LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT AMY CLARKE
Pronouns in the workplace HRNZ’s Professional Standards and Development Manager, Amy Clarke, explores the use of pronouns in the workplace and how we can develop more inclusivity by using them correctly.
What are pronouns?
Pronouns are used in place of a proper noun, like a person’s name, and we use them all the time, often without even thinking, for example, “where is Amy? I don’t know, I think she’s in a meeting”. In this instance, she is the pronoun. More often than not, people will assume someone’s pronouns are based on how they look or what their name is, rather than asking what they might be. Most of us do this; it’s a natural part of our unconscious bias and isn’t necessarily wrong, but it can be hurtful and harmful to assume someone’s gender.
Why are pronouns so important, and why have they become so popular recently?
In English, gender forms the basis of our most common pronouns, for example, she, her, him, he. For many gender nonconforming, trans or gender diverse folk, the male–female pronouns may not feel right for them, 34
HUMAN RESOURCES
SUMMER 2021
don’t describe who they are, and can cause stress and anxiety when used by others to describe them.
use of pronouns will help to create a greater sense of safety and inclusivity and, with effort, will change this.
Pronouns, therefore, are a way of signalling to others who you are and how you’d like to be identified.
In this case, using gender-neutral language when referring to them is far better than imposing your own assumption of their gender. Examples of this are using their name, using they or them, or using terms like ‘folks’ or ‘team’ when referring to them in a group.
Many workplaces have made a considered effort to become more inclusive in the past few years, particularly in the public sector, with programmes of work like Papa Pounamu providing milestones for public sector agencies around diversity and inclusion. These milestones have increased and started to normalise conversations about several different ways to be inclusive (and how many practices are currently exclusive). Information about pronouns and their importance has been a big part of these initial conversations.
Can I ask someone what their pronouns are?
This is a bit tricky, but my advice, if you weren’t sure of someone’s pronouns, would be to identify what yours are and then offer the opportunity for the other person or people to share theirs. If they’re not forthcoming, it doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong, they might not want to share them. We shouldn’t expect everyone to be comfortable sharing their pronouns, for a variety of reasons, but normalisation of the
How do I go about introducing pronouns into my workplace?
The best place to start if you’re thinking about introducing pronouns into email signatures or in-person introductions in things like meetings, particularly with external people, is to engage with your internal rainbow community. If you have one, ask your Rainbow Network, and if you don’t have a formalised one, find a safe way to ask people in your organisation who identify as part of the broad umbrella of LGBTQI+ community for their thoughts and whether they would be interested in leading or having input into a piece of work like this. Creating spaces where everyone feels comfortable to come together, or giving people the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback, are great ways to start this conversation.
