The role of inclusive work environment practices in promoting LGBT employee job satisfaction and commitment

ABSTRACT

One of the most enduring issues facing public administration and public policy is discrimination against and exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees in the public workplace. Research on how inclusion management influences LGBT public servants’ work outcomes is limited. The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) synthesized a construct of integrated inclusive work environment consisting of five practices thought to be important for public employee work outcomes. Social exchange theory is used in this paper to theorize about the effects of these different inclusive work environment practices on LGBT employee job satisfaction and organizational (affective) commitment. An inclusive work environment approach was found to have a positive effect on LGBT employee job satisfaction and affective commitment in federal government staff in the USA. However, individual inclusive work environment practices varied in their effects on LGBT employee job satisfaction and affective commitment.

IMPACT

This paper enhances understanding of how LGBT employees respond to different inclusive work environment practices. LGBT employees’ job satisfaction and commitment to their organization operate differently when work environment practices are fairness-oriented, co-operation-oriented, and empowerment-oriented. There are important lessons in this paper for HR managers; top-level managment and policy-makers concerned to manage fairly and to compete for and retain talented staff.

KEYWORDS:

• Affective commitment
• human resource management
• inclusion management
• job satisfaction
• LGBT employee
• social exchange theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).