Transgender Employees: Creating an Inclusive Work Community

A safe, inclusive workplace in many jurisdictions is not just the law; it is a goal of every employee and company that values the contributions, well-being, and productivity of everyone in the organisation. In society today, individuals are of many personal communities. In addition to heterosexual or ‘straight’ there is also LGBTQI2SAP – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, 2S, for two-spirited: an indigenous concept of two sexualities within one body, asexual and pansexual. ‘Trans’, however, refers to gender identity, whereas the other terms describe primarily sexual orientation. The importance of understanding terms of identification is critical to creating and maintaining a safe workplace.
Transgender Employees: Creating an Inclusive Work Community is a one-day course to introduce the importance and elements of safe inclusive workspaces for Transgender persons – those identifying as a gender other than the one assigned at birth. This course will offer an introduction to terminology, elements, policies, and resources to build and sustain a safe, inclusive environment for Transgender employees and increase the comfort level and productivity off all in your organisation.

What Will Students Learn?
 Understand the importance and history of inclusivity in the workplace
 Increase your understanding of the Transgender experience
 Explore and address personal and societal biases, misconceptions, and choices
 Identify and implement elements to support a safe inclusive workplace

What Topics are Covered?
 Overview of Transgender People in the Workplace
 Beliefs and Attitudes
 Power of Language
 Safe Spaces
 Inclusive Community
 Resource Location and Development

What Students Learn

his one-day workshop will help you teach participants how to:
o Understand the importance and history of inclusivity in the workplace
o Increase your understanding of the Transgender experience
o Explore and address personal and societal biases, misconceptions, and choices
o Identify and implement elements to support a safe inclusive workplace

Course Overview
You will spend the first part of the day getting to know participants and discussing what will take place during the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.

Overview of Transgender People in the Workplace
This is where your students begin to really dig into the meat of the course. Here, they will learn about creating and supporting inclusive workplaces. They will also meet some historical figures who lived lives authentic to their gender identity and impacted the world positively as a result.

Beliefs and Attitudes
This session is going to challenge students to take a look at themselves and the world around them. They will explore personal beliefs and attitudes, and examine paths to decisions and actions.

Power of Language
Contrary to the old children’s saying about ‘sticks and stones’, words can hurt. This session looks at the power of the things we say. Students will learn some of the terminology that can support inclusivity, and the way words can influence the feelings of safety in an individual.

Safe Spaces
We all need to feel safe to be at our best and this session looks at how we can get that feeling of safety in the workplace. Your students are going to learn in this session, general concepts and ingredients for safe spaces, as well as those ingredients unique to individuals identifying as Transgender.

Inclusive Community
Striving toward inclusivity is what this course is all about. Up for discussion in this session is an exploration of a community of individual allies, the workplace, and community partners.

Resource Location and Development
The course concludes with a consideration of resources. Students will explore relevant government and non-government legislation, policies and services. They will also be introduced to the process of creating or updating a workplace policy to ensure safe space and inclusivity.

Workshop Wrap-Up
At the end of the course, students will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.