Making hiring more equitable for LGBTQIA+ candidates

The LGBTQIA+ community has long faced discrimination and challenges in various aspects of life, including the workplace. Despite progress in societal acceptance, many LGBTQIA+ individuals still encounter biases that affect their employment opportunities and experiences. A report by the Williams Institute at UCLA found that 45.5% of LGBTQ employees have experienced unfair treatment at work at some point in their lives, highlighting the need for more inclusive processes. Discrimination can manifest in various forms, from overt prejudice to subtle microaggressions, making it crucial for organizations to actively work towards creating inclusive and equitable hiring practices. 

The good news is that we have come a long way and more companies are investing in better, fairer selection methods. Improving fairness is an ongoing journey and doing better doesn’t mean you have to radically transform everything immediately. To learn more about how you can create more accessible hiring practices for LGBTQIA+ candidates, watch out our recent LinkedIn Live with Dr. Catalina Flores (she/her), Senior IO Psychology Consultant at HireVue, and Amanda Anderson (they/them), Senior Recruiter at Colorado Public Radio.

Signal inclusion to attract more LGBTQIA+ applicants 

Signaling inclusion is fundamental to making hiring practices more equitable for LGBTQIA+ applicants. It involves creating an environment where all individuals feel valued and respected. Organizations can signal their commitment to inclusion through various means, such as implementing inclusive policies, offering diversity training, and visibly supporting LGBTQIA+ rights.

One effective way to signal inclusion is by incorporating inclusive language in job postings and company communications. Avoiding gendered language and using terms like “they” instead of “he” or “she” can make a significant difference. Additionally, providing diversity statements that explicitly mention support for the LGBTQIA+ community demonstrates a commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace.

The basics of personal pronouns

Pronoun sharing and respect are critical for creating an inclusive in-person and virtual environment. Personal pronouns, such as she/her/hers, they/them/theirs, and he/him/his, are substitutes for someone’s name, and using the correct ones is a sign of respect, similar to pronouncing someone’s name correctly. 

A Pew Research survey found that 1 in 4 people in the US knows someone who uses they/them pronouns, and this number is even higher among younger people. Nearly half of 18-29-year-olds know someone who uses they/them pronouns. Refusing to embrace new pronouns in the workplace can leave many businesses and people behind.

Normalizing the practice of sharing pronouns helps create an environment that recognizes the importance of using the correct pronouns for someone and shows that cisgender people (those whose current gender aligns with the gender they were assigned at birth) have pronouns too.

Here are some pronoun-specific tips for an inclusive workplace from Dr. Kyl Myers:

• Use Correct Pronouns: It should be required that staff use the right pronoun for their coworkers when talking to or about them.
• Lead by Example: If comfortable, add your pronouns to your email signature, Zoom title, and introduce yourself with pronouns in meetings. This signals that you understand the importance of pronouns and give others autonomy in deciding to share theirs or not.
• Correct Misgendering: If someone gets misgendered in front of you, immediately use their correct pronouns. Follow up privately with the person who used the wrong pronoun and gently remind them, “Hey, just wanted to remind you that Olly uses they/them pronouns.”

Structured interviews for fairness

Structuring interviews is another essential step toward equitable hiring practices. Unstructured interviews can unintentionally perpetuate biases, as interviewers may rely on subjective judgments influenced by their own experiences and preconceptions. Standardizing the interview process helps ensure that all candidates are evaluated based on the same criteria, reducing the potential for bias.

To standardize interviews, organizations can:

• Develop a consistent set of questions: Create a list of questions that are asked of every candidate, focusing on the skills and experiences relevant to the role.
• Use a scoring system: Implement a scoring system to objectively evaluate candidates’ responses. This can help compare candidates fairly and minimize the influence of personal biases.
• Train interviewers: Provide training for interviewers on recognizing and mitigating unconscious bias. This training can include techniques for remaining objective and focusing on the candidate’s qualifications.

HireVue has built an award-winning tool that accomplishes all of this without any guesswork. Using HireVue Builder, teams can quickly create interviews from a bank of interview questions and evaluations that have been vetted by industrial organizational psychologists. Builder gives you science-backed, validated questions specific to the competencies necessary for your role in both live and on-demand scenarios. 

Assessing skills over resumes

Pre-hire skill assessments are a valuable tool in creating equitable hiring practices. They provide a more objective measure of a candidate’s skills, abilities, and potential, reducing reliance on gut instincts. There are various types of assessments that organizations can use, including cognitive ability tests, personality assessments, and work sample tests.

When incorporating assessments into the hiring process, it is essential to:

• Ensure validity and reliability: Use assessments that are scientifically validated and reliable. This ensures that the tests accurately measure what they intend to and produce consistent results.
• Consider accessibility: Make sure that assessments are accessible to all candidates, including those with disabilities. This may involve providing accommodations or alternative formats as needed.
• Use assessments as one part of the process: While assessments can provide valuable insights, they should be used in conjunction with other evaluation methods, such as interviews and reference checks, to get a comprehensive view of the candidate.

If you’re ready to build fairer, more efficient hiring during Pride and beyond, schedule time for a demo with one of our team members.