It's neurodiversity celebration week this week; some of you may applaud this and others may groan at yet another cause and another day or week of 'celebration'. Parking your responses either way (no judgement here) it's an important issue for HR practitioners and organisations who want to recruit more inclusively and, dare I say it, more intelligently. This blog can't do this subject justice in 700+ words, what it can do, however, is provide some bullets of information and guidance. 

What is neurodiversity?

It is not a clinical term but is one first used by a sociologist in the late 1990s. Most people are neurotypical; their brains function and process information in a way that is common and expected. Clinically seen as a normal brain. Others process information differently; they can experience and interact with the world differently. Hence the term neurodiversity. It includes people with autism (that includes people previously diagnosed as having Asperger's syndrome), those with ADHD, DCD (formerly dyspraxia) and dyslexia although this is not an exhaustive list. 

What's the risk of employing neurodiverse people?

All recruitment is risky; the best interview candidates can prove hopeless on the job and vice versa. As an employer, you minimise the risk by asking the right questions, putting aside any prejudices and examining and questioning references etc. So it is with neurodiverse candidates. You would not risk recruiting a neurotypical candidate who had great eye contact at the interview but failed the written test which resembled the type of work they would be doing in the role. What about the risk of a neurodiverse candidate who struggled with eye contact at the interview but scored 100% on all the written tests provided? It would be a lot riskier to employ the first neurotypical candidate if they were unable to do the job they were recruited to do.  

What are the rewards of employing neurodiverse people?

Like all forms of diversity in the workplace, neurodiversity has for some years been acknowledged as a business asset and even in some cases provided a competitive advantage. Neurodiverse employees, often although not always, (beware the generalisation) process differently and hence can see problems and situations differently. As such, they can bring new ideas and innovation. The Australian Government some years back was actively targeting neurodiverse candidates to work in cybersecurity roles. But like all forms of diversity, inclusion and integration takes some thought, understanding and intentional steps. This brings us to our last section:

What should my organisation be doing?

• Culture - we've got much better at creating workplace cultures which are accepting of colleagues of whatever sex, race, sexuality etc. (although we still have work to do) but what about creating a workplace culture where colleagues who are a little 'different' and a 'little bit odd' are accepted and included? How that is done will depend on your organisation; does it involve celebrating neurodiversity week and holding events to provide information? Does it involve training managers to assist neurodiverse staff and those around them? Does it involve having a policy confirming the organisation's commitment to recruiting and encouraging neurodiverse staff? What has worked in the past to create an inclusive culture and how can that be used again to create a neurodiverse inclusive culture? 
• Recruitment - look at your processes and asses whether they may be a barrier to neurodiverse candidates; do roles with no outward-facing aspects rely more heavily on person-to-person interviews rather than the ability to do the job? Are job specs and application forms word heavy for roles which require very little reading? Are members of an interview panel aware of an applicant's neurodiversity and understand how to encourage them to perform well? Have you sought advice from organisations such as the National Autistic Society to see what else you could be doing?
• Retention - retaining neurodiverse staff is not that different to retaining neurotypical staff. Do they feel part of something, valued and encouraged? For neurodiverse staff this might mean their manager explaining initiatives, nuances or the workplace in more detail, it might mean making changes to a working practice i.e. allocating a set desk in an otherwise agile working space and/or it might mean setting up a specific mentoring programme. Hopefully, once the culture is set and the recruitment piece is worked on, the steps to retention should roll out more naturally. 

If you would like any further information on this issue please do contact a member of our employment and pensions team.