We Are The ‘They’: How TMRNs Are Creating A More Inclusive Workplace

I started at Rocket Companies® in 2020 to provide human-in-the-loop training for machine learning models in Rocket Science. Shortly after coming to Rocket Companies, I joined the Team Member Resource Network (TMRN), Perspective, which supports our LGBTQ+ community.

I quickly began volunteering with initiatives relating to the LGBTQ+ community here and was selected to join the Perspective board in Spring of 2021. Ever since, I’ve been working on projects to improve the team member experience. The goal is to increase the resources, scope and efficacy of our support for LGBTQ+ community in the workplace.

In my role as a TMRN chair, I act as the communications liaison between the board and our members. I also help the board organize events, craft educational resources for our community and our allies, and advocate for policy improvements to reflect the needs of the LGBTQ+ community at Rocket Companies.

Rocket Companies is committed to creating an environment that’s inclusive of every team member. The TMRNs are dedicated to growing and supporting that inclusive environment and providing opportunities for team members to thrive within Rocket Companies.

Each TMRN has a unique focus, but they all operate on the strategic pillars of Education, Development, Community and Action. TMRN Perspective exists to create a safe, inclusive and affirming workplace that fosters growth for our LGBTQ+ team members and their allies at Rocket Companies through education, advocacy and support. We currently have more than 1,200 members!

We implement great ideas from our community. These include streamlining the ways we share our preferred names and personal pronouns, to updating our on-site facilities to be more gender-inclusive and many more. We engage with our community through panel discussions, allyship seminars, drag queen shows and many other fun events.

We also have a strong presence at the annual Motor City Pride celebrations. If you find yourself around Detroit in June, you might see buildings lit up in rainbow colors and the Pride flag above One Campus Martius.

If you wanted to win a competition against some of the best names in your field, wouldn’t you want to have every available advantage? Creating a more inclusive workplace pays off in many beneficial ways, some of which can provide companies with important advantages in their industry.

Workplace research in 2020_[1] showed that inclusive workplaces experienced nearly 30% higher average revenue growth, better internal innovation and 5.4 times greater team member retention. The same research found that when team members trust that they and their colleagues will be treated fairly, they’ll be almost 10% more likely to enjoy participating at work and will take more pride in their work and in their company. They’ll also be more likely to want to stay at that company for a long time_[2].

Our TMRNs exist because we recognize that we’re competing with other organizations not only for our clients and their business, but also for our team members and their contributions.

We know that a team member who brings their whole self to work actively participates and contributes more valuable ideas. They trust that their ideas and values will be respected and that their perspective will be given fair consideration. In turn, this promotes more connection and reinforces a sense of belonging at work.

A workplace that empowers perspectives that others overlook will have advantages over competitors, and a team member who feels a sense of belonging will have an increased and more positive engagement with their work, their peers and their organization. TMRN Perspective works with the senior leaders of Rocket Companies to advocate for and enact cultural and policy changes to improve trust with our team members so that they can bring their whole selves to our workplaces.

In the past year, TMRN Perspective has dedicated a particular focus to promoting and exploring the ways that intersectionality relates to our community and how intersectionality can benefit our team and our company. For those who don’t know, intersectionality is the way oppression and discrimination impacts various overlapping identities (like race, sexuality, gender, etc.). We’ve created guidebooks with educational and policy resources for team members “coming out” at work as well as for leaders to help them support LGBTQ+ team members.

We also hold educational events to raise awareness and sensitivity for issues affecting different facets of our community and for allies to add to their toolkit of resources to support their LGBTQ+ friends.

Some of my personal favorite events from the past year include:

• Our annual “coming out” celebration.
• A joint event with TMRN United! to explore the intersectionality of the Black and LGBTQ+ experience.
• 2 great panel events:
  • 1 uplifting transgender and nonbinary voices.
  • Another focused on hearing from forerunners and trailblazers in the LGBTQ+ community.

TMRN’s exist for team members. They’re a way to participate in the direction of our company and our culture. These groups make sure we’re living up to our guiding principles and are a way to network with other members of the community.  They’re also the platform communities at Rocket Companies use to elevate and promote innovative ideas which we hope will give us an edge over our competitors in the housing market and in the job market.

We cannot execute on unknown opportunities. TMRN’s give us the awareness and visibility into those opportunities which only come forward when team members feel involved, included and empowered.

<sub>1. https://www.greatplacetowork.com/resources/blog/racially-diverse-workplaces-have-largest-revenue-growth
2. https://www.greatplacetowork.com/resources/blog/why-is-diversity-inclusion-in-the-workplace-important</sub>