Why a blanket approach to supporting LGBT+ employees isn’t working

Why a blanket approach to supporting LGBT+ employees isn’t working

More than four in 10 LGBT+ employees have experienced workplace conflict in the past year. This compares with a figure of 29% for heterosexual employees also taking part in the CIPD’s UK Working Lives survey.

In general, LGBT+ workers were found to have experienced higher levels of conflict, lower levels of feelings of psychological safety and lower job satisfaction. Perhaps worse of all for HR, around 50% said the conflicts that had occurred still remained unresolved.

Not listening

“It’s particularly concerning to see how many LGBT+ workers have experienced conflict and that more often than not, these conflicts are not resolved,” said Melanie Green, research adviser for the CIPD.

“Employers must treat people as individuals rather than assuming that any general measures to address LGBT+ as a homogenous group will sufficiently meet a spectrum of diverse needs. If we are to truly celebrate and support individuality we must start with the individual.”

Talking to individuals

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “Generally-speaking there’s a positive culture of awareness and understanding of LGBT+ lifestyles compared with past decades. And yet, as the CIPD data shows, something seems to be going wrong.

“When employees feel they have to suppress aspects of their personality, of who they are, how they think, it’s never healthy for them – or their relationships with other people in the workplace and sense of identity and purpose.

“Covid-19 has led to a great deal of blanket activity and investment into supporting employee health and wellbeing. But how much of it has allowed for targeting to individual groups and their specific needs, their particular experiences? This is the great strength of EAP services. It’s about the one-to-ones, about talking through knots of issues at a personal level, the chance to open up and help people find resolutions and ways forward.”