A manager and DEI expert, with lived experience of ADHD, shares key lessons gleaned from managing an entirely neurodiverse cohort of employees.

It recently dawned on me that for the past seven years at Xceptional Academy, an organisation that helps to create inclusive environments for neurodivergent individuals, I have only ever managed neurodivergent employees. 

There has been a mixture of men, women and non-binary individuals; some are autistic, ADHD or auADHD (combined) – and there’s not been a single neurotypical person in seven years. 

Below, I dive into some key considerations to keep in mind when designing attraction and recruitment strategies in order to make them more inclusive to neurodivergent individuals.

An ‘anti-recruitment’ approach

Each inclusive employer I have researched has modified or scrapped standard recruitment processes to accommodate the unique needs of neurodivergent individuals.

This includes providing clear job descriptions, providing work samples to better assess the actual skills of the candidates, allowing extra time for tasks, or modifying interview techniques and offering alternatives to standard interviews to reduce anxiety. 

Tania Martin, EY’s Neuro-Diverse Centre of Excellence leader in the UK, has built on the early work of her colleagues in the US. In a podcast interview with Theo Smith, a neuroinclusion consultant and author, Martin shared how EY “set about ripping up the rule book concerning how we approach recruitment”.      

EY has since adopted an “anti-recruitment” process where neurodivergent candidates are screened in, rather than out. 

It was a surprise to me that everyone who applies for the EY program proceeds through the interview component. In fact, all applicants for the program progress through three stages. 

Critically, they are given the chance to build confidence in progressing through these stages. Not every candidate receives an offer at the end of it, but they get a chance to demonstrate their skills through tailored work trials.

Consider different channels for candidate attraction

Employers seeking to increase the hiring of women, culturally diverse or neurodivergent applicants often blame the lack of talent coming up in the pipeline.

However, these employers often fail to consider the channels used to attract applicants. Inclusive employers take deliberate steps to look for candidates outside traditional channels, such as online advertising on job search sites and  social platforms. 

Skewed job ad visibility can limit an employer’s chance of attracting diverse candidates. Inclusive workplaces engage with a broad range of candidate attraction channels as a way of connecting with neurodivergent candidates that traditional advertising can miss. 

These include: 

• Universities, especially, Student Support Services 
• Community organisations 
• Not-for-profits that focus on Autism, ADHD and Dyslexia 
• Social media influencers who focus on Autism, ADHD and Dyslexia 
• Online communities 

At Xceptional Academy, we source candidates from non-profits like Aspect, Autism Queensland and Amaze, as well as disability employment providers. 

The depth of talent we have reached through these non-traditional channels never ceases to amaze me.

Importantly, to be successful, an employer will need to test multiple channels of candidate attraction and closely monitor acquisition metrics. 

Rethink job descriptions

The next time you review a job description, count how many pages it encompasses. I once took a brief from a corporate employer hiring software testers, sometimes called a test engineer.  

The hiring manager was able to explain to me in plain language what the role entailed in the time it took to reach the elevator after our meeting. To my surprise, the following day a seven-page job description landed in my inbox. The role requirements took up a full page. 

The employer’s value proposition and equal opportunity statements covered another two. Several hundred words, covering what the hiring manager had managed to articulate in under a minute just the day before.

Many inclusive workplaces have either ditched the job description entirely, or at the least radically rethought it. At Xceptional Academy, we found one of the quickest wins was placing a percentage of time estimate against each task. For example, the text below has been adopted from a role description for a Talent Acquisition Manager.

Responsibilities: 

• Leverage existing and develop new recruitment strategies to attract a diverse pool of neurodivergent candidates (30 per cent) 
• Source candidates through a variety of channels, including job boards, social media, and community organisations (30 per cent) 
• Conduct initial screenings of candidates to assess fit for open positions (20 per cent) 
• Work with hiring managers to understand their needs and requirements for open positions (10 per cent)
• Schedule and coordinate interviews with candidates and hiring managers (10 per cent)

Providing an estimate for each responsibility was in response to several neurodivergent candidates querying the relative importance of tasks required for the role. Importantly, we emphasise these percentage estimates are exactly that, estimates, rather than prescriptive amounts.

A new approach to job interviews 

After years of working with neurodivergent people and employers, I am convinced that traditional interviews routinely screen out neurodivergent candidates who could be valuable additions to any team. 

I have known several neurodivergent candidates who have frozen during an interview, failed to mention core skills that were critical to the role, or presented as disinterested in the role. Interviews can be a poor predicator of a candidate’s suitability to a role. Hundreds of studies reveal the profound limitations of the traditional interview, which tend to favour candidates who are attractive, sociable, articulate and tall.

If you are comfortable speaking about your achievements, quickly establishing rapport and creatively answering questions, then an interview will play to your strengths. 

However, for many neurodivergent candidates, the traditional recruitment process, including pre-employment assessments and job interviews, are especially challenging to navigate. Many autistic people struggle with social skills, maintaining eye contact and verbal communication, making an interview close to the perfect situation to show an autistic adult at their worst. 

ADHD’ers can be prone to overthinking, disorganisation and impulsivity, which can impact their success in job interviews. Dyslexic candidates face barriers in pre-employment through aptitude tests and written applications.

There are several ways recruiters can reduce anxiety for neurodivergent applicants, while providing an opportunity to assess whether the candidate should progress to interview. These include: 

• Avoid phoning unannounced. Provide advance notice of any pre-screen phone calls.  
• Try sending an SMS prior to the call to explain the reason for the call and set a time. 
• Be clear about what you want to discuss. If your aim is to screen applicants out and catch them off guard with an unexpected call, you will likely succeed.  
• Follow up after the call with a written summary of the next steps in the recruitment process.

When conducting an interview, consider the following:

• If the interview is conducted in-person, ensure the interview takes place in a quiet location. 
• Seat the candidate in a place where they won’t be distracted by anything (such as what’s happening in the window outside).
• Consider sitting adjacent to the candidate rather than across the table. This helps to make the situation feel less confrontational.
• Limit the panel to two interviewers, ideally the hiring manager and an HR or talent representative. 
• Provide the interview questions 24 hours in advance of the interview.

Learn how to design an inclusive environment suitable for neurodivergent teams and other minority groups with AHRI’s short course: DEI for HR Practitioners (introduction) and (advanced).

Recruitment process 

Think back to when you were a job candidate. Did you ever find yourself in the middle of a recruitment process and had no idea what stage you are up to? I’ve certainly had that experience, and it adds to the stress of the recruitment experience. 

Not knowing what to expect from the start or how you are progressing is challenging for both neurodivergent and neurotypical candidates. Transparency of the role requirements, the steps of the recruitment process, as well as evaluation criteria, will reduce stress for neurodivergent and neurotypical candidates alike, as well as make things simpler for the talent and hiring managers. 

What can employers do? 

• Provide clear instructions on what candidates can expect at each step.
• Include a simple one-page guide on the recruitment process detailing the steps. 
• Assign a single point of contact to lead applicants through the process. 
• Include photos of your office and those conducting interviews to reduce anxiety. 
• Provide clear instructions of dress code; don’t assume the candidate knows. 
• Offer detailed instructions on the interview location, whether it is physical or virtual. 
• Offer personalised feedback after each stage.

As a guide, the talent or HR business partner responsible for a recruitment process should be able to ask the respective hiring manager what stage the process is up to. 

The same hiring manager should be able to articulate the recruitment process to any candidates who may ask. If the hiring manager is not clear on the process, how could you expect a candidate to understand?

Those are some of my practical lessons learned from managing a team made up of entirely neurodivergent individuals. In the next article, we will explore tips around onboarding and developing neurodivergent talent. 

This is an edited excerpt from ‘Untapped Talent, A Practical Guide for Hiring and Retaining Neurodivergent Staff ‘ published by Lived Places Publishing (U.S) in 2024. It has been republished with permission.