Creating Safe Workplaces for Transgender and Gender-Diverse People

28
Jun 2022
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A person is holding a sign that says hello my pronouns are

Author: Jenna Wenkoff

I specifically wanted to write about transgender (trans for short) and gender-diverse people for pride month because the validity of their existence seems to be a hot topic for debate recently. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a large percentage of workplaces being unsafe for trans and gender-diverse people. The Survey of Safety in Public Places found that 22.5% of cisgender people and 69.4% of transgender people have experienced inappropriate behaviours in the workplace in the past 12 months such as unwanted physical contact and comments that they are not behaving like their gender. While this number is still higher than it should be for cisgender people, it is clearly significantly higher for trans people.

I wanted to get a better understanding of how we can fight this stigma and create safer workplaces for trans people, so I met with Haley Wray (she/they) from the Skipping Stone Foundation. The Skipping Stone Foundation supports trans and gender-diverse people by offering things like gender-inclusive swimming sessions and group consult sessions from mental health providers. They even train businesses on how to create safe spaces for trans and gender-diverse people.

A heart shaped sticker that says skipping stone empower support love.

What Does Transgender and Gender-Diverse Mean?

I started by asking Haley to define trans and gender-diverse.

“Gender-diversity is the existence of diversity outside of what our culture tells us is the norm. Somebody at birth is determined to be either male or female and from that, there are expectations, rules and boundaries around what that means as far as colours, clothes or what they might be inclined to like or enjoy in work. At birth in our culture across the board, everybody is assumed to be straight, heterosexual or cisgender. That they are gonna be completely ok with the gender they have been assigned at birth.”

The important distinction here is the difference between sex and gender. Sex refers to biological characteristics whereas gender refers to cultural characteristics which can be related to the concepts of male and female. Sex pertains to one’s biology whereas gender pertains to one’s identity. Transgender/gender-diverse means your gender identity does not align with your biological sex, and/or any expectations/cultural norms associated with your biological sex, while cisgender on the other hand means your gender identity does align with your biological sex, and that you are mostly/all comfortable with how you are allowed to express, & identify.

Are Workplaces Safe for Trans People?

I asked Haley if they have experienced any challenges in their advocacy due to the stigma surrounding trans people.

“I would venture to say unless an organization, team or business professional is actually explicitly looking into shifting on policy, this exists everywhere and it’s safer for anybody in the community to assume that the risk for coming out is actually still quite high, especially in Alberta.”

This broke my heart. There’s truly no excuse that most organizations in Alberta are potentially unsafe for trans people. Thankfully The Skipping Stone Foundation offers something to help combat this.

“Skipping Stone has something called the Trans Affirming Network, and it’s a group of businesses and professionals who have taken training with us and they are committing to 10 steps to create inclusive spaces for transgender and gender-diverse people.”

These 10 steps include:

  1. Being explicitly welcoming by openly displaying your support for trans and gender-diverse people.
  2. Not making gender assumptions based on how someone looks, sounds or speaks.
  3. Asking for and using pronouns.
  4. Using gender-neutral language such as avoiding phrases like “guys” or “ladies”.
  5. Including non-binary folks by using inclusive language and gender-neutral pricing, forms and product sections.
  6. Creating inclusive facilities such as washrooms or fitting rooms.
  7. Putting people’s needs before their identities by not expecting trans people to take on all the emotional labour of educating us about them.
  8. Holding dead names sacred by cherishing their privacy.
  9. Acknowledging and growing from mistakes by apologizing and correcting our behaviour.
  10. Keep learning by acknowledging that these 10 steps are ever-changing.

How to Improve Gender and Sexual Diversity Training Sessions

I asked Haley if there are any improvements that can be made to gender and sexual diversity training sessions. I wonder how well they work considering that most workplaces still aren’t safe for trans people. Haley reminded me that gender and sexual identity don’t overlap.

“Gender identity, sexual orientation and individual expression are actually three completely unique areas that often don’t overlap. Sometimes it might look like they do, but those are three unique spaces. A lot of work around LGBTQIA+ training and awareness has really centred around the orientation factor so people seem to be a lot more comfortable around who somebody is or isn’t attracted to. But a lot of different work has to be done to create spaces where people can identify genuinely as who they are.”

Haley and I both agreed that it might be better to host diversity sessions that focus on one of these topics at a time or even to start just by talking about gender.

“In our culture, I feel like we don’t talk about gender. We don’t discuss if someone feels comfortable having been assigned values and expectations around being a man or a woman based on parts. Just talking about gender is often the starting point.”

It’s also important that we remember to include non-binary people in these discussions.

“When we think of transgender sometimes we still think of that as a binary, but there is this beautiful space where people don’t necessarily fit into any of those spaces explicitly and sometimes there is a lot of fluidity.”

How to Support People Who Are Currently Transitioning in the Workplace

Here are Haley’s tips on how you can support a coworker who is currently transitioning or who recently came out as trans:

  • Ask them on an individual level what they need for support, but never out the person, let the person have some agency.
  • If it’s an option, have a 1 on 1 conversation with them.
  • Offer to run an education or information session. Ask them if they would like a speaker to come in and if they have resources that they like.
  • Make sure you are using the correct names and pronouns.
  • If there is a cohort that isn’t safe for them to work around, consider a desk change or re-scheduling shifts.

Again, a great place to start is by discussing gender and challenging why gender diversity makes some people uncomfortable.

“Paying attention to where there is discomfort and really taking that step back to look and be like is this discomfort legitimate? Is there a risk? Is there a threat? Because that’s kind of the discourse around gender diversity and if you pause for a moment, I have yet to find out where this threat is. Like, what is the threat? Usually, in all of our spaces, the more authentic we get to be, the more at ease we are, the more creative we can be, the more focused on work we are and the more energy we have. We sleep better, we communicate better and we tend to thrive. So, I’m not sure where the hesitation, threat and fear come from.”

 

About the author: Jenna Wenkoff is the Communications Assistant at CPHR Alberta. With a background in philosophy and communications, she loves asking 'why' and always tries to incorporate DEIB into her communications. She has experience with the Canadian Celiac Association, environmental non-profits, and is excited to learn more about the intersection of communications and human resources.

 

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post belong solely to the original author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of CPHR Alberta.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post belong solely to the original author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of CPHR Alberta.



Before the Title: HR's Role in Growing Leadership Capacity

By Jessica Jaithoo • August 19, 2026
Author: Kanwaljit Chaudhry We often begin developing leaders after we have given them something to lead. Someone is promoted into their first supervisory role. They join a leadership development program, receive coaching, attend workshops, or are paired with a mentor. All of these can be valuable. But by then, leadership development has already been happening. Long before the title arrives, people are learning how to exercise judgment, influence others, navigate disagreement, take responsibility and make decisions when the answer is not obvious. The question for HR is: Do we have to wait for the title to help those capabilities grow? Create opportunities, not just programs Some of the most valuable leadership development happens through work itself. A stretch assignment. Leading a small project. Presenting an idea to senior colleagues. Coordinating people who do not report to you. Navigating competing priorities. Being trusted to make a decision rather than simply carrying one out. None requires a management title. HR can help organizations look at development as not only as courses people attend, but as experiences people need. That may mean encouraging managers to distribute meaningful opportunities rather than repeatedly turning to the person who is already proven. It may mean designing project work so different employees have opportunities to lead. It may mean making mentoring, coaching or job-shadowing available before someone enters a formal leadership pipeline. The objective is not to make everyone a manager. It is to give more people opportunities to build capabilities that will serve them whether or not formal leadership is their eventual destination. Make room to learn from experience Experience alone does not necessarily create development. Two people can go through similar experiences and take very different things from them. What often makes the difference is the opportunity to reflect: What worked? What didn't? What did I notice about myself? What would I do differently next time? HR can help make those conversations part of development rather than leaving them to chance. A manager checking in after a difficult project can ask more than, “Did we deliver?” A mentor can help someone examine why a conversation went differently than expected. A performance discussion can explore not only what someone accomplished, but how they influenced others, exercised judgment or responded when things became uncertain. These are relatively small interventions. But they help turn experience into learning. Notice leadership before it becomes obvious There is another role for HR: helping organizations broaden what they notice. Potential does not always announce itself loudly. The person who volunteers to coordinate a complicated piece of work may be demonstrating leadership capacity. So might the employee who brings people together when a team is stuck, asks the question no one else is asking, helps a colleague succeed without needing credit, or remains thoughtful when everyone else is rushing toward an answer. If we look for leadership potential only among those who already resemble our current leaders, we may keep finding the same kinds of people.  Creating broader opportunities allows capability to become visible before we decide who has it. Pay attention to what the organization teaches Organizations are also developing future leaders when they are not deliberately trying to. Employees notice who gets promoted. They notice what behaviour gets rewarded, whose ideas receive attention and what happens when someone makes a mistake. They notice whether managers share information or protect it, whether difficult conversations are avoided or handled respectfully, and whether asking for help is treated as good judgment or weakness. These observations become lessons about what leadership looks like here. HR influences many of the systems through which those lessons are reinforced e.g., performance management, recognition, development, succession planning and promotion among them. That makes an important question worth asking: What are our people learning about leadership from the way our organization actually works? The answer may tell us as much about our leadership pipeline as any competency framework. Before the title Leadership development does not have to begin with a leadership program. It can begin when someone is trusted with something slightly beyond what they have done before and supported while they figure it out. It can happen when a manager shares the reasoning behind a difficult decision rather than only communicating the outcome. It can happen when someone gets to lead a project before they have people reporting to them. And it can happen when an employee has someone who helps them make sense of an experience rather than simply move on to the next task. HR cannot manufacture leaders. But HR can help create workplaces where people have opportunities to practise judgment, responsibility, influence and reflection long before a title makes those things part of their job description. Perhaps the question is not only “Who are our future leaders?” It is also: “What are we doing today that gives future leadership capacity a chance to emerge?”

What HR Leaders Are Telling Us Their Organizations Need Right Now

By Marina Perkovic • July 22, 2026
At the CPHR Alberta Conference, we asked HR leaders one question: What leadership capability matters most for the future of your organization? Leaders picked up a star and placed it beside their answer. By the end of the conference, HR leaders cast 131 votes across 16 capabilities. Three stood out, with two tied for first place. Here is what they told us. What the Data Showed The capabilities on the board came from Bright Wire's PLUS Leadership Framework, a proprietary model built to define what effective leadership looks like across every level of an organization and is organized across four dimensions: Courageous Coach-Like Disciplined for Results and Relational The results below reflect the capabilities HR professionals believe matter most. 

The Business Case for Sleep: What HR Professionals Need to Know

By Jessica Jaithoo • July 9, 2026
Author: Robin Daultani Mental health support. Fitness benefits. Stress management resources. Workplace wellness programs have evolved significantly over the past decade. Yet one foundational pillar of employee health and performance remains conspicuously absent from most wellness strategies: sleep. The cost of this gap is staggering. A landmark RAND Corporation study¹ found that insufficient sleep costs the Canadian economy up to $21.4 billion annually, through a combination of absenteeism and reduced productivity. A Gallup study² reinforced this finding, showing that poor sleepers report more than double the rate of unplanned absences compared to other workers. And a 2026 Wellhub study³ found that 83% of employees identify poor sleep as a contributing factor to burnout, a figure that demands attention when nearly nine in ten employees report burnout symptoms annually. Consider what this looks like in practice. A team member who slept poorly scrolls through emails at 7am already feeling behind. By mid-morning, a decision that should take minutes stretches into a 45-minute deliberation. After lunch, focus drops sharply, not because of the workload, but because the brain is running on insufficient rest. By 3pm, a second coffee masks the fatigue but does nothing for the impaired judgment underneath. Research shows that after 17 hours of continuous wakefulness, the equivalent of a normal waking day ending at 11pm, cognitive impairment matches that of someone who is legally intoxicated⁴. This is not an unusual day. For many employees, this is every day. Sleep rarely appears on the wellness agenda, leaving a significant and measurable performance gap unaddressed. The reason is partly cultural. Sleep is still widely perceived as a personal responsibility. But the research suggests otherwise: sleep is not a personal indulgence. It is a performance lever that affects every metric HR professionals are already tracking: productivity, absenteeism, burnout, and retention. The same RAND study¹ that quantified the cost of insufficient sleep also found the flipside: if Canadians who sleep under six hours started sleeping just one hour more per night, it could add $12 billion to the national economy. The returns are not theoretical. They are measurable, achievable, and waiting to be captured. The good news is that addressing sleep does not require a major overhaul of existing wellness programs. Organizations can start by simply putting sleep on the wellness agenda. Most workplace wellness surveys ask about stress, mental health, and physical activity. Adding questions about sleep quality or duration to existing wellness assessments can provide baseline data to identify and measure the scope of the issue within their workforce. Leaders and managers who openly prioritize rest and recovery give permission for the rest of the organization to do the same. Small cultural shifts like discouraging late-night emails or respecting boundaries around after-hours communication can quietly improve sleep conditions across an entire team. None of these require a budget. They require intentional inclusion. Now consider what becomes possible. A team member, after two weeks of consistent, quality sleep, arrives at work already focused. The mid-morning decision is made in minutes. The afternoon dip is manageable, not debilitating. The second coffee becomes optional, not essential. Nothing else about their workload or responsibilities has changed. They show up more empathetic and more present for their customers, peers, and family. The only difference is how well they slept. The performance gap between these two versions of the same employee is not marginal. It is the difference between surviving and thriving. The question for HR professionals is no longer whether sleep affects organizational performance. The research has answered that definitively. The question is whether sleep has earned a place in their wellness strategy. And if not, what that gap is quietly costing their organization.
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