Neurodiversity in Recruitment: How to Make it Accessible and Inclusive

The following is an edited extract from Neurodiversity at Work.

Do you remember what it was like going for your first interview or even going online to look for jobs? This requires a new set of skills in understanding what is the best route for success.

How many jobs have you started, but found that the job is nothing like the description? The culture and values of an organization may be something that is not written down anywhere. Most places use acronyms and phrases that can seem to a new starter like a new language. A lack of confidence at the start of the job may mean that you don’t ask someone what the terms mean and then months later you still don’t know but you are reluctant to ask.

For some people working with others and understanding ‘banter’ and their interactions can be confusing and frustrating. Starting a new job can be learning how to work as part of a team with everyone communicating in different ways.

Onboarding processes that provide an understanding not only of the job itself, but the values and behaviours of an organization can make a real difference. It is also an opportunity to discuss skills gaps or training needs.

Recruiting neurodiverse talent

There is still a huge amount of bias in the recruitment process. In a Harvard Business Review study, they found that humans categorize others in milliseconds and we make lasting judgements about an individual’s character in just 30 minutes, the average length of an interview minus introductions and any questions.

So, if we are categorizing others so quickly and making lasting judgements about their character, based on the small amount of information we take and observe in that time, you can bet some pretty poor and very biased decisions are being made.

The fact that the candidate being interviewed may lack eye contact, have a perceived weaker handshake, have English that isn’t their first language, or have cultural nuances that change our understanding or perception of what’s being said, are all easy (discriminatory) ways for us to reject suitable and talented applicants. Sadly, this often happens without us even giving it a second thought. Bias can start with our misinterpretation of a spelling error on an application form. We can think that the person doesn’t care about the job enough to check it but in reality, they may not have noticed the error even after checking it (but still have the skills for the job).

If you are not explicit about what we are looking for you risk missing out on diversifying our talent pool. If you want to attract neurodiverse talent and give them an incredible candidate experience, you just have to give everyone equal access to applying for the role, describing accurately what it is and what is expected, and choosing methods to be assessed in a way that allows each person to best show their skills.

Seems simple, right?

Well, it is. However, you’ll find that the majority of those who are cognitively diverse often don’t experience it, or even worse can’t get past the first discriminatory gatekeeper.

Depending on the size of your organization and the jobs you are hiring for, you can use a specialist sector recruitment company. Alternatively, if you want to proactively seek a neurodiverse workforce you can use specialist neurodiverse/disability organizations who support you and the person to find the best job for them and for you and often bridge the interview and onboarding stages. Examples of this are Evenbreak and Exceptional Individuals in the UK.

Practical tips

How you represent your company regarding your values and what your company does or doesn’t do, can make a real difference in whether somebody wants to apply for a job with you.

It’s essential to consider that the words you use could mean different things to different people. Here are some practical tips:

• Consider and avoid words specifically that are gender-associated
• Avoid superlatives such as best, leader, world-class, industry-leading
• Avoid slang words that may mean something different to some people such as rock star, guru
• Avoid terms that may have a double meaning such as fast-paced, flexible, dynamic
• Consider the font you use in an advert and try and avoid pictures obscuring the words. If there are pictures ensure they have an ‘alt tag’, so someone using a screen reader can know if the picture has some additional meaning
• Check the content for readability level, especially if the role is likely to attract someone who doesn’t have a high level of literacy. This benefits everyone
• Be specific and consider your true requirements and limit the number you ask for. Try to avoid a whole list of other ‘nice to haves’ and focus on what is required.

What alternatives to traditional working could you consider?

• Work from home - all or some of the time
• A compressed working week, working four longer days instead of five
• Flexible start and finish times
• Term-time working
• Project-related working.

This is a useful discussion to consider in general. We need to recognize that we are all different and some people will be most creative early in the morning (or even in the middle of the night); others work really well not doing regular hours but being given project-related work (allocated packets of work and a deadline and they decide when in the day they work and then deliver it). This latter approach can also be mixed with some fixed time points in the week for meetings/reviews.

For other people, having regular hours is essential to them in a regular work setting. They may find that hot desking is a stressful nightmare. Not having your own space and tools around oneself can cause real concern and having to hunt each day for desk space can lead to increased anxiety.

Although the practical hints and tips for what you can do to attract a neurodiverse workforce are incredibly useful, sometimes there comes an opportunity to do something big and bold, that is bigger than us, our organization or the people who work there.