Firefly Autism has earned the Certified Neurodiverse Workplaceâ„¢(CNW) designation granted by the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). The program is designed to help leaders and teams better hire, retain, and work effectively with neurodivergent workers, including those with autism, ADHD, and dyslexia.
Hiring, retention, diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies are keeping business owners, executives, and HR leaders up at night. At the foundation of these challenges are people who are both current employees and those who are unemployed and still looking for work. For this reason, neurodiversity is gaining greater awareness, and there are many reasons to pay attention and engage.
Neurodiverse individuals often possess skills that are highly desirable, yet difficult to find, especially when it comes to areas like technology, math and science. For example, people with autism are sometimes skilled in analytics, pattern recognition, information processing, and are great at working with numbers and formulas. Many businesses desperately need these skills, but have trouble finding qualified candidates because they are overlooking the untapped resources that neurodiverse people have to offer.
Statistically, your organization’s workforce is already neurodiverse, but the staff is likely not managing, coaching, and retaining those employees effectively. You can also improve hiring practices, placement, onboarding, and management of new employees to be inclusive of neurodiverse individuals who can become assets to your organization.
With the rise in the diagnosis of autism, ADHD and other cognitive differences, along with the large number of adults who have never been formally diagnosed as neurodivergent, comes a strong call to action in the workplace for organizations and workers to understand the diverse group of individuals on their teams and in their applicant pools and take appropriate steps to make sure those team members are given what they need for success. Organizations that are not prepared to focus on this now could be left behind as the workforce, and the expectations evolve.
Katherine Breward, University of Winnipeg
The unemployment and underemployment of capable workers with autism is a well-documented phenomenon, as a British study showed.
Employers are gradually getting better at recognizing the value of including neurodiverse people in their organizations, and information about accommodation strategies is starting to become more readily available.
That said, these accommodations aren’t helpful to workers if they are unable to land a job in the first place. Recruitment and selection practices can inadvertently negatively impact candidates with autism.
