Our current systems and processes are unintentionally setting them up to fail as they are put in place for people that are not neurodiverse.  Our job adverts, our interviews, our working conditions and our appraisals will all have to adapt if we are going to maximize the potential of a diverse workforce.

Employing the under-served was always the intention in our company, but the initial mindset was that it was a good thing to do rather than seeing the direct benefit to the bottom line.  However, our experience over the past few years has changed my thinking.  I now see that having neurodiversity in the business as a huge benefit rather than being a cost to carry.

Enriching a business

Employing people with neurodiversity has enriched our business in many ways.

Firstly, those with neurodiversity, given the right role, can perform that role better than many without neurodiversity.  Some tasks are better suited to the neurodiverse.  I speak from personal experience here.  My son is autistic, and he works on the tills in a national supermarket chain and on the Customer Service desk.  He is the most outgoing person on the tills, talks to customers and generally adds huge positivity to the rather stale atmosphere.  Yes, possibly sometimes he overshares, but their customers love him!

Secondly, having neurodiverse people in our business helps develop the rest of our team, many of whom won’t have worked with, for example, those with Downs Syndrome or autism before.  They will learn how best to interact with people different to themselves and how best to communicate in a way that others understand.  And rather than possibly being slightly afraid of diverse people, they will learn to love them instead.

Thirdly, once settled into a workplace those with neurodiversity, if they are treated with respect and care, gain a huge amount of dignity and are far more likely to stay.  There will be high degrees of loyalty - and what business doesn’t need that?

Fourth, although clearly not the reason for acting in this way, the local community and our customers love that we are employing neurodiverse people.  One of our neurodiverse young adults invited many other colleagues to her birthday party, at which her dad made a speech exuding the gratitude towards us as her employers.  There was not a dry eye in the house and many people there were customers of the business.

And that brings me to my final point that having people who are different within our business add to the joy, love and gratitude within it.  Rather than being a burden to carry, they enrich the business community and add to revenue and profitability.

Buckland Report

With all this in mind, it is therefore astonishing that the unemployment rates for neurodiverse people are so high.  The government commissioned Sir Robert Buckland to review employment and autism, and this report said:

“Despite their wish to work, the latest official statistics show that only 3 in 10 working age autistic disabled people are in employment, compared with around 5 in 10 for all disabled people and 8 in 10 for non-disabled people.”

When we factor in that approximately one in 70 people in the UK is autistic, that’s around one million people who are impacted by these statistics.  There is bias against them in interviews, working conditions and pay disparity and we must do something about this.

There were 19 recommendations in the Buckland report, and I would encourage you to read it, but we can respond positively without knowing the details.  I would suggest you talk to other businesses who are tapping into the huge potential in this area, go and see what they are doing and talk to the other employees about the benefits they bring.  As I hope is clear from our experience, this isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s good for business. Your company will be positively impacted by creating space for those with neurodiversity.

Best practices

Here are five best practices that can make a business place feel more welcoming and inclusive of people who are neurodivergent:

1. Ensure that you undertake an anonymous employee survey at least once a year that measures how you are thought of as a business by the diverse people within your organisation. Ideally choose one where your results are analysed against the average business results, so you know how you are performing against other businesses in your sector.
2. Think about the roles within your business and which ones may particularly suit the different superpowers of the neurodiverse. For example, those with Down’s Syndrome are brilliant in a hospitality environment due to their cheerful and pleasant demeanour, people with dyslexia are known to be very creative and come up excellent ideas.
3. Ask people who understand this area to have a look through your job advertisements and descriptions and ask them to suggest where you might change them so as not to alienate those with neurodiversity. Certainly, say on the adverts that your company welcomes applications from those with neurodiversity.
4. In your team meetings, if they are up for it, ask someone who is neurodiverse to give a presentation on their diversity. When others understand their struggles and their ability to see the world differently, not only is it a very powerful and often moving occasion, but it will help others to work more effectively with those who are different to them.
5. Talk to other businesses who are doing better than you are in this area and don’t feel guilty about copying any of their best practices. Most of my good ideas are unashamedly stolen from others with pride, just as much of what we do we freely give to others.

Paul Hargreaves is an author, speaker and CEO of Cotswold Fayre and Flourish.

Paul Hargreaves is a speaker, author, CEO and B Corp Ambassador. He is one of the leading voices in the UK encouraging and inspiring businesses to make a positive impact on the world, strongly believing that businesses should be a Force for Good, which is the title of his first book. 

Paul’s is CEO of Cotswold Fayre, a large speciality food and drink wholesale business supplying over 2,000 retail sites in the UK.  In 2021 the company opened Flourish, its first foodhall, restaurant and home and lifestyle store.

Cotswold Fayre was one of the UK’s founding B Corps in 2015 and the company was named Elite Business’s No 1 in The SME Top 100. It has won the Lloyd’s Bank ‘Purpose before Profit Award’ and a coveted Grocer Gold Award.  Paul’s team of over 120 is constantly looking for ways to be generous and compassionate by putting people and planet before profit; this is at the root of the business’s success.

Paul believes that to bring the radical and systemic change required to reverse climate change and the growing inequality in the world a new compassionate, loving and servant-hearted leadership is required. This is what he calls The Fourth Bottom Line, the title of his second book.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulwhargreaves/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@paulhargreaves636

Forces for Good book: https://amzn.eu/d/9S12bFc

The Fourth Bottom Line book: https://amzn.eu/d/etUjwe3

The Fourth Bottom Line Podcast: https://shows.acast.com/4th-bottom-line