Equity in Inquiry

Featured Talk

HR professionals and leaders conduct countless interviews for hiring, workplace investigations and performance evaluations. Yet, traditional interview techniques can disadvantage those who are neurodivergent, leading to missed opportunities and flawed outcomes. With 1 in 5 people identifying as neurodivergent and with neurodiversity becoming a strategic asset for organizations, HR professionals need to learn how conduct interviews in ways that work for all communication and cognitive styles. This session teaches practical strategies to adapt traditional approaches and helps leaders understand how inclusive interviewing can improve their talent and investigation practices.

What You'll Learn

  • Recognize how traditional interview methods can exclude those with different cognitive and communication styles
  • Learn how to modify questioning techniques, environments and processes to support all participants
  • Apply strategies that enhance reliability in both talent assessment and fact-finding

Talk Description

Talk Description

HR professionals and leaders conduct countless interviews throughout their careers—for hiring, workplace investigations, performance evaluations, and more. These conversations are critical decision points that shape careers, resolve conflicts, and determine organizational outcomes. Yet traditional interview techniques, while familiar and comfortable, can inadvertently disadvantage those who are neurodivergent, leading to missed talent opportunities and potentially flawed investigative outcomes.

With 1 in 5 people identifying as neurodivergent, and with neurodiversity increasingly recognized as a strategic organizational asset, HR professionals and leaders need to evolve their approach. The goal isn’t to lower standards or compromise thoroughness—it’s to conduct interviews in ways that work for all communication and cognitive styles, ultimately improving the quality and reliability of information gathered.

This session teaches practical strategies to adapt traditional interview approaches, helping leaders understand how inclusive interviewing practices can enhance both talent assessment and fact-finding while ensuring fair and equitable treatment for all participants.

This training combines best practices in interviewing with neurodiversity science, providing tools that improve outcomes for both interviewers and participants across all types of professional conversations.

What You’ll Learn

Through hands-on practice and real-world scenarios, attendees will gain:

Understanding Interview Barriers

  • Communication style differences: How neurodivergent individuals may process and respond to questions
  • Traditional bias points: Where standard techniques can create disadvantages
  • Environmental factors: Physical and situational elements that impact performance
  • Stress responses: How interview pressure affects different neurotypes

Adaptive Interview Techniques

  • Question modification: Phrasing approaches that work for diverse communication styles
  • Multiple information gathering methods: Beyond verbal questioning to comprehensive assessment
  • Environmental accommodations: Creating accessible interview settings
  • Timing and pacing: Allowing for different processing speeds and needs

Enhanced Assessment Skills

  • Distinguishing communication style from competence: Avoiding false negative conclusions
  • Multiple evidence sources: Triangulating information for better decision-making
  • Bias recognition: Identifying when personal preferences influence judgment
  • Documentation strategies: Recording information fairly and completely

Practical Applications

Participants will develop skills for:

Hiring and Talent Assessment

  • Pre-interview preparation and accommodation discussions
  • Alternative demonstration methods for skills assessment
  • Portfolio and work sample evaluation techniques
  • Reference check strategies that account for communication differences

Workplace Investigations

  • Trauma-informed questioning for sensitive situations
  • Multiple session approaches for complex information gathering
  • Corroboration techniques that don’t rely solely on verbal testimony
  • Report writing that fairly represents all perspectives

Performance and Development Conversations

  • Strength-based evaluation approaches
  • Goal-setting techniques that account for different working styles
  • Feedback delivery methods that ensure understanding
  • Development planning that leverages individual cognitive assets
<span class="highlight highlight--callout " role="mark" aria-label="Highlighted text">When we adapt our interview techniques to work for all minds, we get better information, make better decisions, and create more equitable outcomes.</span>

Ideal For

This session is essential for:

  • Recruiting Professionals seeking to improve hiring outcomes
  • HR Generalists conducting various types of workplace interviews
  • Workplace Investigators ensuring fair and thorough fact-finding
  • Managers conducting performance evaluations and development conversations
  • Legal Professionals involved in employment-related interviews

Interactive Elements

This presentation includes:

  • Interview scenario practice with feedback
  • Question adaptation workshop activities
  • Environmental assessment exercises
  • Case study analysis of neuroinclusive investigation techniques
  • Role-playing with diverse communication styles

Takeaways and Resources

Every attendee receives:

  • Neuroinclusive interview preparation checklist
  • Question bank with adaptive phrasing options
  • Environmental accommodation guide
  • Assessment framework for fair evaluation
  • Template for documenting accommodation requests and outcomes

Different Wiring, Shared Solutions

Conflict is inevitable, and the stress it creates can be particularly challenging for neurodivergent individuals who process emotions, interpret communication, and respond to tension in different ways. For dispute resolution professionals, like mediators and arbitrators, as well as workplace leaders, it's important to understand these differences and how traditional ADR practices can create barriers to resolution. This training offers practitioners insight on how to eliminate these barriers, implement inclusive practices that account for diverse thinking and communication styles and achieve better solutions for all parties.

A Leadership Mindset for All Minds

Leadership is evolving and one of the most transformative shifts is the recognition and leveraging of neurodiversity within teams. This session equips team leaders to foster neuroinclusion in talent acquisition and development, moving beyond accommodations to systems where all minds thrive. By understanding how we think and communicate differently, attendees will learn to how be an inclusive leader, reduce bias and build collaborative teams where neurodiversity drives innovation and growth. This isn't just a talk about inclusion—it's a practical roadmap to help leaders innovate and harness their team's full potential.

Great Minds Don't Think Alike

As AI and automation shift talent needs, skills like creativity, innovation and complex problem solving are becoming more critical. And these skills are exactly where neurodivergent talent excel. With up to 20% of the workforce identifying as neurodivergent, smart organizations are moving beyond inclusion to harnessing these cognitive differences as competitive advantages. This session equips leaders with practical tools to recognize, develop and leverage the unique strengths of their neurodiverse talent. Because embracing neurodiversity isn't just the right thing to do—it's a powerful differentiator in an AI-dominated future.