Managing Gender and Sexual Diversity in the Workplace

Introduction

It is 5:30 a.m. on a Tuesday. Markus, a 30-year-old employee at a local bank, reaches out and switches off the alarm clock that woke him up as he slowly opens his eyes. He remains still in bed, the thought of what to expect at work making him sick and worried. His day is already negatively affected before it even begins. Just yesterday, some of his colleagues made inappropriate remarks about gay people being useless and stupid. These remarks and other inappropriate jokes have been going on since he moved into his current position as the section manager for the Marketing Department. The bank manager, Ms. B, has walked in on these remarks and jokes several times. Even though during one of the employees' weekly meetings, Ms. B reminded all employees that the company policies do not allow discriminatory remarks and behaviors at the workplace, Ms. B's office did not take further action. Markus is not concentrating lately as he constantly worries about his colleagues discovering his sexual orientation. His team has yet to reach their target in the past two months. Markus is a young, vibrant black gay man who excelled at his job and enjoyed being a Marketing Advisor before he moved into a new position as the section manager for the Marketing Department of his local bank five months ago.

Markus's story illustrates several important points regarding gender and sexual diversity management in the workplace. In the 21^st century, the corporate world has shifted its focus to managing diversity in the workplace to improve organizational productivity. Diversity management in the workplace is well understood, along with the differences in culture, race, socioeconomic status, education, language, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other markers of differences. Diversity management at the workplace means recognizing differences and understanding the uniqueness of each individual in the organization (Patrick & Kumar, 2012; Williams et al., 2022). Recognition of individual differences and originality is essential for employees' well-being in the workplace. Therefore, recognizing previously unrecognized forms of diversity, such as gender identities and sexual orientation, is not a choice anymore but a crucial organizational requirement. In the case of Markus, it is evident from the psychological distress he experiences and the decline in his team's performance that failure to manage gender and sexual diversity effectively in the workplace affects the employee's well-being and performance and leads to poor organizational performance.

In the face of increasing demand for improved organizational performance, effective management of gender and sexual diversity is crucial to maximize employee performance. Effective management of gender and sexual diversity in the workplace requires proactive initiatives that encompass strategies to foster a workplace where all employees feel welcome. Leaders should open-mindedly take responsibility and acknowledge that managing gender and sexual diversity becomes one of the crucial components for any organization aiming at creating an inclusive and welcoming workplace for all employees. However, using Markus' story as an example, managing gender and sexual diversity remains a daunting and challenging task given the societies' historical contestation of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, which still exist in some countries (Galupo & Resnick, 2016; Nyeck et al., 2019).