Pride Month: Advancing Our Journey of Inclusion

Pride Month is an important opportunity to recognize and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, both for the progress that it has made in society, and for the challenges that continue to persist. It encourages us to be more aware and create dialogues around issues that affect millions of people. From a work perspective, Pride Month propels us to take more time to determine how we can better understand our LGBTQ+ colleagues – and advance their inclusion.

This is my first Pride Month at PointClickCare. Since I started in January 2020, I’ve been focused on developing our diversity and inclusion strategy while considering the viewpoints of multiple stakeholders: employees, leadership, and the community around us. So how are we moving this strategy forward inside PointClickCare, as well as within the industries where we operate?

Not Just a Workplace, A Family

As employers, we recognize that we’re only as good as our people. And from an employee perspective, work is a fundamental part of each person’s identity. Realistically, most of us spend the majority of our waking hours at work – or, during this time of distancing, doing work in our homes. So, our work colleagues are the people with whom we interact most often. To make those work relationships the best they can be, our company must be a place where everyone can show up as their true selves.

I quickly learned that a sense of family is at the foundation of PointClickCare’s culture. We try to support all aspects of our workers, from their mental health and well-being to the passions that drive them. There are many things you wish for your family, like happiness, good health, comfort, and being part of what makes the whole unit run smoothly. That’s exactly what we want for our LGBTQ+ employees as part of our work family. They should come to work feeling at ease, and that they can share their identities openly with their colleagues without concern. That enables every worker to really engage and give more to the job.

Pride Month Initiatives

We’re excited to partner with Pride at Work Canada, which provides connections, education and advice to help organizations become more inclusive. They have several resources – from webinars to an Ambassador Program – which all of our employees can access to better understand the LGBTQ+ community and create a welcoming workplace for everyone.

People First Every Day

Our commitment to the ideals of Pride Month does not end on June 30; our momentum to implement an inclusion strategy continues year-round. At PointClickCare, there’s a strong sense of community within the company. It’s a place where every person is encouraged to express a perspective. We’re striving to give our employees greater voices and more empathy, allowing those with vulnerabilities to share and take risks. Since we all began working from home during the pandemic, we’ve been holding weekly chats; the most recent ones have given us a chance to discuss racism and solidarity. We are weaving the right threads into the fabric of our culture.

Our goal is to ensure that an employee’s identity never affects the way they’re valued and rewarded in our company, and the opportunities they’re given. There must be a sense of equity and fairness for all. Fundamentally, it comes down to being a company with integrity, one that walks the talk.

Sandeep Tatla is PointClickCare’s Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion, and Corporate Social Responsibility.