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Is Your Recruitment Process Neuroinclusive

Neuroinclusive workplaces do it better! In fact, according to a recent study by Deloitte, teams that include neurodivergent professionals are 30% more productive. And JP Morgan Chase’s “Autism at Work” programme found that “participating employees were 90-140% more productive, with fewer errors”.

So why is that in the UK, the unemployment rate for neurodivergent adults is estimated to be 30-40%? Despite having both the awareness and the offer of support, we’re struggling to help neurodivergent professionals enter or re-enter the workplace.

And it’s not that those individuals don’t want to work.

The National Autistic Society recently revealed that 77% of autistic adults want to be in work. Recognising this need, autism charities across the country have developed a series of employment programs, offering skills and support to empower individuals and help them find meaningful work. Not only does this benefit them personally, it also has a positive impact on the economy. Figures have suggested that “doubling the employment rate for autistic adults would generate potential societal savings of £900 million to £1.5 billion annually” (reviewing figures for state-funded benefits).

So it would be beneficial for individuals, it’d be good to build the workforce, and it would be good for the economy.

So why isn’t it happening?

Employers who are finding it difficult to recruit are finding it a challenge to access this talent pool. Where are the bottlenecks, and what can we do about them? In this blog, we’re going to discuss the challenges to entry, specifically the recruitment process. We also want to demonstrate how neuroinclusive employers can refine their own policies, and improve internal retention.

What processes are we looking to refine?

Before we discuss what neuroinclusive employers need to take into consideration, we need to remind everyone of all the steps in a recruitment process:

  • Identifying the need
  • Defining the role
  • Advertising the role
  • Reviewing the candidates
  • Conducting telephone interviews
  • Conducting in-person interviews
  • Selecting candidates
  • Offering the role
  • Onboarding

For candidates who are neurodivergent, we need to understand how to make the process easier to follow, and easier to pass.

Where the barriers exist

In a recent LinkedIn post, neurodiversity advocate Andy Ryan wrote: “It’s all well and good to create neuro-affirming workplaces, but that’s no use if neurodivergent people can’t even get in the door!”. The post goes on to highlight that while a multi-faceted application process (one that asks candidates to submit a CV, covering letter, and introductory video) is a great way for businesses to filter out unsuitable candidates, it creates a barrier for those who are neurodivergent. The process challenges those with autism, ADHD, and dyslexia by creating a high-pressure situation that can create anxiety and trigger personal difficulties associated with their neurodiversity such as organisation, spelling, and completing long writing tasks.

If a candidate does make it through the application process, the next barrier is the interview itself. The focus is often on soft skills more than competence – candidates who have the technical skills and working knowledge may struggle with eye contact, social interaction or team working, leading them to perform poorly in an interview. Vague, open-ended questions such as “why should we hire you?” and “can you describe 3 strengths?” can be really hard to answer, again causing the talent to get lost in the process.

The barriers in recruitment can vary between individuals, the type of neurodiversity, and the process itself. So how can we make reasonable adjustments to improve their chance of success?

Steps to make your recruitment process more neuroinclusive

Improving your recruitment process to become more neuroinclusive will start with understanding the barriers, and developing a compassionate approach to all candidates. The processes themselves could often benefit from being shorter, more straightforward, and therefore, more inclusive.

We really like the high level outline that the Greater Manchester Good Work Charter provides. It provides a really strong set of guidelines of what you as an employer should be aiming to achieve. Here they are, what do you think?

They’re great guidelines but they’re outcomes. We can help to you refine those guidelines for your organisation, to identify exactly and concretely: what you could do, your processes, your practices, in your context, in your industry!

  • Selection processes that are designed to eliminate unconscious bias
  • Inclusive and fair recruitment practices with equality and diversity issues integral to all – this may include sending questions to candidates ahead of time and adapting the interview environment
  • Recruitment processes which are anonymised, including the ‘disability confident scheme’ (or equivalent) and consistent with the ‘ban the box’ campaign (removing criminal record tick boxes from application forms, or equivalent)
  • Job adverts which clearly specify the forms of flexible working that could be compatible with the role and the number of hours to be worked (see Flexible Work). Consideration should be given to a wide range of forms of flexibility that could potentially be made available to job applicants
  • Recruiting managers who have completed equality and diversity training
  • Recruitment methods that are appropriate to the role and the candidate – e.g. with adaptable methods of communication, interviews and other activities
  • Recruitment processes, including the advertising of roles, which actively encourage the recruitment of a diverse workforce. This might offer candidates a choice of submission types or formats, as an example
  • Clear and timely feedback offered in a range of formats to each individual candidate to discuss their performance and areas of improvement, if necessary
  • Encourage feedback from candidates on the process itself for continual development

Taking such steps can improve accessibility, save time, and improve the quality of candidates in the selection pool – simply by being easier to understand and shorter in length.

Remove the barriers within your organisation, and create a truly neuroinclusive process.

Unsure where to start? Contact me for a brief consultation, and together we can create a plan to improve inclusion and diversity within your business.