There are so many conversations about wellbeing in the workplace and inclusivity, but what about neurodiversity specifically? A term that covers a range of neurological conditions including autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD, created to enable employees to seek support without having to reveal their specific diagnosis. A term that once explored will likely lead you to reflect on your own needless struggles in restrictive working environments and perhaps, like me, begin to question how different your employment experience could have been with the right level of support and perhaps, even, diagnosis.
Despite 10% of the UK being neurodivergentse, CIPD research found that just 1 in 10 organisations say neurodiversity is included in their people management practices. Bear in mind the number of neurodivergentse employees is likely to be higher if we include those blending and masking their condition with non disclosure or no formal diagnosis. While schools are now much better at recognising neurological conditions early, Baby Boomers, Gen X and even some early Millennials are likely to be lost and struggling with no idea there is the opportunity for greater support. Adding to that, in 2016 the National Autistic Society reported that only 16% of autistic adults in the UK were in full-time employment. While neurodiversity reaches well beyond autism, arguably this stat provides a good measure of the struggles many people with ‘invisible’ disabilities have when it comes to landing a job, or keeping one for that matter.
Neurodiversity in the workplace is a subject ripe for debate, but today I want to specifically highlight some employers who are paving the way with innovative neurodiversity strategies to break down recruitment barriers. Celebrating the progress already being made in the hope that we can inspire other employers to follow suit.
1. GCHQ: A dedicated neurodiversity support service
Alongside law enforcement and intelligence agencies, GCHQ protects Government systems from cyber threat. As a ‘Disability Confident’ level 3 employer they have actually been running a neurodiversity support service for over 20 years with a dedicated Neurodiversity Advisor. What is particularly impressive about their approach is that they don’t just support employees with neurological conditions, they help diagnose them.
One of their employees, named Mark for anonymity, shares his experience as an neurodivergent employee with Asperger’s syndrome. In the article he said:
“My experience could have been a different story if I hadn't have found myself working for an employer who not only helped me diagnose my syndrome but also saw the positives. I’ve experienced how we are consistently striving to be even better at supporting neurodiverse staff. It is great to see the department leading the way with education and looking for more opportunities to deploy neurodiverse staff in a way that ensures their skills are best employed.”
Through their support he was not only diagnosed but also encouraged to embrace the positive aspects of his condition, which include:
Attention to detail - easily spotting patterns, anomalies and trends
Strong ability to focus on a task and determination to complete it
Wider perspective to explore context and innovate
Logical and science-based decision making without emotional baggage
Ability to make independent and unbiased decisions
Attributes that are crucial to GCHQ's work and the main reason they encourage neurodivergentse talent, ensuring that there are no barriers to employment with accessible recruitment campaigns. GCHQ Director Robert Hannigan explains:
"To do our job, which is solving some of the hardest technology problems the world faces for security reasons, we need all talents and we need people who dare to think differently and be different."
2. Microsoft: Autistic recruitment campaign
A brand that needs no introduction, this technology giant is on a mission to empower ‘every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more’. In their own words:
Being inclusive is not something we simply do, but rather, it stands for who we are...
The diversity of our workforce and inclusion of talented people from different backgrounds is the fuel that keeps the engines of innovation and growth running. This is essential to our long-term success. In order to build the best products for everyone, we need to have a diverse and inclusive workforce across all abilities. '
In particular, they know that candidates with autism hold an untapped talent with skills aligned to what they do every day. Speaking at the #DiverseMinds conference earlier this year, Digital Inclusion Lead at Microsoft Michael Vermeersch echoed this message adding that Microsoft’s drive to hire autistic talent has an 80% success rate. A statistic that represented the greatest feedback he had ever received with one employee saying:
"For the first time in many years I feel like it is not a weakness to have a disability.”
Their pilot project to hire autistic people specifically was launched in April 2015 when they received 800 CVs. However, Vermeersch knew that CVs weren’t the best way to assess talent. To break down the barriers to employment they invited people in to see how they could code and hiring managers looked at the different ways people solved problems. An approach that Vermeersch believes drives innovation, he said:
"We have to ask ourselves, are we trying to get people in the organisation who are successful at interviews or are we trying to get people in with the best talent?"
Microsoft also offers practical support for neurodiverse employees with a special help desk and open source training on YouTube. However, he also points out the need to look inward and understand that employers possibly already have staff with autism that are ‘blending, masking and absorbing all the barriers the workplace throws at them’. Discussing the challenges for autistic people in society he passionately added:
"We are not broken, we do not need to be fixed. When I can be myself I am at my best."
3. Enterprise Rent-a-Car: diversity partnerships and focus groups
It’s not just the IT industry that is recognising the positive attributes of neurodivergent candidates. Enterprise Rent-a-Car are actively involved in local and national diversity recruiting efforts, working closely with neurodiversity savvy partners like the Business Disability Forum. In addition to working closely with diversity organisations and minority media, Enterprise Rent-a-Car have a focus group that helps them to continually review their website and assessment interview format. Many of their neurotypical employees also volunteer as mentors.
HR director of UK and Ireland at Enterprise Rent-A-Car Leigh Lafever-Ayer believes that more leaders need to take responsibility and action on the back of their own biases. To truly make a difference leaders need to address their unconscious biases and reframe their approach to management. In a HR Magazine article she said:
“I’ve seen people who have been so concerned about their results on unconscious bias tests that we’ve organised for them to have extra sessions with our diversity trainers… They’ve then talked about what they need to do to improve their leadership. That’s where it gets really fascinating; when they make the connection between diversity and leadership and take it seriously. Some, of course, never get to that because they treat diversity as a tick-box exercise.”
One employee, Mollie Rolfe, openly shared her story with People Management. Applying for the company’s internship programme having been diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia, she said:
“In the assessment centre, my materials were printed on yellow paper [a white background can exacerbate visual stress] and the recruitment team constantly asked if everything was OK – and I was offered extra time.”
Once she was offered the position as a management trainee they continued to offer support. Colleagues adapted their communications accordingly, including a WhatsApp group for each region, and adapted her day when required. Rolfe added:
“Some days my brain doesn’t want to process anything, and on those days managers would give me things to do that required less brain focus, such as going out to our branch network or doing something outside.”
4. Direct Line Group: three-step neurodiversity strategy
One of Direct Line Group’s core values is to ‘bring all of yourself to work’ - a commitment that includes creating opportunities for neurodivergent people. They actively celebrated National Autism Day in March and Dyslexia Awareness Week in October, and are keen to become recognised as an autism-friendly employer.
Speaking at ProcureCon Marketing on the subject was Direct Line Group’s Marketing Director and a member of Campaign's Power 100, Mark Evans. There he announced his passionate belief that neurodiversity is the ‘next thing in the talent conversation’. He also likened the situation to a beehive, in which 90% of bees do the same thing every day but 10% “do whatever they like”. It is this 10% who find new food sources and hive sites. “They are revered by other bees.”
Direct Line Group’s neurodiversity strategy includes a three-step approach:
Raising awareness: highlighting strengths by inviting visiting speakers to share their story, like Pip Jamieson “Delightfully Dislexic” founder of The Dots
People manager support: education on how they can adapt their approach to help neurodiverse employees thrive
Sympathetic recruitment process: testing neurodiversegent candidates in ways that relate to the role itself and shaping the interview around their strengths
An approach that Evans believes will help them attract top talent, he said:
“It is my belief that neurodiversity could become a source of competitive advantage and therefore I encourage all forward-thinking marketing leaders to become more curious as they look to build high talent teams.”
5. JPMorgan Chase: Autism at Work Initiative
The financial industry has only recently started to add neurodiversity into its recruitment strategy. JPMorgan Chase is one of those employers who at the end of last year announced that they plan to employ ‘several hundred’ by 2020 as part of their Autism at Work initiative. In the same article their Executive Director James Mahoney explained that, with around 80% to 90% of autistic people unemployed, it was important they helped close that gap:
“for us, that’s a talent pool. If you look at areas like technology – there’s a huge shortage of good people with high-level skills. It’s a sector that we know many autistic people excel in.”
JPMorgan Chase have been adapting their traditional interview process and working closely with senior leaders across the firm to identify roles that would benefit from the talents of ASD adults.
Roles that would suit ‘detail-orientated, rule-bound, logical and independent-thinking individuals’. Managers are also trained on how to understand autistic communication, something that Mahoney believes is important given that “often people give feedback using metaphors, humour or sarcasm and, often, autistic people don’t take these social cues. It has to be crisp and literal and we need to train our managers to empower our autistic employees.”
There is also a buddy system of mentors to help encourage inclusivity and support, a strategy that led to one employee changing positions within the company and another being promoted. The program has also encouraged existing employees to come forward and disclose their autism.
Quality Assurance Analyst at JP Morgan Chase, Jon, knows that he excels at his role because his strongest attribute is to assess situations and come up with the best possible solutions in order to make them more organised and more efficient:
“I would encourage anyone on the spectrum to embrace what makes them different and see it as their greatest strength,” he said. “I firmly believe that companies could always benefit from having employees who see things in an unconventional way, which is something to remember any time an individual on the spectrum is seeking a job.”
Anthony Moffa also joined the firm as part of the Autism at Work program and said that his new colleagues “accepted him as anyone else on the team, with inclusion and without judgment”. A new experience for him whereby he no longer had to pretend he was a “neurotypical” person, which boosted his identity, confidence and self-esteem. So, unlike his past jobs, his role as associate software engineer is “a better match for my personality and abilities.”
Only six months into the pilot program launched in July 2015, the Autism at Work employees were 48% faster and as much as 92% more productive. Talking of the success of the program, Mahoney added:
"I firmly believe that companies could always benefit from having employees who see things in an unconventional way, which is something to remember any time an individual on the spectrum is seeking a job."
6. Auticon: only hiring consultants on the autism spectrum
Going way beyond implementing an inclusive recruitment strategy and well ahead of any ‘neurodiversity’ trends in the workplace, IT and compliance consulting business Auticon was founded in Berlin in 2011 and the first business to exclusively hire consultants on the autism spectrum.
The Founder Dirk Müller-Remus was a former software developer whose son was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. So, he knew first hand that despite the lack of employment opportunities for autistic people, there were an array of positive traits some people with the condition had that were perfect for the IT industry. Including their capacity to concentrate on a single task for long periods and appreciation of systems and patterns.
The London office was launched in spring 2016 and soon after they received funding from UK charity Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Virgin Group. Support that helped them become an award-winning consultancy in the UK and grow 200% year-on-year with major blue-chip clients like Experian, GlaxoSmithKline, Virgin Money, Allianz, Channel 4 and Network Rail. In a Guardian article on the subject of autism in the workplace, Ray Coyle, CEO of Auticon’s British offshoot, said:
“If you’ve got a team of people on a project, and they’re all neurotypical, and your project encounters a problem, the chances are that those 20 people will all come up with the same kind of answer. Bring in someone with a totally different cognitive process and a completely different perspective, and they’ll come up with something different. And that’s invaluable.”
However, in the same article he also highlighted that it’s important we are careful about the language we use around neurodiversity. Not all people on the autism spectrum are IT geniuses and there are neurotypical people with similar positive attributes. The point is, though, that in the right role and with the right support “an autistic person will significantly outperform a neurotypical person doing the same job.” Something Auticon have proven over time, now employing 20 autistic consultants on a full-time basis with plans to employ many more.
In order to support their employees, Auticon have in-house job coaches who offer one-to-one support. According to their website the coaches are on hand to:
Ensure their work environments are adapted to help them thrive
Prepare candidates for their future workplace
Brief them on specific corporate culture
Offer initial support with travelling to and from work until the consultant feels comfortable to travel independently
Mediate feedback between the client and the consultant
Before they joined the company 90% of Auticon’s UK consultants were unemployed despite being highly skilled and many educated to PhD level, and half of them were unemployed for more than five years. Compelling statistics demonstrating just how much of an impact Auticon has had on its employees.
Breaking down employment barriers - full stop
Here’s the thing. While most of these approaches are hyper-focused on autism specifically and the article itself geared towards neurodiversity, to me the solution to breaking down employment barriers and nurturing a diverse workforce is simple. Employers need to move on from traditional ‘culture fit’ approaches to employment and on to ‘culture growth’. To stop looking for all rounders that can do everything with unrealistic job descriptions and start focusing on getting the best out of people to create ‘all rounder teams’.
Think about it. All of these ‘listen, adapt and support’ strategies could be the solution to improving the lives of employees in the workplace full stop, and in return businesses can finally hit those all important business objectives like employee engagement, retention and recruitment because we will all be happier at work.
We are all human with individual talents and nuances. It is quite simple really. If employers implement the tools and put in the time to listen, adapt and support their employees and apply the same care with an intuitive approach to their recruitment process - the rest will follow.
If you’re curious about neurodiversity you can get to know the basics with this contribution in my network from Brighton Digital Women or take a look at this guide to inclusive recruitment for neurodiversity, created by Genius Within who were featured on BBC2 series, Employable Me.
NOTE: This is a pre-edited / original draft of a blog I wrote for a BIG travel brand, that was published in 2018, but has subsequently been removed along with the full blog series of content. It was part of my journey to discovery on my own neurodiversity, when I got all the CLICKS and realised why I felt I had “never belonged to employment” and found hope, that maybe one day - I could belong.