How Your Business Can Benefit from Neurodiversity

We’ve all heard the reasons for hiring diverse employees. The experts say it brings more innovative thinking to the table, introduces new perspectives, and drives business growth. And recently, they’ve coined a term for a new type of diversity: neurodiversity.

Before you start grumbling in your head and thinking, “Great, here’s one more box I have to check when I’m hiring,” stop and consider that this will actually better for you and your company. But before we get into that, let’s talk about what exactly neurodiversity is first.

Neurodiversi–what?

In the late 1990s, a sociologist named Judy Singer invented a new word to describe conditions like autism, dyslexia, and ADHD: neurodiversity. Bear in mind that this isn’t a small group of people–figures from America’s Center for Disease Control reveal 1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls fall on the autism spectrum.

Singer’s purpose was to shift the the focus of discussions around these conditions from disorders and impairments to the unusual skills that come with atypical brain wiring. For example, people with these disorders have great pattern recognition skills, superior memory, or a higher penchant for math.

The problem is, even with these increased aptitudes, neurodiverse talent often don’t fit into our mould of a ‘perfect’ employee.

Some of the things that we screen for in an interview, whether consciously or unconsciously (communication skills, emotional intelligence, networking ability), aren’t typical of someone who’s neurodiverse. And sometimes they need special accommodations, or they come off a little eccentric.

However, companies like SAP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Microsoft, Ford, and EY are working on changing their hiring and HR policies to be more inclusive. It’s not just for the sake of improving their reputation–there are stories about neurodiverse people bringing new perspectives, spotting unseen opportunities, and asking different questions. HPE’s neurodiversity initiative, for instance, has placed 30 participants, and some preliminary results have indicated that those neurodiverse teams are 30% more productive.

Long story short, neurodiversity is worth it. There’ll be some bumps along the road, but let’s not reinvent the wheel–we’ll share a few tips and tricks on jumpstarting your own program, from the people who are already doing it.

Your very own neurodiversity program

A few of the pioneering companies have formalised their culture to recognise the value of neurodiversity. Many of them have elements in common, primarily because they all draw on knowledge from Specialisterne, a foundation that developed methods for assessing, training, and managing neurodiverse talent.

Here are a few of those elements:

Team up
There are government and nonprofit organisations that exist to help people with disabilities find jobs; think of them as ‘social partners’. For example, SAP has worked with California’s Department of Rehabilitation and the nonprofit EXPANDability.

These groups can help you navigate local employment regulation, suggest candidates, help with prescreening, and even help find public funding for trainings.

Ditch the interview
Instead of using traditional interviews, Specialisterne created ‘hangouts’–comfortable, half-day gatherings where job candidates can have casual interaction with managers to demonstrate abilities.

After a hangout, a subgroup of those candidates are invited back for a few weeks of additional assessment/training with Lego Mindstorms robots and programming kits.

Be supportive
Don’t forget to design and maintain a support system for your new employees.

SAP defines two support ‘circles’: one in the workplace, and one in personal life. The first includes a team manager, a team buddy, a job and life skills coach (usually from a social partner), a work mentor, and an HR business partner, all of whom work together to oversee a group.

HPE does it a little differently–they put neurodiverse employees into groups of 15 people or so where they work around other neurotypical colleagues in a 4:1 ratio. Two managers and a consultant work together to address neurodiversity-related issues.

To remain innovative and relevant, businesses must embrace flexibility and diversity. The statistics show that those who embrace neurodiversity are sure to gain a competitive edge today, and into the future.

So what are you waiting for?