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Out, equal and valued
Andy Smith knows how it feels to leave his personal life at home: to change pronouns when talking about his love life, to clear family photos from his workspace.
That was before he joined Texas Instruments (TI). But his prior work experience helped motivate Smith to join and now co-chair the TI Pride Network (TIPN), one of the company's oldest and most established employee resource groups.
The TIPN is a diversity initiative for all employees who support work force inclusion and equality for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, expression or characteristics. TIPN helps promote policies and a culture that welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees.
"It boils down to making TI a place where everyone is valued," said Smith, TI's director of corporate philanthropy. "When you can bring your full self to work, productivity improves and that helps TI grow."
History
TIPN began in 1993 as the small Lesbian and Gay Employee Network of Dallas (LEGEND). Recognized by our company in 1995 as a formal diversity initiative, the group grew and focused its efforts on adding sexual orientation to TI's non-discrimination policy, as well as making domestic partner benefits part of the standard benefits package. One year later, TI amended the non-discrimination policy and added domestic partner benefits in 2000.
In 2004, LEGEND's participants joined with workers from other Fortune 500 companies to start the Dallas-Fort Worth Out & Equal regional affiliate. Out & Equal is a national nonprofit that champions safe and equitable workplaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Reinvigorated, TI employees rebranded their group in 2007 as TIPN. They wanted to expand beyond Dallas and reach out to straight allies.
Now TIPN has two volunteer TI executive sponsors and boasts a robust membership among employees of all sexual orientations. And it operates like a business, with annually elected officers and an annual list of goals. The organization markets itself to our employees through a brochure, an e-newsletter, a mini-intranet site and an events calendar.
Activities
TIPN supports members internally by providing education and support. It hosts seminars on issues such as the tax implications of domestic partner benefits and diversity training. TIPN also partnered with the TI Christian Values Initiative in delivering a groundbreaking roundtable for employees, "When Traditional Religion meets Sexual Orientation," which received outstanding reviews.
The group also teamed with a training organization, Ceridian, to help produce CDs on coming out and parenting. To date, employees across the U.S. have ordered nearly 300 copies of "Proud Families" and some 2,400 copies of "Coming Out" CDs.
TIPN also exerts a proud community presence. Members contribute time and dollars to causes such as the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance, AIDS Interfaith Network (AIN), Out & Equal DFW Regional Affiliate, and many other groups. TI itself is a founding member of the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce and, with the TI Foundation, has given almost $300,000 since 2003 to AIN.
TIPN's more than 200 members spend an average of 2,000 hours collectively each year volunteering. In 2008, TIPN members also participated in and delivered a presentation at a diversity summit sponsored by Diversity Connections Consortium, a networking organization comprising more than 30 public and private organizations.
"In my almost 30 years of working with AIDS and HIV awareness, the TI Pride Network's contributions have been among the most significant," wrote Steven Pace, AIN's executive director, in a 2008 letter recommending the group for an Out & Equal employee resource group award (TI was a 2008 finalist).
"Because of the TI Pride Network," he continued, "we have received funding, volunteers, strategic guidance and event hosting, and we are making connections with other potential supporters."
Business case
Although it is not unusual for FORTUNE 500 companies to sponsor employee affinity groups, TI is unique for sponsoring such a high number: more than 16. These groups have a wide range of concentrations, including the Turkish Employee Initiative, the Christian Values Initiative, the Hispanic Employee Initiative and several women's initiatives.
Employee resource groups – and the culture of diversity they promote – help attract top talent. The groups also help employees feel valued and engaged. If workers can bring their minds and hearts to work, they are more productive and stay with the company longer.
"At TI, we believe our ability to fully engage employees – so they can bring all of their talents to bear in solving customers' problems – is absolutely critical to our success," said Darla Whitaker, TI senior vice president and worldwide manager of Human Resources.
Achievements
In 2008, TI expanded our fair treatment of employees by adding gender identity and expression to the company's U.S. equal employment opportunity policy. TIPN supported this change by providing related educational presentations for management.
This change – along with the company's other non-discrimination policies and outreach to the LGBT community – allowed TI to achieve a 100 percent score on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index. The Human Rights Campaign is the educational arm of the nation's largest advocacy group for LGBT Americans.
"It makes me feel good," Smith concluded, "that I work for a company that believes so strongly in inclusion and giving back to the community."
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