As we protest social injustices around the country, a common chant is “SAY THEIR NAMES.” Not only must we do that to recognize, remember and stand-up for those who are tragically no longer able, but as we think about our work colleagues, we should also say THEIR names.
My name is Rachel. As a biblical name, it is recognizable to many and fairly common. And yet I occasionally get called Rochelle, Rebecca, or Robin. I assume that people just forgot my name, so I politely correct them, and it rarely happens a second time. That’s a privilege that people of color and immigrants often do not have.
Over the years I have interviewed hundreds of candidates with less common names. For many years, I would just ask at the beginning of the interview the correct pronunciation. Most were at least somewhat appreciative of being asked. In hindsight, they were probably also frustrated that I was putting the burden of my ignorance on them.
A few years ago, a colleague and I agreed that as part of our desire to better demonstrate our efforts to consider inclusion and belonging in everything that we do, we would take the time to at least Google “how to pronounce X” before every interview and practice a few times. Maybe it took 30 seconds of time. Candidates with less common names noticed when we got it right on the first try. Even those that we mispronounced initially were patient as we repeated their name back multiple times so that we would eventually get it right, since it was clear that we were trying to recognize their unique skills as well as their unique (to us) names. Those that we later hired occasionally mentioned the exchange in the post-onboarding survey how this simple act made them feel less “other.”
Candidates and co-workers should not be made to feel like their names do not fit the culture, and therefore, need to be whiter, Americanized, or shortened. As part of our personal growth and learning around diversity, inclusion and belonging, we must take on the responsibility to learn how to properly pronounce ethnic, regional, international, or otherwise uncommon names.
Your small investment of time will show a candidate or employee the type of leader you are and the type of organization that you represent by being invested in them as an individual. We need to normalize learning how to pronounce names from other cultures.
What other small changes can you make that have an impact?
What big changes can you make?
Contact PLATTinum if your organization needs to enhance their talent acquisition and inclusion processes.
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