Search Desktop Diversity: advice > Q&A index > Newly Revealed Transgender Employee Newly Revealed Transgender Employee by Karen Stinson, CEO, ProGroup, Inc.® Dear Experts, One of our salesmen earned revenues over a million dollars last year. He has high caliber clients whose ongoing business is extremely valuable to us—which includes continued personal service from their main sales contact. Starting this year, he undergoes the gender reassignment process, becoming a woman. This includes spending full time dressed and behaving as a woman, treatments, and ultimately surgical procedures. How do we deal with him? Her? More to the point: how do we sell her to his clients? Reassigned in Richmond Dear Reassigned, Sit down with this valuable sales person. Tell him you want to figure out together what you're going to do with this challenge. You both have the same goal—to retain and serve clients and increase revenues. This calls for a two step approach: He must call his clients for a one-on-one meeting to explain what he's going through. Make it simple and clear, "Even though I'm going through this personally, I'll still be able to serve you professionally." If clients call to complain or announce they're concerned, it's your job to support your salesperson. Reinforce to the clients that although he's going through changes, he still has the same skills and abilities to serve them. Tell them, "As this person's manager, I encourage you to stay with her and see how it goes." Ask them to give it a shot for a period of months to see how it's going and to see how she is serving them as clients. Probably 1/3 of your customers will say "Fine," 1/3 will say, "I'll see," 1/3 will say, "No, I just can't." With the "no" people—once you've tried to convince them every way you can, you'll have to accept their no...for now. Reinforce with the salesperson that she needs to accept that's where the client is right now and move on to getting more new clients. Some people out there might say, "I don't want people like that to be our clients anymore!" But you need to accept where people are with a goal of encouraging and modeling Change Agent behavior. back to top Submit a Question Can't find the answer? Submit a question and our experts will see what they can come up with. Related Content ARTICLES: > Critical Success Factors for a Diversity Council > Four Business Issues > What is EEO anyway? > What Does EEO Mean for Me? CASE STUDIES: > Corrine's Clothes Become an Issue > Management's Plan is All Wet > Maxine is Moody > Out from Under the Radar Q&As: > The Attorney is Expecting > Men Mentoring Women and More > Can I Make Them Socialize? > Locker Talk DOWNLOADABLES: > Your Employee is Expecting > So Your Employee Has a Medical Condition... > Six Ways to Light the Fire Again > Support Employees With Senior Parents Copyright © 2008 Novations Group, Inc. All rights reserved.