This weekend Nightline aired a segment on Megan Wallent, a top executive at Microsoft who transitioned from Michael to Megan.
Megan used to be Michael and supervised a staff of hundreds in her role as Manager of the Internet Explorer division of Windows. Wallent left Microsoft last fall to undergo the transition and reported back to work earlier this year.
She let the staff know that she would be “working full time as female after the first of the year" via e-mail and, according the Nightline segment, Megan’s transition was “unremarkable to contend with” and “unconfusing” for the staff.
The report focused largely on reaction from Megan’s family, but I want to spotlight how Megan’s employer, Microsoft, supported her through her transition, and realized that valuable talent should be retained at all costs.
On the company’s diversity and inclusion site, Microsoft announced the addition of partial coverage for transgender surgery to its existing coverage of other transgender-specific health benefits in 2005. In 2006 alone, Microsoft’s LGBT employee group, GLEAM, had over 700 members and earned a 100 on the HRC Corporate Equality Index, was listed as a HRC Best Place to Work, received the Outie award for Best Employee Resource Group and the President’s Award for corporate leadership from the Lifelong AIDS Alliance.
GLEAM’s work and Megan’s high-profile transition have positioned Microsoft as one of the U.S. leaders in LGBT employee relations and a company that others should look to as an example.
One feature on Megan’s blog is the “crappy look counter” where she posts negative reactions from the public that she has encountered since her transition. While the public still clearly could use education on transgender issues, Megan found her return to work “uneventful” according to ValleyWag, a Silcon Valley blog where Megan announced her transition. It seems that Microsoft has done their job of making the workplace a safe and inclusive environment that attracts and retains the best talent.
Photo from http://valleywag.com/340222/what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl.
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