We know you want to support and celebrate your employees this Pride Month, and we are here to make sure you get it right. Before you get your plans in motion, check out our guide on the do’s and don’ts during Pride Month.

DO: Celebrate Pride Month

Pride Month is incredibly important to your LGBTQ+ employees and allies. This isn’t the holiday to skip out on - you need to recognize it and have a plan ready. Go beyond the typical rainbow cupcake celebration and be sure to acknowledge and talk about the history behind the celebration. 

DON’T: Change your LinkedIn photo to a flag and call it a day

Your employees will be able to see through empty gestures, and you will lose their trust. On top of that, your reputation and credibility will suffer. Honor your employees with a comprehensive internal plan, not just an external marketing plan.

DO: Listen to your employees

Their feedback is the key to ensuring you get Pride Month right - especially leading up to your initiatives. Send out surveys, encourage feedback, and ensure all voices are heard and represented. Invite ideas and participation well in advance so you can pivot based on the needs and interests of your employees.

DON’T: Make assumptions

Do your research and continue to evolve. What worked in the past should always be re-evaluated based on what we know today. And what works for another company, may not be right for you. Your employee feedback will inform what will be the best strategy to honor and celebrate your people.

DO: Hire or contract LGBTQ+ community members for any additional support you need during this time

If your initiatives will require extra work or if you want members of the LGBTQ+ community to contribute to your initiatives (hint: you should), contract or hire externally. If your employees do want to help out, compensate them accordingly or consider bonuses for their extra work. It’s important to maintain a balance of always inviting your employees to the table while ensuring you’re not putting more on them during a month where you should be supporting and celebrating them.

DON’T: Tokenize your employees

Do not expect or ask for extra work from your employees solely because they belong to the community - and don’t put the burden on them to be the voice of the entire community. Invite your employees to participate or volunteer as they wish, while stressing that their participation is entirely optional, not expected, and, again, compensate accordingly as you’re stretching their bandwidth beyond their job description.

DO: Clearly verbally commit to a yearlong pride celebration and support

Your employees want to be able to count on the promises and commitments you’re making. Make your next steps clear, actionable, and hold yourself accountable with stakeholders and timelines.

DON’T: Stop important conversations once June is over

The easiest way to spot inauthentic Pride efforts are when the conversations halt after Pride Month. Create long term change by revisiting your hiring strategies, creating Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), making sure your benefits are inclusive, and, creating safe spaces for your employees to provide feedback

DO: Take it seriously, have important and challenging conversations

Consider inspiring speakers in the LGBTQ+ community, employee roundtables led by a moderator, safe spaces for anonymous feedback, webinars or courses around respectful speech and behavior in the workplace.

DON’T: Forget to incorporate fun events

Remember, you’re celebrating your employees! Give them a fun event, raffle cool prizes, hand out fun swag! Just be mindful to stay respectful and consider what your employees actually want (we love surveys for this).

Let us know how you plan to celebrate and support your employees during Pride Month and beyond - we can’t wait to hear about it!