How Neuroinclusion Builds Organizational Capabilities
Changing processes to be more inclusive of neurodiversity can improve hiring, innovation, and culture.
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Leaders should consider neuroinclusion as a strategic capability-building opportunity rather than a diversity initiative. Ten-plus years of neuroinclusion initiatives at major companies have yielded significant business value beyond just filling open positions. These employers have gained the competitive advantages that come from embracing neurodistinct talent, whose skill sets and ability to think differently boost companies’ business capabilities.
Companies have made great strides in neuroinclusion since 2013, when SAP announced its Autism at Work program. The first major corporate initiative of its kind, it was soon followed by programs at Microsoft and EY.1 As the respective founders of these programs, Jose, Neil, and Hiren have seen firsthand that their companies have benefited greatly from neuroinclusion, and from much more than just filling jobs. The broader ways that their neuroinclusion initiatives are changing their organizations are much more important than the direct benefits from the individual contributions of program participants (though those are also real). This is especially true as they incorporate what they have learned from neurodiversity employment (NDE) into mainstream business practices to build organizational capabilities.
The concept of neurodiversity is simple: There is naturally occurring variation in human brains, which results in differences in the way people think. Almost 1 in 5 people in the world is neurodistinct, meaning they live with differences like autism, dyslexia, attention deficits, or other “neuro” conditions. Though we’ve historically labeled them “disorders,” which implies a problem, people who have them possess skills and talents, some scarce, that organizations need. People who think differently don’t need fixing; they often thrive because of these neurological differences, not in spite of them. And their organizations can harness the many benefits (some unexpected) of different ways of thinking.
While there have been — and will be — challenges with NDE, we are far better positioned to succeed than in those early days now that we have past efforts to build upon. Several of us have been hands-on leaders in neuroinclusion efforts. In 2004, Thorkil founded Specialisterne, a social enterprise that developed a model for placing autistic people long excluded from the labor force into good jobs that employ their talents fully. In 20 years of effort, Specialisterne has, directly or indirectly, generated more than 20,000 job placements and trained more than 15,000 employment professionals in more than 500 companies across 25 countries.2 Specialisterne’s vision and alternative (less interview-based) talent assessment methods greatly influenced Hiren, Neil, and Jose as they developed programs at EY, Microsoft, and SAP. (See “What We Did at EY, Microsoft, and SAP.
References
1. R.D. Austin and T. Sonne, “The Dandelion Principle: Redesigning Work for the Innovation Economy,” MIT Sloan Management Review 55, no. 4 (summer 2014): 67-72.
2. Specialisterne worked with EY, Microsoft, and SAP in their programs’ early stages, thus its accounting includes the numbers at those companies.
3. See L. Carroll, “How EY Is Focusing on Neurodiverse Talent — and Why It Benefits Everyone,” BBC, March 21, 2024, www.bbc.com.
4. See, for example, A. Chan, “Autistic Brain Excels at Recognizing Patterns,” LiveScience, May 30, 2013, www.livescience.com; C. von Károlyi, E. Winner, W. Gray, et al., “Dyslexia Linked to Talent: Global Visual-Spatial Ability,” Brain and Language 85, no. 3 (June 2003): 427-431; and J. Wiklund, H. Patzelt, and D. Dimov, “Entrepreneurship and Psychological Disorders: How ADHD Can Be Productively Harnessed,” Journal of Business Venturing Insights 6 (December 2016): 14-20.
5. See, for example, D.K. Simonton, “Creativity as Blind Variation and Selective Retention: Is the Creative Process Darwinian?” Psychological Inquiry 10, no. 4 (1999): 309-328.
6. L.B. Jeppesen and K.R. Lakhani, “Marginality and Problem-Solving Effectiveness in Broadcast Search,” Organization Science 21, no. 5 (September-October 2010): 1016-1033.
7. See E.M. Radulski, “Conceptualising Autistic Masking, Camouflaging, and Neurotypical Privilege: Towards a Minority Group Model of Neurodiversity,” Human Development 66, no. 2 (May 2022): 113-127.
8. See, for example, E.I. Lysova, B.A. Allan, B.J. Dik, et al. “Fostering Meaningful Work in Organizations: A Multi-Level Review and Integration,” Journal of Vocational Behavior 110, part B (February 2019): 374-389.
9. A. Smith, “Cognitive Empathy and Emotional Empathy in Human Behavior and Evolution,” Psychological Record 56, no. 1 (January 2006): 3-21.
10. To learn more, see the “Neurodiversity @ Work Playbook: Employee Engagement & Growth Series,” April 28, 2023, disabilityin.org.
11. See, for example, K.E. Kidwell, R.L. Clancy, and G.G. Fisher, “The Devil You Know Versus the Devil You Don’t: Disclosure Versus Masking in the Workplace,” Industrial and Organizational Psychology 16, no. 1 (March 2023): 55-60.