 26 percent of LGBTQ+ executives believe leaders are held accountable to fostering an inclusive culture, vs. 39 percent of total respondents. 

To read the full article, click here.