JOY BLOG

13 Jul 2023

Why do we need Diveristy & Inclusion Training for Workspaces

The LGBTIQA+ community is more open in our everyday public lives than ever before. This includes our workplaces as a big portion of our time is spent there. As we are more willing to openly be a part of the rainbow community in our workspaces, we often see the invisible stigmas and misconceptions and are often thinking, “Should I say something or let it slide”. This feeling is what we need to address via training as it can seem intangible but slowly affects workplace morale.

Text reads did you know 57 per cent of LGBTQIA+ employees who had experiences or witnesses discrimination in the workplace said the issues were almost never resolved. Image shows a line of people dressed in the colours of the Pride flag.

According to the P.R.I.D.E study by SEEK in 2021, LGBTIQA+ employees are still twice as likely to be victims of workplace discrimination as their non-LGBTIQA+ colleagues, while 1 in 6 Australians feel that it’s not their business when their LGBTQIA+ colleagues get discriminated. These statistics might feel incredibly jarring but they only prove to us that the intangible feelings we feel at work are in fact quite tangible and are often the feeling of lack of support and inability to express their self without fear.

So how do we create safer work environments? We have to create open spaces for questions to be asked and answered without prejudices or assumptions, where empathy and understanding can be created together. These safe spaces are also held up with the work culture evolving and being protected once established.

At JOY, we believe that in order to make your workplace more inclusive for your LGBTIQA+ team you need three ingredients – visibility, education and well written and implemented policies.

With this in mind, we created a Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Training course that aims to empower and educate through creating open spaces where people can be unafraid to ask ‘Can I ask that’ kind of questions. The course also gives information about LGBTQIA+ language and pronouns, navigating intersectionality and diverse identities; and helps your workplace write more inclusive policies. These training sessions are run for small crowds to encourage an open atmosphere and are interactive, taught by a diverse range of trainers who have lived experience and are unafraid of tackling tough questions.

In the spirit of ensuring a increasing presence of more inclusive work spaces, we are offering a 10% off for any bookings in July, for this course which can be taken any time until the end of the year. Be unafraid to to Out. Loud. Proud. in your everyday with JOY!