Welcome to June’s NAVBLUE Employee Spotlight Feature!
Today we are celebrating Pride with Matt Cristiano, Instructional Design Lead at the NAVBLUE Academy in Waterloo, Canada.
Fun Facts
- He lives near Waterloo, Canada with his husband and our dog, Poncho. They always had a large indoor plant collection and a vegetable garden; however in 2021, they built a greenhouse that houses their tropical plants and palm trees👨❤️👨🐶🌴
- In his free time, he goes indoor bouldering and rock climbing🪨🧗🏆
- Whenever he has a week of vacation, you can expect that he’ll be travelling. His favourite country so far has been Slovenia. 🌲⛰️🌊
Q&A
-Thanks for joining us for this special edition of NAVBLUE’s employee spotlight, Matt! Could you please explain to us what your role entails?
As an Instructional Design Lead, I have three main responsibilities:
- Work with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and business owners across the organization to research, plan, produce, and maintain high-quality eLearning and documentation materials for both customer-facing and internal use.
- Support and lead the daily operations of the NAVBLUE Academy team, including onboarding, training, coaching, and mentoring new and existing team members on departmental processes, procedures, and upskilling.
- Handling customers’ training requests through FreshDesk tickets as well as meeting with customers virtually to resolve complex issues.
-We are celebrating Pride month, what does Pride mean to you?
Pride to me means the ability to be who you are, without fear, judgment, or ridicule. It’s learning to be comfortable in your own skin and feeling contentment with the way you present yourself. It’s about having the same rights and privileges as everyone else and not being viewed differently.
-If you could design a training on building an inclusive workplace for LGBTQ+ individuals, what would include?
We see a lot of training that focuses on how to make an inclusive workplace and become allies to LGBTQ+ individuals; however, this concept favours heteronormative ideals. I would design a training that is made to empower LGBTQ+ individuals and their growth in the workplace. This training would consist of:
- Navigating microaggressions and stereotypes
- Overcoming Othering and Imposter Syndrome
- Moving up the leadership ladder as an LGBTQ+ individual
- How to find role models and representation in the workplace
- External resources and training for career development.
-Representation of LGTBQ+ leadership in STEM careers is minimal. How do you think this affects the LGBTQ+ population?
In any phase of life, you want role models who you can look up to and receive guidance from. Role models for LGBTQ+ individuals are harder to come by in specific industries, like STEM, and there are much less of them represented in leadership. This can feel very limiting and hard to navigate the workplace as there are less individuals with shared experiences and commonalities to help advance your career forward or learn from. The feeling of Othering becomes much more prominent with the lack of representation and role models, and LGBTQ+ individuals (and other marginalized groups) tend to be left behind in their career development as they don’t feel included in the workplace. Companies, in turn, could risk losing some of their strongest workers as the LGBTQ+ individual sees no longevity or growth path within that company.
-What could companies do to improve the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community?
The best suggestion I can give is to critically examine and evaluate if you are truly inclusive to the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups. This includes reviewing policies and examining the demographic of the company’s hierarchy.
For reviewing policies, this is ensuring that all employees receive equal opportunities and privileges. No one is treated differently or receives special treatment for who they are. For example, if your company’s parental leave policy is centered around heterosexual individuals, you are not considering employees in same-sex relationships as their leave may look different. Whereas, when you examine the demographic of the company’s hierarchy, really determine the messaging you are putting forward when staffing only certain demographics. Yes, we want to hire the correct employees for the job, but you may be hindering marginalized individuals from moving up the corporate ladder.
– What is the best example of allyship you have experienced during your career?
Allyship does not need to be a grand gesture; however, it needs to show that you care about that colleague and will show up for them. My last two managers (both at NAVBLUE and my previous work experience) have been tremendous allies. I have been treated the same as my colleagues, my opinions and perspectives are valued, an effort is made to understand my long-term career goals, and an open-door policy is available. With these subtle forms of allyship, it fosters an environment of learning and inclusivity as I am given the same opportunity as everyone else.
-Please give us 3 tips to be better allies at work!
- You don’t need to wave a flag to be an ally. The best allies are those who are open to learning new things, and re-learning perceived notions and ideas about the LGBTQ+ community.
- As great as your LGBTQ+ coworkers are, we can’t speak for all LGBTQ+ people. We want to, but can’t answer all of your questions and be the spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ community. To become a stronger ally, research LGBTQ+ history, tips, discrimination, and affirmative actions using positive external sources. Broadening your knowledge helps allies understand the challenges that LGBTQ+ individuals face in a workplace.
- There is an anecdote that says “Standing in a garage doesn’t make you a car”. Using that anecdote, being polite and professional to all marginalized groups does not necessarily make you an ally. It means that you are tolerant of individuals around you. Using affirmative actions, such as challenging negative bias, speaking up, giving all individuals the opportunity to speak, and educating others with correct information, helps to close the gap that marginalized individuals face in the workplace.
Interested in joining NAVBLUE?
