Could you be losing out on accessing the talents of some neurodiverse people with your current recruitment approaches?

Your practices may unintentionally exclude neurodiverse people and their talents from working in your organisation.

1 in 8 people are considered to be Neurodiverse. This can include Dyslexia, Dyspraxia (also known as DCD, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Conditions, Dyscalculia, Tourette’s syndrome, and Developmental Language Disorders. Their challenges may not present overtly to others and so there is a choice to disclose or not.

 There is an assumption that people will disclose they have a neurodiverse condition. Not every person has a diagnosis as they have ‘missed out’ on this process as a child. Females are less likely to have been diagnosed as a child and may have been diagnosed with anxiety rather than ASD for example: (https://insar.confex.com/insar/2019/webprogram/Paper29860.html)

Some people may have had bad past experiences with previous employers or fear they may be seen as less competent.

In the report from the Westminster Achievability Commission(2017)( https://www.achieveability.org.uk/files/1518955206/wac-report_2017_interactive-2.pdf)35% of respondents said they had not disclosed during selection and 73% reported they did this because to avoid discrimination during the recruitment process. 28% at believed they had been discriminated in the recruitment process because of the disclosure.

In a paper by Morris et al, 2015 (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/neurodiverse_tech_employees_assets2015.pdf) some of the software engineering employees in the study described how they did not disclose because of the feelings of coming out and described this as:

 “wary of outing myself,” and noted that being neurodiverse is “where race, sex, and sexuality were [a few decades ago, as a civil rights issue]… autistic spectrum conditions are maybe similar, I think to that… years ago, gay people didn’t feel comfortable coming out… people on the autistic spectrum are not yet comfortable about coming out.”

In reality also often people who are neurodiverse have a number of co-occurring conditions to a lesser or greater degree and so could have a diagnosis of three conditions such as Dyslexia, ADHD, DCD(also known as Dyspraxia). This may be the reality but the person may consider the response of the potential employer as negative and considering them less able to do the job despite them being more than capable.

This is sometimes called a ‘spiky profile’. However, the spikes, strengths and skills may be the real reason you want to attract that person in the first place! 

How can you help as an employer or recruiter?

• ¨    Staff awareness and training about neurodiversity is important to consider why disclosure may be difficult. ( See https://www.doitprofiler.com/consultancy-and-training/training/)
• ¨    Pre-set ideas in the media may restrict your staff’s view of what someone with … looks like – asking the person what their specific needs are at an individual level is important.
• ¨    Make it clear you are a ‘neurodiverse friendly’ employer- gaining Disability Confidence https://disabilityconfident.campaign.gov.uk/ status as an employer can help show case this.
• ¨    Consider using Access to Work for support for that person at the interview stage. https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work
• ¨    If you are using an application form, consider the language you use.
• ¨    If you are using a tick box with multiple options, consider whether you have provided a list of different neurodiverse conditions or only some of them.
• ¨    Open response formats has the benefit of allowing candidates to disclose a specific condition if they want to.
• ¨    Provide further opportunities for disclosure at other stages in the recruitment process.

If a candidate discloses a condition, be as supportive as possible and ask about what adjustments they may need. Be ready to have a subsequent conversation around whether you can offer any support or accommodations through the recruitment process.

Think about your assessment process/testing and whether it may bias some candidates.

Does your organisation require some training?  https://doitprofiler.com/consultancy-and-training/training/neurodiversityaware/

(More on testing to come in another blog).