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Happy World Pride Month everyone!
On that note, I’ve completed season 7 of Queer Eye and it’s one of the best seasons IMHO. I love the stories and the people helped by the QE fam. No lie, I would love to be besties with JVN! Watching QE always fills me with warm fuzzy feelings and a belief and possible fantasy that life could always be that perfect. That everyone will welcome each other with open arms and not pay attention to the differences we all have.
We’re getting there, but slowly. I just want to say to my LGBTQ+ friends and family, not everyone is on the path to understanding as yet, but the more that’s being done in this space, the better it will be, even if it sometimes doesn’t feel like it.
The good news is, that here in Australia, we’re on the positive path to support those who identify as LGBTQ+, and there’s many ways we can show-up and be allies or champions for the community at work.
On a somewhat related note, did you catch the State of TA report that was launched last week? It probably should not be a surprise, but 63% of respondents claimed a 7/10 in answer to the question “do you have robust remuneration practices that ensure everyone is paid equitably” yet only 38% of respondents knew their organisation’s gender pay gap without having to look it up.
What else has been taking my attention this week? I turned up to PaperCut’s internal women’s group (as part of our DEIB group) on menopause awareness, and oh my goodness, it really sucks to be born female sometimes! The list of health impacts and hormonal symptoms associated with going through menopause is legitimately scary.
So that got me to thinking about places who are progressive enough to have menstrual and menopause policies or leave. There was an article on HR Dive in April reporting that symptoms associated with menopause cost an estimated $1.8 billion USD in lost work time, and this is just in the U.S.A.!
If like me, you are keen on finding out more, I was also made aware about the Don’t Sweat It site founded by Dr Ginni Mansberg and Shelly Horton in supporting workplaces to be more peri and menopause friendly.
Pride month is so much more than displaying rainbows and or changing your company logo colours for that month. This article shows how we as leaders in the HR and Talent space can ensure that LGBTQ+ employees are provided with meaningful support and allyship.
This article looks into the recent Glassdoor survey which had 45% of LGBTQ+ employees saying that being out in the workplace could hurt their careers. Do you have a good grasp of the different diverse communities in your workplace? Do you have visible D&I groups to support your employees?
Let’s not forget, awareness months are great for building awareness. However, we all know that it takes more than an awareness day, week, or month for real work to be completed, and for positive acceptance to take place. This article and guide shares how we as employers can engage with the younger LGBTQ+ community in recruiting and retaining them within the workforce.
In amazing news, Suncorp now offers their trans employees 6 week’s paid gender affirmation leave and up to 12 months of unpaid leave!
This fact sheet by the Australasian Menopause Society provides some key points in addressing menopause in the workplace, and how this can benefit both the employers and employees by promoting awareness, and creating a culture of psychological safety to have these conversations.
A great article by Mindset Health who implemented Workplace Menopause Leave, and shares some great research topics on this and how you could start the conversation at work.
