Assess Diversity Values and Inclusion Skills
An employee who values diversity—and more importantly exhibits inclusive behaviors—more naturally selects, collaborates with, and retains diverse talent.
Use this interview guide to evaluate a candidate’s inclusion competency.
Knowledge: The candidate’s definition of diversity is broad and includes non-stereotypical notions of diversity.
- What have you done to improve your knowledge about diversity?How have you demonstrated what you have learned?
- How can lack of workforce diversity impact the business?
- Share an instance when you learned something from someone from a background different than yours.
Values: The candidate shows positive emotion when talking about diversity.
- Is diversity important?Why?
- Tell me about a time you worked on a team with diverse backgrounds and experiences.What were the benefits of team diversity?
- How do you expect the organization you work for to demonstrate its diversity values?
Experience: The candidate is experienced and skilled in working with and/or managing diverse teams.
- Discuss an experience with respect to diversity that helped you in your professional development.
- What efforts have you made, or been involved with, to foster diversity competence and understanding?
- How have you handled a situation when a colleague or a direct report was not accepting of others’ background, values, or experiences?
Actions: The candidates’ actions demonstrate his/her diversity values.
- What efforts have you made, or been involved with, to foster inclusivity competence and understanding?
- Tell me about a time when you achieved superior outcomes by incorporating diverse perspectives.
- Have you ever seen any bias against someone from a different background than the norm?What did you do?