DETAIL REPORT:

FOCUS GROUP &

SURVEY FINDINGS

Following is a summary of the top findings and themes related to data

collected from both the Focus Groups and the Staff Survey. There was
significant consistency among both data collection mechanisms as it
pertains to identifying problem areas.
This section breaks those
findings down into two parts:

Problem areas identified in focus groups

Problem areas identified in survey responses

Focus Group Findings

Within focus groups, a total of seven themes were identified. The top four
themes made up 90% of the comments and were as follows. Percentages
indicate the percentage of times the theme was identified:

1. Inconsistent HR Support, Policies & Procedures (28%).

2. Perceived Exclusion (28%).

3. Organizational Culture/Climate Not Inclusive (18%).

4. Lack of Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion (16%).

Inconsistent HR Support, Policies & Procedures

Focus groups participants regularly cited concerns with what is perceived as
an inconsistent and unclear promotions process along with strong challenges
existing within the Human Resources Department. The theme was identified
62 times and came up in every single group. The theme came up most
prevalently among the Transgender / gender expansive and White focus
groups, followed by the People of Color focus group. Some of the top subthemes within this category are listed on the next page with examples of
statements from participants.

HR SUPPORT,
POLICIES,
PROCEDURES

Examples of Concerns

Promotions process
unclear, no standards,
mystery promotions

The hiring procedures of HRC are concerning and

not transparent.
There is no type of promotion.
You find favoritism. Everyone else is shriveling up
and dying and leaving.
There are temp staff issues main issue is pay no
time off, not paid for sick days. Were forced to
sacrifice and struggle to get into the organization.
Interesting how they make hires with relevant
experience, but there isnt any consideration into
the persons values, their beliefs, how invested they
are into the HRC cause.
Theres no formal interview process.
In my case, doing the job was the interview.
Raise policy is extremely inconsistent/vague.
How are people promoted? Its vague. The company
needs a transparent process and an equal playing
field.
For example there was someone that got promoted
to manager and there is this huge discrepancy and
it seems to me that the leadership has no interest,
that it seems like the same organization.
There is a lack of communication for job postings
its The mystery of who gets appointed.

Supervisors dont help

develop their staff,
prepare them for
promotion

What is the pathway to promotion? There is no

clear path. There is no model of growth. There is
no professional development plan.
Promotion to management does not come with
training.
No one talks about organization, structure, how to
move up or around within the organization.
Managers that think on hiring and firing and not
making sure their employees are doing well.
HRC management training is laughable.
People already working at HRC are not considered
for director and management positions. No equal
playing field.
As support staff we dont feel comfortable in asking

for those [professional development] opportunities.

I havent been fired yet so I assume Im doing a
good job.
HRC is bringing in outsiders for new leadership
internal candidates are not even considered for
higher positions.
I get the sense that for a director level and up when
there is an opening theres a thing about bringing
someone from the outside.
Economic issues

People of color, Transgender people, lower socioeconomic people face institutionalized discrimination
- that plays a part in salary. Lowered salary
compared to those with privilege.
Interns who are successful are those who came in
with opportunities in their pocket (white, male,
savings, education).
Lower-tier salary is not competitive with industry
standard at all considering the experience they
bring, how they are treated, the work they are
asked to do.
Annual income range at HRC: $35,000 to $400,000.
Interns/Temp employees are deeply in debt
because they dont have enough compensation.
Even now, employees are not making enough to
deal with their debt. Employees are very
passionate, but are literally trying to survive on
scraps in DC. It is an amazing opportunity to work
for HRC but employees also need to eat.
Raise policy is extremely inconsistent/vague.

Perceived Exclusion
Staff feel varying degrees of and have witnessed what they perceive as
unfair and unproductive exclusion from decision making at HRC. This was
brought up in every single focus group and variations on the theme were
mentioned no less than 62 times altogether. This was felt most strongly by
remote staff, followed by trans / gender expansive staff. Men, women and
Millenials also had considerable conversation on this theme. Some of the top
sub-themes within this category are listed below with examples of
statements from participants.

PERCEIVED
EXCLUSION

Examples of Concerns

Soft skills / feminine

traits not valued &
other forms of
perceived sexism

Straight women and lesbians get sexist treatment

from gay men at HRC.
There is visible misogyny (cutting women off, only
addressing other white men).
I see femophobia feminine men and women are
not considered as important.
Ive seen two men hire an underqualified man over
an exceptional woman.
I think its not everyone but there have been
enough comments that make it seem like, oh you
have the soft skills.
Its like our work is not as important because we
are not making money. There is a difference
between respect.
Sexism is rampant at HRC. It seems as subtle as
men over run women in meetings.
Ive heard upper level male managers talk to female
staffers in obscene ways questioning their
competency that they dont do with young males.
The moral of the story is that its often overlooked if
its done by a woman. So is a man doing a female
job at HRC. Admin support, scheduling, event
planning, pride are more gendered femaleJobs
that are considered female.
Womens voices are not always heard in the
organization or given the same importance. Men
can scream louder (literally) but it doesnt mean
their ideas are better.

Younger staff, lower

paid staff excluded
from decision-making
and not valued, told to
stick to their job.

Internally there is a do your job attitude which

sends the message I dont think you have anything
of value to contribute.
Younger staff in particular are exploited and not
rewarded financially.
If you are not above 26 or hold a title of a manager
or above than you are not as important.
Junior staff are not encouraged to get involve with
policy and implementation.
There is a churn and burn mentality.
The tone is patronizing.
I heard someone tell another person of their team

that they are just hired to do the task at hand.

I think people are taken advantage of. They have
passion and get paid $30,000 a year.
Your opinion is not appreciated or thought about.
You are supposed to just do your job.
There is a millennial discontent. They are more
activist-oriented. They want to help change from
within, but the structure is not there.
Staff who voice
concerns viewed as
complainers; fear of
speaking honestly

A lot of folks are personally invested in diversity

inclusion but their voices have been smothered or
pushed away.
Support staff seems to be labeled as complainers.
When seeing problems and pointing them out,
theyre told thats not your job.
Not enough trust in organization to bring up issues
without that information being used against
someone else, no safe spaces.
I heard someone raise a concern and their
supervisor told them to stop raising concerns and to
just sit there and absorb the advice of people who
have been there longer. HRC has been around for a
while and isnt going to change.
Raising concerns is not your job and focus on your
tasks. Concerns are to be tasked by people who are
more experienced, less radical, more conservative,
more mainstream.
Currently, if you complain you are viewed as a
trouble maker.
If you disagree with HRC initiatives. You will be
ignored and dismissed.
He was seen as troublemaker for whining or
complaining.
There was a suspiciousness about participating.
When they hear you they hear the complaints.

Organizational Culture/Climate Not Inclusive

Organizational culture was cited many times by focus group participants. It
was generally characterized by a lack of respectful dialogue within the
organization and how/if diversity conversations are supported. The theme
was tracked 41 times and arose in every single focus group.
The theme
came up most prevalently among the White group, followed by Millennials,

then Transgender/gender expansive group. Some of the top sub-themes

from this category are listed below with examples of statements. Note that
the first item, Not many diversity conversations happen at HRC could also
be categorized as a commitment to diversity and inclusion in the fourth
item.

ORGANIZATIONAL
CULTURE/CLIMATE

Examples of Concerns

Not many diversity

conversations happen at
HRC / no real push for
diversity.

Theres no honest discussion.

There is no continuous effort to have any
training or work done on diversity and
inclusion.
Its not often that we have discussion about
racial justice or interpersonally how are you
feeling as a white person at HRC.
Senior staff and junior staff are not given
opportunities for open dialogue. No serious
platform for discussion.
Not that many diversity conversations happen
at HRC.
Change isnt coming from within.
There is not a lot of recognition for D&I.
There are no leadership awards for D&I.
HRC shouldnt just do D&I training once a
year.
Are HR people even given diversity training?

Leadership culture is
homogenous gay, white,
male

Theres a lack of women in leadership roles at

HRC.
Lesbian women are under-represented.
White gay men have all the power in the top
roles.
HRC - the culture of over achievers. We value
people who are smart and do their job well.
We are all super stars.
The organization is dominated by white, gay
men.
Lack of strong and diverse leaders, trust,
transparency, and recognition of work.
Most of the people in the cubes are white. The
leadership is all white. It is surprising that we
pretend we are going to change it and nothing
happens.

We go to the meeting and there are 6-7 highup people - they are all high-functioning,
white, funny males. They are pinging off each
other. There were no women.
The upper management is what gives a tone.
What they give is a recipe for disaster. If you
go to a department meeting the only people
that talk are management or above.
Leaders talk negatively
about others behind their
backs. (***note, while
there were many quotes,
most violated our
confidentiality ethics and
could not be included in the
report)

Ive seen people get recognition awards and it

gives them steam for months, but at happy
hour, I hear VPs complaining about what a
waste of time it is. Its so deflating.
Leadership needs to take it seriously. I have
heard things that they think it is a joke and
just for support staff.

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

This was flagged as a close fourth in frequency and expansiveness across
focus groups as a concern. It came up 36 times and was also discussed in
every single group. There was also some cross-over from the previous
finding of Organizational Culture / Climate Not Inclusive as some of the
conversations about both topics were closely tied together. Although this
came up in every group, it was not highlighted in specific groups more than
others it came up about the same number of times in every group. Some
of the top sub-themes from this category are listed below with examples of
statements.

COMMITMENT TO
DIVERSITY &
INCLUSION

Examples of Concerns

Diversity only happens at

the lower tiers in the
organization, leadership
represents gay, white men.

We are supposed to be fighting for people who

are being discriminated against and
marginalized, however we at HRC are
discriminating against people and
marginalizing people in the workplace.
We have more diversity on the lower or
assistant level staff but its not filtering up.
Senior staff and HR are not bothering to
promote wellness and change - nothing is
coming down from the top.
There are cliques and no interaction within

various departments.
People of color generally work in staff
support.
White gay men are hired in leadership.
My friends we joke, oh another white, gay
man was hired.
Something interesting I see are the
presentations that are given to the board. We
have the statistics of more diverse gender,
ethnicity and it is not reflected in the other
tiers. We are at the bottom of barrel, talent,
culture its not making it anywhere else.
No diversity at the senior level.
Even when you have a diversity director. You
are talking nice but it doesnt move. She was
sidelined.
Theres a lack of a shared
understanding of what
diversity and inclusion
means for HRC and how that
gets operationalized. HRC
hasnt invested the time it
needs to identify this.

We dont even have a basic shared vocabulary

about what this work is about.
There is no real push for diversity.
People of Color want to learn and give their
perspective to HRC on various initiatives (not
just Heritage Month).
New hires are getting D&I training but existing
staff is not.
There is a lack of D&I within staff and little
has changed in the last three years.
Typical situation: We have to hire in a couple
of weeks, so there is no time to find diverse
candidates for field organizers/ consultants.
Our go-to pool is not very diverse.
We just hired a new staff member. There is
nothing about hiring diverse candidates. S/he
just wanted to know if s/he could do these
things and not make it a better place. We are
going through the same cycle of hiring the
same person.

TRANS* STAFF
A word about concerns raised related to the experience that
Transgender/gender (Trans*) expansive staff have at HRC. While
some of the concerns were not voiced by all groups (and thus did not rise to
the fore in aggregate data), they came up consistently and overwhelminglyl
among trans* staff (and confirmed by survey responses) and was frequently
noticed by non-trans staff as well. Due to the depth of concerns, we felt it
significant to call attention to these issues:

Trans* staff are frequently tokenized asked to be part of a

group, comment on an issue, or educate other staff because of their
identity and not because its part of their job. Theres a fine balance
between never being asked and feeling relied up on to be the trans*
voice.

Trans* people dont feel safe to come out at HRC. People work
for years at HRC before coming out as trans.

Trans* people are frequently mis-gendered with the wrong

pronouns, after repeated corrections. Pronoun use is not emphasized
enough in introductions at HRC. People stare blankly at you when
you bring this up. There needs to be a much stronger emphasis on
gender pronoun usage and its importance.

Theres only one gender neutral bathroom in the building, every

other floor is gendered. Theres been a lack of interest in addressing
this problem the initiative for gender neutral bathrooms has gone
on for 6 months.

Trans* staff feel heightened sense of interest/authority given

to those who are more masculine.

Trans* people of color are absent.

No one trusts HR. They have poorly handled gender pronouns, name
changes, email changes during transition. Extremely complicated to
change emails in the event of a name change. 1-2 months for the
request to finally get processed.

The dress code is labeled male or female only.

REMOTE WORKING STAFF

A word about concerns raised related to the experience of remote
staff. Remote or off-site staff have a unique experience not shared by those
on-site. There concerns were felt consistently among members. Following is
a summary of their concerns:

HRC forgets about Off-site people. Having remote staff at HRC is

not new and it is increasing. They should train staff on etiquette on
calls. It is difficult to hear. We are not provided the needed help on
technical issues.

Remote staff are a part of the organization but not a part of the
culture. Significant staff changes dont get communicated to remote
staff; it is frustrating getting second-hand news.

When Im in the office, people think Im an intern.

Survey Findings
Within surveys, problems areas were highlighted both in multiple choice
questions and found to be consistent with responses to open-ended
questions. The top themes characterizing problem areas were as follows:

1. Organizational Culture Not inclusive

2. Human Resources Department Deficits
3. Training / Education Deficits
Organizational Culture Not Inclusive
One of the most frequent concerns that rose was the sense of an
organizational culture rooted in a white, masculine orientation which is
judgmental of all those who dont fit that mold. Disparate treatment toward
women and those with soft skills was frequently cited by staff both men
and women and there is a sense that if you operate outside of that
orientation, you will not be successful at HRC. There is a general sense of
feeling excluded from decision-making and a distrust or fear that if one
brings up concerns, their sphere of influence becomes limited. This is
consistent with findings from the focus groups. Some of the top sub-themes
from this category are listed below with examples of statements.

White Mens Club Many staff cited an extremely judgmental

working environment, particularly of women and feminine-identified
individuals. Sexism and the good old boys club was cited 32 times in
open ended answers. Many staff cited concerns over the general lack
of respect in appreciating peoples diverse backgrounds. There was
broad-based observations that people who are different dont fit in and
are treated poorly not included, talked down to, excluded, voices not
appreciated, etc.
Up to seven staff characterized the work
environment toxic.

Statistics:

A third of all staff find the environment to be exclusionary.

More than half of multiracial and Latino people and 83% of

genderqueer people feel they are not treated equally based on
their identity. All races report feeling ignored. More than a third
of all whites who are promoted are promoted 3 or more times,
while all other races (except Asian American) are rarely
promoted more than 2 times.

100% of trans/genderqueer people feeling bias against them.

Seven out of 31 men who have been promoted have been on

staff less than two years (some promoted two times). No
women under two years have been promoted.

Comments:

There is still a great deal of sexism, racism, classism, ageism,

and other biases in this organization. This is true for many
organizations across the country, but when you claim to be the
largest LGBT non-profit in the nation, you may want to improve
how you treat your employees and how much you honor
intersectional identities.

By far, the organization is geared toward wealthy, white urban

men.

The level of misogyny at work throughout the institution is

incredible and neither HR nor anyone else - is equipped to
address or handle this issue.

We need to work on the gay white male privileged on the staff

and our board of directors.

As a woman, I feel excluded every day.

Extremely exclusionary, especially with regards to age, race,

and gender identity.

Its a lot of gay man cliques.

There isn't a single African-American in Senior leadership.

Neither is there a department head in the entire organization
who is African-American. Most African-Americans I work with
seek support and validation for the onslaught of racial tension
external to the organization. The message is clear - the more
one assimilates and acculturates to white gay culture, the more
one is seen as a "team player."

This is the most sexist organization I have ever worked for. My

voice as a woman is irrelevant and my credentials are
meaningless.

It depends on the person and department. Some departments

are respectful to diversity while others are not.

If you are a young white gay male, who socializes with staff and
especially senior staff, there is a greater likelihood that you will
advance sooner.

Ironically - I feel female straight allies are treated better than

lesbians on staff specifically by gay males.

I think the stereotype as the "white gay man's club" is accurate.

I think there's a ton of sexism at HRC, and I think the divide
between gay/bisexual and straight women doesn't do much to
help that.

I think HRC can be a rather sexist work environment. With only

some exception, the most influential people in the building/ the
ones that have the president's ear are white, gay men.

Language & Humor. Language is a specific area of concern among

staff. On gender, many staff continue to mis-gender Transgender staff
and genderqueer/expansive staff though they have been corrected
many times. Several people cited the inappropriate use of humor that
puts others down. Many wrote about leadership modeling good
behavior some in upper levels of leadership make negative
comments about others, are gossipy and use inappropriate humor.
Theres a general lack of professionalism and respect for others around
language use.
Statistics:

61% percent of all staff have witnessed disparaging

remarks/behaviors in the past 12 months.

100% of VPs notice disparaging behaviors, mostly related to

gender (80%) and age & gender identity (60%)

40% of VPs feel they are subjected frequently to

insensitive/inappropriate comments.

Comments:

I have overheard some very clearly unprofessional language by

at least one mid to high-level HRC official and by a senior staffer
in HR trainings.

The senior management can be somewhat of a boys' club and

say things that while intended to be funny, are not necessary
appropriate.

I have heard staff members use the word "tranny" when this is
an extremely disrespectful word.

The insulting or disparaging remarks that I have witnessed have

largely come from senior staff members as well as from board
members, not from support staff.

There should be no place for insulting and disparaging remarks,

behaviors or body language. People cloak a lot of this in humor,
which makes it that much easier to 'excuse.'

The way the staff treats and talks about interns is so appalling.
We're working to improve the lives of LGBTQ youth, yet the way
we talk about them around the office goes against that.

In my department, there is a good deal of respect. I know I'm

lucky though. Many of my colleagues are not respected at all by
their bosses. Some are even actively put down.

Tokenism. There is a general sense that when someone is hired who

has diverse characteristics, one of the primary reasons they were hired
is due to those characteristics and not due to qualifications. This is
rooted in an experience of limited internal promotions and people
feeling under-valued for their skills and experience when they do
apply.
In additional, Transgender and genderqueer/expansive
individuals are most likely to feel tokenized that people come to
them for answers to questions about gender identity outside of their
scope of responsibility:

40% of trans people always feel unfairly relied upon to be

expert in their group; 57% of genderqueer people frequently
feel the same.

Human Resource Department Deficits

Of all the departments within HRC, this department came up most frequently
as being the most problematic or as not working. Outside of concerns about
the white, male cultural orientation, HR was most frequently cited for
concerns. Concerns included a sense that there is inconsistency in protocols
or in following protocols governing: recruiting, hiring, compensation,
promotion, training and benefits. Many think HR is under-resourced and that
a permanent HR Director needs to be identified. This is consistent with
findings from the focus groups.

More than half of staff believe HR is under-resourced when it comes to

D&I.

Only one (out of 12) trans/genderqueer people agree that appropriate

policies/procedures are in place or that HR has proper resources.
Diversity Knowledge Within HR low. Several people raised
concerns about HRs level of diversity understanding particularly
around gender identity issues.
More serious concerns included
offensive language/demeanor and repeated mis-gendering of trans
and genderqueer individuals.
Comments:

Our Human Resources department is not equipped to handle

diversity.

The Human Resources office needs considerable more training in

diversity on very basic topics -- related to race as well as sexual
harassment, for example.

General unhelpfulness. Many staff cited the concern that HR is just

not functioning well and is unhelpful for staff seeking help. Questions
are frequently answered by HR with, go check the website. Many
expressed frustration and lack of trust in the competence of HR.
Example quotes:

HR does not work - everyone knows that is the case - it's an

open secret

Inconsistency.
Staff reported numerous inconsistencies in their
interactions with HR often not receiving the benefits or other perks
they perceive as others receiving; hiring protocols followed one time
and not another; one person is educated about a raise policy, another
gets a different response:

It is widely believed among support staff that the opportunity

for an annual raise ranges from a minimum three percent raise
for cost-of-living adjustments, with potential for an additional
three percent merit-based raise, up to a total of six percent (6
percent). However, it was revealed to members of the support
staff that this was not an official HRC policy but rather a tool to
discourage employees from seeking higher compensation.

Training / Education Deficits

Across the board, staff scored existing diversity and inclusion training offered
by HRC low in comprehensiveness, frequency, and effectiveness. This
finding is paired with lack of effective management training and inconsistent
orientation training. Some of the top sub-themes from this category are
listed below.

Orientation Training Consistency.

Staff do not appear to
experience consistency in their on-boarding as a staff member. Many
recommended creating a standard protocol for on-boarding that is
consistent across all employees.
Statistics:

Only 45% of survey takers reported receiving diversity and

inclusion training as part of their orientation.

Comments:

There is no diversity training during on-boarding!!!! This is a

crime.

All staff should be expected to have a baseline understanding of

D & I.

Mandatory D & I basic training for all staff.

On-going Diversity & Inclusion Training. Many staff have not

received any diversity and inclusion training and those who have score
it low on comprehensiveness and effectiveness. Many recommend
that HR develop a standard diversity & inclusion training with required
participation among all staff. Many staff also cited interest in keeping
diversity and inclusion dialogues going in multiple ways at HRC. Note,
Statistics:

14% of staff say they have not participated in any diversity &
inclusion training.

80% of senior staff seek outside diversity and inclusion training.

Comments:

Development of on-going D & I training that is accessible,

flexible, and non-judgmental.

Management Training. Those in supervisory positions expressed that

they did not receive adequate training support for being a supervisor
at HRC.
Statistics:

67% of supervisors dont think HR provides adequate training

for managers.

63% of supervisors dont think there are effective processes in

place for hiring.

Comments:

Provide deep manager training.