“Don’t expect Neurodivergent candidates to know their exact needs in relation to a test or interview format they have never experienced before”, Harris says.
“Ensuring candidates have what they need to succeed should be framed as an obligation on the part of the recruiter rather than an additional self-advocacy assessment on the part potential neurodivergent candidates.
"Candidates should have access to this information before being expected to declare anything” Harris says.
He also says it is important to allow time for the hiring managers to explain, and then adapt their hiring process and implement the reasonable adjustments on offer.
While neurodivergent individuals are protected once employed, they are not guaranteed the same rights in the hiring process. Employees with processing differences may find the high, or even usual, levels of social, visual, olfactory and auditory stimuli in open-plan office environments overstimulating.
For such colleagues, remote working can help them deliver their best work.
Harris’s guidance for building more neuro-inclusive and neuro-diverse friendly organisations include having quiet workspaces and alternative formats, but too many companies simply do not have them in place.
However, some neurodiverse colleagues benefit enormously from the structure and routine associated in-person work.
Harris also advocates making it easy for employees to find an appropriate workspace by, for example, creating hot-swap desks and quiet working rooms or floors in less stimulating areas of the workplace.
Training and awareness
To address attitudes and approaches, Harris also says companies should “ensure recruitment staff receive training in relation to neurodiversity. This training should be focused as much on strengths and benefits for neurodiversity as it is the provision of accommodations.”
NIB, the Group for Autism, Insurance, Investment and Neurodiversity, and Do-It Solutions all provide organisations with assistance in catering for neurodiverse staff - see the info box, below.
Managers and HR professionals need to appreciate and acknowledge invisible disabilities, and the need for associated reasonable adjustments.
Ensure employees can access reasonable adjustments swiftly and easily, and ensure access is not diagnoses dependent. “NHS wait times for assessment are often measured in years, not weeks or months.
There is no legal requirement to have a diagnosis, some employers forget that,” Harris explains.
Ensure managers and HR professionals are trained in both general provision of adjustments and have adequate support or a path to find additional information and expedite the reasonable adjustments process to enable employees to perform at their best.
Harris believes that “a failure to embrace and accommodate different communication styles can be very damaging for some neurodivergent employees, as they are either forced out of the organisation or face burnout and stress associated with masking their own unique communication styles and behaviour”.
