Pride Month 2024: 4 Ways For Internal Comms To Make A Difference

By this stage, it’s pretty clear that organizations need to do more than just raise a flag or change their logo to support LGBTQIA+ employees and community members. Don’t get me wrong, I love looking at the sea of rainbow flags that appear every June to mark Pride Month, but there must be more meaningful action behind these kinds of gestures.

When it comes to supporting LGBTQIA+ employees and truly making a difference, most guidance is focused on how leaders can create an inclusive culture or what the Pride employee resource group (ERG) can do to raise awareness. So I wanted to share some meaningful actions that you – as an IC or EX professional – can take to make a difference this Pride Month.

In this blog post, I consider why Pride Month is so important and then share four ways that you can have a positive impact.

Why is Pride Month important?

While we all need to focus on creating an inclusive and welcoming workplace culture year-round, celebrations like Pride Month give us a dedicated opportunity to shine a spotlight on a particular community.

Pride Month recognizes and celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community and their contributions to society while acknowledging the challenges they face in their fight for equality, inclusion, and acceptance.

As Cat DiStasio put it, it’s a call to action for genuine, year-round commitment to LGBTQIA+ inclusion.

And that’s exactly why Pride Month matters so much – because it gives us a stage upon which to make meaningful changes that last far beyond the month of June and improve society as a whole. On top of that, a diverse and inclusive working culture supports all employees and improves the organization in several different ways:

• Helps attract and retain top talent 
• Improves employee morale and productivity 
• Enhances the organization’s decision-making processes

There are always actions that IC and EX employees can take to create an inclusive environment for LGBTQIA+ colleagues, regardless of the month. Things like encouraging the use of preferred pronouns, providing comms support to ERGs, and creating opportunities for employees to give feedback or flag issues all sit comfortably within our remits.

But with June just around the corner, let’s look at some of the ways you can use your superpowers to help your organization celebrate Pride Month in a meaningful way. 

4 ways to make a difference  

While we play an important supporting role, the spotlight during Pride Month should always fall upon your organization's LGBTQIA+ employee resource group.

Effective ERGs not only have buy-in from the employees whom the group serves but are also supported by leadership and the communications team. That’s not to say that we have to be on hand to support every single communication that the ERG wants to publish, but it does mean that we help amplify their message during key celebrations such as Pride Month.

Here’s how we can help. 

1. Organize listening sessions

Use your influence and connections to organize ‘listening sessions’ between LGBTQIA+ employees and senior leaders.

This is a powerful way to raise awareness and educate members of your senior leadership team on the day-to-day experiences of employees. Members of the LGBTQIA+ community speak, and their leaders listen.

Your role is to facilitate the connection, create the opportunity for employee voices to be amplified, and promote participation. These listening sessions present a valuable opportunity to educate the leadership team on challenges being faced by LGBTQIA+ employees in a far more impactful way than any e-learning modules or training courses.  

2. Spotlight LGBTQIA+ employees and allies

Staying on the theme of education and awareness, use your internal communication channels to share stories and spotlight the experiences of employees.

Why not invite employees to share a video clip about their experiences at work as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community? Or encourage ERG members to write a short blog post about a time they’ve felt truly supported by an ally, or even a time they’ve had to call out unconscious bias?

Whatever the topic or format, you’re aiming to share content aligned with Pride Month that will help build understanding and empathy.    

3. Give your ERGs some air time

We can often take for granted the fact that we have direct access to company-wide communication channels. And while being a ‘content gatekeeper’ is an important part of our role to make sure employees aren’t being overloaded with comms, it’s only right to give your LGBTQIA+ employee resource group some serious air time during Pride Month.

I’m talking about an ERG spotlight on your intranet homepage, a dedicated Pride-themed email signature for employees to use, and regular ERG plugs as part of your broader Pride content.

It’s a great opportunity to remind employees about the different ERGs that are available and to encourage them to get involved.

4. Arrange a fundraiser

One of the best ways to make a difference is to make a financial contribution to a charity that is working to reduce discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people and create a safe and more inclusive world. 

Perhaps you could have a bit of fun by inviting employees to make a donation to wear rainbow clothing for the day? Or maybe you could help your ERG to organize a Pride-themed bake sale (both online and in-person), a raffle, or a “Pride Icons” fancy dress competition?

Whatever the fundraising event(s) you decide to arrange, make sure that your Pride ERG is part of the decision about which different charities to support.

To get started, take a look at Outright International, Lambda Legal, Stonewall, Out & Equal, or Kaleidoscope Trust. They’re all doing amazing work to make the world a better place.

Happy Pride!

Did you know that Workvivo is the world’s no.1 employee experience platform? It’s been designed to help create a more connected and inclusive work culture.

Come and say hi if you’d like to schedule a demo and find out what we can do for you!