Zurich UK adds employee neurodiversity assessments
Andreas von Hagen
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Half of neurodivergent adults do not disclose due to stigma, research finds
Zurich UK will offer all employees the option to be assessed for neurodiversity as part of its employee healthcare offering from 2025.
The assessment will be free and open to all employees following a GP referral, Zurich outlined. It will also be available to employees' partners and children if they are on their healthcare plan.
Around one in seven adults are neurodivergent, according to NHS England figures.
The move comes as Zurich research revealed that half of neurodivergent individuals have been discriminated against by hiring managers or recruiters due to their neurodiversity.
OnePoll surveyed 1,000 neurodivergent adults on behalf of Zurich in October.
Findings showed that about half (51%) of those surveyed worried that stigma would stop them getting a job. More than two-fifths (41%) feared discrimination from recruiters or hiring managers. Two in five (41%) said they were worried that disclosing would drive preconceptions about who they are, while one in six (16%) said they had never disclosed in previous roles and this meant they would continue not to.
Three in ten (31%) said that discrimination meant their application had not been taken further after they had disclosed their neurodiversity. More than a quarter (28%) said they were rejected for subjective reasons, including team fit and communication style.
A further one in four had been "ghosted" by a recruiter or faced comments about their abilities after disclosing.
More than one in five (21%) had been laughed at because of their neurodiversity, the research found. One in six (16%) had a job offer rescinded.
Further, more than half (54%) believed hiring processes were designed to "weed out" neurodivergent people rather than assess abilities.
More than a third (37%) had panicked in a job interview because the question structure was overly complicated.
Other recruitment processes said to be putting barriers in place for neurodivergent individuals included long and elaborate applications (26%), vague job descriptions (24%), timed tasks (23%), group-setting assessments (22%) and pre-prepared presentation tasks (17%).
The Equality Act 2010 states that employers must make reasonable adjustments for job applicants.
However, just one in six (17%) neurodivergent individuals had been offered adjustments unprompted when asked to interview for a job, according to the survey responses.
About a third (32%) said adjustments had been offered, but only on request.
There were some positives flagged in the research.
Six in ten (63%) said things are better than they used to be for neurodivergent people at work. Meanwhile, more than half (55%) said it is easier to disclose neurodiversity than it has been in the past.
"Our research shows that traditional recruitment processes are creating unnecessary barriers for these [neurodivergent] candidates and could be excluding as much as 15% of the job market, which is why it's so important that employers adopt inclusive practices at hiring level – not just to already onboarded employees," said Zurich chief HR officer Steve Collinson. "At Zurich we aim to create a workplace that gives the widest representation of our customers - to run a business effectively you need the widest range of diversity in your teams, and this includes neurodiversity."
Diversita founder and director Marc Crawley added: "It doesn't take much to consider how to make recruitment processes neuroinclusive and unlock the potential of neurodivergent talent – in short, it comes from a lack of awareness and understanding.
"The job market for now is way behind the curve but every day we see progress from companies that embrace neurodivergent talent, and these companies will be the beneficiaries."?
What experiences have you had with neurodiversity in the workplace?
Source: covermagazine
#neurodiversity #humanresources #hr #management #employeebenefits
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