Who are you inviting to the holiday work parties? If you're not out at work, it may be a little cumbersome to dance around the pronouns. Do you make that decision to bring along your significant other. Holiday season can be overly stressful just because of this. Seeing coworkers in their heterosexual pairings enjoying the celebrations, while you bounce around the room alone. Then there's always the questions after about how your holidays were and you either elaborate or be more vacant than usual.
[Research] by the Stonewall lobby group showing that 25% of LGBT people are not out to their work colleagues.
The Human Rights Campaign, a US lobby group, has found that 62% of millennial LGBT graduates go back into the closet about their sexuality when they start their first job.
…“Graduates entering the workplace often assume that being out is in some way unacceptable or that it will negatively impact their careers.
“We need to challenge these perceptions by proving that it is OK to be out and authentic, and that it won’t hold you back.”
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“Research shows that businesses that embrace diversity perform better,” says Prof Sir Andrew Likierman, the business school’s dean.
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“Going back in the closet hugely affected my performance. I felt constrained, I didn’t laugh at work, I was less confident and the elaborate cover stories about my personal life introduced a barrier between me and my colleagues,” [stated Jan Gooding, group brand director at Aviva.]
After being told in a work appraisal that she had “lost her sparkle”, she came out again. “I learnt an important lesson in authenticity,” she states. “If you don’t trust your colleagues, why should they trust you?” – telegraph.co.uk
Will you come out this holiday season?
It seems like it only benefits you, the company, and those around you.
Of course every person's situation is different, but life and work may be better.
“It takes tremendous effort to police pronouns or conceal identities, and yes, this negatively impacts productivity,” says [Ori Chandler, managing director of OUTstanding]. “But being open and authentic at work can boost productivity hugely. Employees are up to 32% more productive when they feel comfortable being out.” – telegraph.co.uk
h/t: telegraph.co.uk