Last week was Neurodiversity Celebration Week. During this week, we were encouraged to talk about, reflect on and celebrate the different minds in our society. Around 1 in 7 of us are neurodivergent and last week the fantastic Neurodiversity Celebration Week and Lexxic Team held numerous virtual events that garnered over 15,000 sign ups. As recruiters and consultants, Melbury Wood recognise that we have a pivotal role to play in making sure that the industries we recruit for are fair and encourage diversity. Neurodivergent people can bring about increasingly sought after and beneficial qualities to the workplace such as different perspectives and out the box thinking, consistency, organisation, thoroughness and creativity. Companies who decline to make their processes neurodiverse friendly are missing out on an entire talent pool that are known for these specific strengths. We encourage all businesses (including ourselves) to consider whether they are providing adequate support for neurodivergent employees and prospective talent. A varied workforce brings more ideas and innovation to the table, and diversity has proven to yield greater results. Below are some thoughts as to how you can ensure that you are making your recruitment processes fair and accessible for all:
Job adverts
Neurodiverse individuals often process information differently, and big blocks of text or bullet points can be hard for some people to take in at once. In order to make your job adverts accessible and readable, consider having functions on your page or website that allow prospective candidates to increase the text size or change the colour. You could even draft a separate job spec that is shorter and more specific, and provide a link to this on your page so that individuals can access it readily. It would also be beneficial for the hiring manager or recruitment lead to provide their contact details on the page so that people can get in touch if they have questions or want to discuss the role verbally rather than by reading it. It is also common practice for businesses to list every desirable job quality in a posting but this may prevent neurodiverse people from applying if they do not possess that skill. Some of the most common skills that we see listed are leadership, adaptability, communication or public speaking, but consider only including the essential skills and experience for the role so that neurodiverse candidates still feel comfortable to apply and that they can deliver.
Interviews
The CIPD Neurodiversity at Work report encourages employers to consider the entire interview process when thinking about the best way to support the needs of a neurodiverse candidate. If in person, it’s important to give clear and concise descriptions of how to get to your company’s location, and consider providing additional information for those who take longer to process text by providing visual cues. Also, think about the setting of the interview – a quiet space away from distractions and noise is a better option than a bustling office so that the interviewee can properly focus as neurodiverse candidates might have a heightened reaction to external stimuli.
If interviewing via video, consider the difference that this could make on an applicant’s performance. Video interviews can make it harder for individuals to feel relaxed or pick up on cues, and for neurodiverse people this environment can be totally different to what they are used to or how they have interviewed previously. Interviewers also need to be patient, be prepared to ask questions again and be direct. Even by asking ‘how can we make you comfortable at your upcoming interview?’ will encourage neurodiverse candidates and give them the best possible chance to do well. Providing exact details of who they will meet and how long the interview will be and what will be covered is important to ensure the candidate feels as comfortable as possible in the process. If you are interviewing someone and they are not making eye contact, are taking their time when answering, fidgeting, or are asking for you to repeat the questions, consider whether they are neurodiverse and might need a difference in support in order to feel comfortable or process information.
Tasks
When setting tasks for prospective candidates, it’s important to consider that not every candidate processes information the same. Neurodiverse candidates might need more time on a task or may not even be able to fully complete the brief as a neurotypical candidate might, so consider whether or not this task is truly reflective of what the candidate will be doing day-to-day. It might also be worth considering making the interview a multi-day process, as doing a task and interview back-to-back could be overwhelming or tiring for some applicants. Giving candidates time to reset and prepare will provide better results and a much more accurate assessment of their potential.
#neurodiversitycelebrationweek focuses on changing how learning differences are viewed in our society, embracing and championing the strengths of having a neurodiverse mind and supporting neurodiverse individuals to unlock their potential. Consider whether your recruitment approach and systems are neurodiverse friendly and are giving those candidates the best shot at bringing their talent to your company. Despite only being a week a year, this is an ongoing conversation that we encourage you to have.
