LGBTQIA+ employees have a new ally at workplace in senior leaders

In India Inc’s journey towards building more equitable and welcoming workplaces, support for LGBTQIA+ employees is now increasingly being driven by senior executives.

At companies such as GE Aerospace, IBM, LTIMindtree, Deutsche Bank, Cisco, Cummins and Thoughtworks, board members, leaders, people managers as well as teammates are driving a culture of inclusiveness so that LGBTQIA+ workers don’t feel isolated.

LGBTQIA+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual and others.

While some organisations are conducting workshops on LGBTQIA+ 101 training and sensitisation, in others, bosses are doubling up as instructors to drive awareness and are mentoring LGBTQIA+ employees.

Experts told ET that senior leaders becoming champions of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) not only asserts the organisation’s commitment to the cause but also sets the tone for everyone to follow suit.

At Deutsche Bank, dbPride, an employee resource group for LGBTQIA+ employees to connect, share and extend support, is being led by business leaders. One of the bank’s management board members is the sponsor of the Pride pillar, driving the agenda of inclusion. It also has leaders at management board-1 and management board-2 levels who champion the inclusion agenda.

“The bank’s senior members contribute to LGBTQIA+ inclusion through thought leadership, representation at external conferences, and networking events while supporting inclusion internally,” said Khurshed Dordi, group COO, Deutsche Bank India.

The bank also celebrates ‘Ally Affirmation Day’, which provides a platform to managers to share how they helped in the “coming out” journey of team members, and for queer employees to talk about how they got support from both managers and colleagues.

Some organisations like Cummins also have senior leaders as part of their Pride ERGs (employee resource groups). Over the past few years, the power solutions provider has conducted focused awareness sessions specifically for its senior leadership, with some of them engaging as instructors to facilitate these conversations across the organisation.

Annapurna Vishwanathan, CIO at Cummins India, is the sponsor for the company’s Pride ERG. The multinational has rolled out LGBTQ+ 101 training for senior leaders to educate them on terminology, guide them on including LGBTQIA+ individuals at the workplace, and drive awareness of the issues the community faces.

At IBM, one of the first movers in the country on LGBTQIA+ inclusion, senior leaders are active allies to the community, said Prachi Rastogi, diversity and inclusion leader, IBM Asia Pacific. The tech company has rolled out the ‘I’m in Allyship’ initiative, which encourages active participation by all IBMers, including leadership teams, some of whom mentor LGBTQIA+ employees to address specific needs.

Other companies like Cisco are encouraging LGBTQIA+ leaders within the company to talk about their experiences, thus enabling other talent from within the community to pursue leadership roles.

Allyship building
At Thoughtworks India, the senior management goes through regular training on “unconscious bias” which helps raise awareness and build an inclusive work environment.

“We believe that allyship is not merely a checkbox but a lived value,” said Dipsi Takkar Kundal, head of DEI, Thoughtworks India and Middle East.

In April this year, GE Aerospace introduced a Pride Alliance Hub, focused on promoting a safe and supportive workplace for LGBTQIA+ colleagues. The team has so far conducted four sensitisation sessions for people leaders, so that they can then facilitate conversations with their own teams.

“We believe that these conversations will bust some of the myths as well as encourage leaders and teams to become allies,” said Neerja Bhardwaj, India country HR leader, GE Aerospace. “The sessions are divided into information on gender and sexual orientation diversity and case studies on how to deal with some situations.”

Almost two-thirds of the company’s people leaders have been covered so far.

LTIMindtree has sensitising workshops and weekly nudges on how to be more visible as an ally, said its chief sustainability officer, Paneesh Rao. Its Pride ERG ‘Together with Pride’ hosts programmes to help employees understand and solve challenges faced by the community.

Meanwhile, employees at Broadridge have taken the ‘DEI Placard Pledge’, signifying a commitment to champion inclusivity and nurture a culture of acceptance.