We decided to do something different for Pride this June. We didn’t change our logo or put out any of the virtue signaling content that we’ve all come to expect each June. Instead, we simply said “We’re Sorry”
But why?
Let’s start with some numbers. Various studies show the number of LGBTQIA+ people in India to be at least 10% of the population overall. It just means that one out of 10 people you meet every day belong to the LGBTQIA+ community.
Having said that, when we sat down to discuss a possible Pride campaign, we realised something.
Each of us knew of people from the LGBTQIA+ community in our extended personal network. But there were very few people in the workspace who openly identified as LGBTQIA+. The number certainly wasn’t 10% of our total strength.
That’s when we asked each other: Are we creating a truly inclusive environment at work? Are people at work comfortable being themselves? What does it mean to be inclusive in the Indian context? How can we change things for the better at work?
We sat down to ideate a campaign. But what we had at the end of the meeting were more questions!
And addressing these questions is important!
That’s because as a talent management platform, we’re in the business of connecting people with the right job opportunities. And to do our job well, we want people to be comfortable bringing their true selves to work.
When it comes to the LGBTQIA+ community and inclusivity at work, most workplaces in India (including our own) have a long way to go. Many of us unknowingly perpetuate biases at the workplace. And the first step is to recognise them. The next step is to acknowledge the bias and finally address it.
So far, so good.
But practically speaking, what does acknowledging the bias actually mean? Here’s what we noticed.
When it comes to inclusivity, most of us have a gap between what we think we know and what we know! For example, even those of us who knew and used pronouns, unintentionally used gender language: (Oh man! Hey guys! Oh boy! are some examples we’ve heard around the office.)
Even people who were aware of LGBTQIA+ inclusivity were fuzzy about the details. (Is it okay to say xyz? How do we say abc? How does xyz work?).
If we were going to run a campaign, it was going to be a series of basic conversations… first within the office, and then on social media.
#Authentically from foundit to you
We want to be the right allies to the LGBTQIA+ community, and we want to be genuine in our outreach. One initiative we started was a small social experiment within the office. The questions were simple and straightforward, but thought-provoking.
There were a few other smaller, simpler changes too.
This involved everything from checking our own HR policies for gendered language, holding talks by LGBTQIA+ folks, sensitisation workshops. We’re also exploring a shift to a gender-neutral employee policy.
Why bother with inclusivity?
There’s an obvious plus side to inclusivity. Enough studies and research show that it pays to be inclusive. Inclusive, diverse workplaces are more innovative, more productive. This has a direct impact on the company’s bottom line.
But that’s just part of the answer.
The other side is that we’ve made it our business to connect people with the right opportunities. Like we said earlier, we want people to be comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work. And we want to connect them to jobs where they can thrive!
So… will we hear about Pride @ foundit only next year?
Far from it. We have been consistent in advocating for diversity and inclusion at work.
This is the beginning of something new and we plan to keep the momentum going… from holding social experiments with our employees, to having the same conversations with our hiring partners and other stakeholders.
For now, we’re prepping to kick off another big event around diversity and inclusivity. It’s a career fair that promotes gender diversity for women at the workplace. And we’ll be sure to keep you posted about any other initiatives.
All things said, we want to take the lead in creating a workspace that’s safe for everyone. Most companies have a long way to go before they are truly inclusive. But we’ll get there.
