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In recent years, there has been increased interest in hiring neurodivergent employees. So much interest, in fact, that hiring and accommodating neurodiverse talent was a focus at this year’s CES, the annual technology trade show in Las Vegas.
The trend to hire neurodivergent employees — people who have been diagnosed with autism, dyslexia, dysgraphia or ADHD — started in the technology industry, when leaders discovered that neurodiverse talent possess skills and attributes that make them exceptional developers and QA testers, said Anthony Pacilio, vice president of Neurodiverse Solutions at CAI, a global technology services firm based in Allentown, Pa. As talent became harder to find, tech companies began to change the way they recruited potential job candidates, he said.
One in five people identify as neurodivergent, according to a paper by Deloitte. Research suggests that teams with neurodivergent professionals in some roles can be 30% more productive, and inclusive organizations generate 19% more revenue, according to the paper.
“If people are under-hiring neurodiverse, then they are missing out on highly skilled people, and that has a financial cost,” said Tom Lakin, global practice director at Resource Solutions, a UK-based employment company.
But hiring neurodiverse employees requires companies tweak their recruitment process to be more inclusive, and retaining them requires accommodations. We spoke to experts about what that means for organizations going forward.
5 Considerations for Hiring Neurodiverse Candidates
There are many advantages to diversifying your workforce, but companies seeking to hire neurodiverse candidates need to first identify the parts of the recruiting process that can potentially put those candidates at a disadvantage — and work to eliminate them from the process, Lakin said.
Consider the following:
- Write straightforward job descriptions. Take out abstract elements and focus only on the main aspects of the job. In other words, explain what the job is and what the person in that role will be doing.
- Provide details about the recruiting process upfront. Minimize the unknown by offering a timeline that includes all the steps that will happen before a candidate is hired.
- Eliminate panel interviews where multiple people ask the candidate questions because that format is difficult for someone with delayed processing. “You should be able to know in two or three interviews if this person has what it takes to do this job,” Pacilio said.
- Stop using online assessment tests to screen candidates. Neurodiverse people are often disadvantaged by an online assessment test, and giving them an extra 15 minutes to take the test won’t fix the problem, Lakin said.
- Conducting interviews away from other distractions. Lakin, who has been diagnosed with dyslexia, recalls showing up for an interview years ago and being told by the hiring manager there was no conference room available so they would just chat in the kitchen. Lakin says he performed poorly at the interview because he finds it difficult to block out other conversations and noise. “No one was intentionally putting a barrier to me, but it disadvantaged me,” he said.
Related Article: Why Companies Are Turning to Skills-Based Hiring
Rethinking Eye Contact
One of the biggest barriers to hiring and even retaining neurodivergent talent is the lack of understanding around eye contact.
“One of the common misconceptions about neurodivergent folks is that if they're not looking directly at you or if they're moving around or if they're doing something that may seem atypical that means they're not paying attention,” said Kurt Iobst, founder and president of Salesforce’s Neurodiversity Abilityforce, an employee resource group.
“If I'm looking at your eyes because you've stressed for me to do that, then I'm thinking about whether I am giving enough eye contact,” he said, adding that as a result, he isn’t listening to what’s being said.
Not being able to look someone in the eye or not having a firm handshake doesn’t tell your ability to do the job, added Pacilio, who says he experiences social anxiety and depression. Hiring managers and people managers need to be taught to have empathy and to evaluate candidates on their ability to do the job, he said.
Related Article: Does Your DEI Program Include Neurodiversity?
Retaining Neurodiverse Employees
Once a neurodivergent candidate has been hired, it’s important to consider their needs and help them succeed and feel welcomed, Iobst said.
Here are some suggestions:
- Provide an agenda or slides ahead of meetings to allow those with processing issues to prepare for the meeting. “I'm someone who has auditory processing issues, and there are times where I'm just trying to keep up listening and watching the closed caption, and then we'll get to the end of the section and someone asks, ‘Are there any questions,’ and I'm still processing,” Iobst said.
- Send out a transcript or summary notes after the meeting, so employees who may have missed something or have a follow up question know who to ask.
- Consider providing employees an office map that shows where the office is hot or cold, and where it is loud or quiet. “Just being thoughtful can have a genuine impact on people,” Lakin said.
- Set clear deadlines of what is needed and when, including a timeline and the required format.
- Create a rubric of what a successful project looks like. For instance, is the final product a blog post or a dissertation? “We may not be able to read between the lines and infer what is needed,” Iobst said.
Work management software company Leantime recently redesigned its interface for neurodivergent employees. It now uses AI to track how an employee feels about work on an emoji rating scale. The employee’s specific results aren’t available to the manager, but the software recommends to the manager who to assign specific tasks based on employee feedback.
Co-founder and CEO Gloria Folaron, who has been diagnosed with ADHD, said that the decision to implement the new software stemmed from the fact that most project management software is overwhelming to neurodivergent employees because it lacks individual goals and purpose. Traditional tools focus on the company’s goals, expecting employees to organize their work on their own. Instead, Leantime’s new interface uses AI to break down tasks by functionality, dissecting them into bite-sized subtasks. It “emphasizes the why behind tasks while nurturing a more personalized and relational experience for each employee," she said.
Related Article: DEI Beyond HR: How to Weave Inclusion Into Operations
Advice for People Managers
While it’s important for neurodivergent employees to learn to self-advocate for what they need, it is equally important that managers educate themselves about what it means to be dyslexic versus autistic, and what it means to have ADHD, Iobst said. Managers who hire a neurodivergent candidate should proactively ask HR about the types of interventions and accommodation that can be offered.
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However, Iobst cautioned, “if someone says they need something, please don't question them or ask for details, and certainly don’t ask for a diagnosis.”
If a manager notices someone is struggling, Pacilio recommends that the manager approach the employee and say, “I see that you’re struggling in this area. What can I do or provide to help you do your job better.” You might not get an answer that day, it might take the employee a few days to process what is needed, he said, but “come at it as a human being and a person showing empathy,” he said.
These tweaks to the hiring process and the workplace may be designed for neurodivergent talent but they are helpful to all employees, Lakin said. “Done right, these interventions can help all of the workforce,” he said.
