Embracing neurodiversity can unlock a swathe of benefits

It is a truth (almost) universally acknowledged that the more diverse the makeup of an organisation, the more successful it will be. But while the advantages of ethnic and gender diversity are well-reported, is the industry harnessing the full potential of those who are neurodiverse? We still live and work in a world designed for the neurotypical, but attitudes towards the one in seven of the population considered neurodivergent have changed profoundly in recent years. “Until recently, many companies didn’t feel that there was any benefit to having these sorts of people in their organisation,” says Dima Najib-Costa, an environmental psychologist recently hired by JLL. “But that has completely changed. It has become a much more positive conversation.” Increasingly, firms are training staff to understand neurodiversity and neurodivergence. Autism Awareness Week is on most corporate calendars. Adaptations are being made and conversations are being had. And, slowly but surely, neurodivergence is being rightly recognised as an asset. “We have explored things like introvert and extrovert, we have looked at how we make spaces more accessible in terms of ramps and the width of corridors,” Najib-Costa adds. “And now I think it’s the turn of neurodiversity. So we are going deeper, basically.” But there is still a lack of understanding of how organisations can embrace their existing neurodivergent talent and help both them – and the business – thrive. And how they should attract more. Power to the people The undisputed pioneers in this brave new world have been the tech giants and the finance sector. Apple, Microsoft and Google, as well as finance houses such as JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, have all launched recruitment drives targeting neurodivergent talent. And all have reported a boost to productivity, along with improved employee engagement, since implementing HR policies that actively encourage neurodiversity. But there is no reason why the property industry – a people business at its heart – shouldn’t take the lead. Based in Abu Dhabi, Najib-Costa is part of JLL’s new workforce advisory team. While the team is in its infancy and is still small – there are four of them – it wants to be at the forefront of this. And with good reason. The scope and impact of what it aims to address is staggering. “Talent strategies, organisational design, wellbeing, neurodiversity,” she lists, enthusiastically. “Anything related to your people in your organisation.” Because this is where the power lies. With the people. McKinsey publishes reports on exactly how gender and ethnic diversity can boost the bottom line. But there are no such studies for neurodiversity. “Well, there are, but not many, and they can’t be objective,” says neurodiversity consultant Emma Marfe. She cites EY’s report on the value of dyslexia in the workplace as one example. More will follow. “We are just at the beginning of this,” she says. But what is being picked up on is that many of the skills that the World Economic Forum says will be key for the future of jobs and the world of work are those associated with forms of neurodiversity and divergence – from the logical, computational prowess of some on the autism spectrum, to the 3D visualisation of many dyslexic people. But attracting that talent is tricky. “You have to look at every aspect from the very start,” says Najib-Costa. “Look at your interview processes, look at the job description, its position online.” And then there is the content of that job ad. “A lot of companies just put out a basic job description. As an applicant you only get to know the stages as you talk to the recruiter,” she says. For many who are not neurotypical, this could be the barrier that stops them from applying for a role where they could excel. Attention to detail Everything needs to be considered, in forensic detail. “You know, things like fonts, colours, everything. Everything has an effect, right?” she says. “For many organisations, it’s a lot to take in.” Marfe agrees. “You have to create a recruitment campaign that is accessible, from how people submit their CV through to the interview process and further.” And what about an alternative to interviews? “We are seeing soft interviews being used,” says Marfe, “where people come in and spend the day with the team.” That could be a much better way of recruiting people who are neurodivergent. “Otherwise, you end up recruiting people who are just great at interviews.” But the challenge isn’t just to attract more divergence. It is also about ensuring those already working within the business get the best support available. “You have to assume you already employ neurodivergent individuals,” states Marfe. “Because you do.” With around 15% of people thought to be neurodivergent, and many undiagnosed, the chances are that a hefty chunk of the workforce at every investor, developer, funder, agent and occupier are neurodivergent. “There has been a desire to improve how we support neurodiverse people that are already working for us for some time,” says Marfe. But turning that desire into tangible improvements is harder. Najib-Costa is working with clients within the property industry to help them harness the full potential of their most valuable asset. But she is also making sure JLL is at the forefront itself. “We have been working with HR about how we can be better at this,” she says. And, as with other aspects of the diversity and inclusion agenda, “the main focus should be inclusion”. But this is proving tricky, because neurodivergence tends to be invisible. “When you walk into a room, you can immediately see how many females there are,” she says. “Maybe you can see if someone has a physical disability. But things such as neurodiversity and neurodivergence, you can’t pick up on that.” Indeed, many neurodivergent people have learnt to mask their differences in order to suit a working environment that has not been designed to nurture them. And many are simply unaware they are neurodivergent. The right information At JLL, Najib-Costa is collecting case studies to better understand where the firm is coming from and whether it is improving. It plans to then use a quarterly or yearly check-up to examine the process. But the point is not to create a special process for the neurodivergent. The point is to change the process for everyone so that it works better for all. “The process should be designed with integration in mind,” she says. “It shouldn’t change because this person is neurodivergent or that one neurotypical.” It sounds beautifully simple in theory. How about in practice? “I think that’s what we haven’t got to yet. At the moment most organisations need someone to disclose that they are neurodivergent and then we say ‘OK, great, we’ll make adjustments’.” For those who do not know they are not neurotypical, this is a non-starter. For those who do, disclosing this detail at the start of a new job can be uncomfortable. “It is a very brave individual who can walk into a job and disclose that they are neurodivergent,” says Marfe. “There is a stigma, but also line managers may not know what to do with that information.” Indeed, the need for support may only come to light because of a complaint from a line manager. “If it takes a third warning before anyone is aware of this, then it won’t go well.” But this is not the fault of people not declaring that they may think and work in different ways. “The process isn’t working,” says Najib-Costa. “Where we need to be is for people to not have to disclose anything except their preferences, because the process should be the same.” Take the onboarding experience. Najib-Costa likes to move around a lot when she works, and finds a change of environment stimulating. That’s possibly why she moved to Abu Dhabi four months ago. What if there was a template to fill in during onboarding which stated those preferences? Surely that would help her team work more efficiently and be happier? And if someone who joins the team is neurodivergent, they would simply fill out that template the same way, which would inform their team. Because the system is built on the principles of inclusivity, it will allow those teams to adapt to best suit all of its members. “We’re not labelling anyone,” says Najib-Costa. “Nobody is being described as normal or not normal, just that they like to work differently. And that’s because everyone likes to work differently. Everyone has different preferences.” This is the new normal: Nobody is normal. And this is vital, because it isn’t just the neurodivergent talent that our workspaces and systems disadvantage. “Just because people who are neurotypical are coping, that doesn’t mean they’re working to the best of their ability,” says Najib-Costa. She talks about the productivity increases seen in businesses that have created transition spaces, quiet work areas, low-light areas and so on. In every case Najib-Costa has worked on, it isn’t just the neurodivergent who become more productive and happier. “Someone who is neurotypical might think that a loud environment doesn’t affect them. But, actually, you start to look at people’s productivity and it really does.” Support networks Rethinking the processes and the spaces we take for granted is to the benefit of everyone, she says. “And even if it isn’t directly, it definitely won’t be to their detriment.” A number of organisations in real estate already have neurodiversity policies or networks – CBRE and JLL are two good examples. And there are a number of cross-organisation forums, such as Neurodiversity in Planning. These are vital for creating a forum for discussion that is both positive and informal, says Marfe. “A forum or a network doesn’t have the connotation of being an HR issue. And it can bring together people who may have felt like they were in a silo beforehand, or didn’t know there was support available.” But one problem Najib-Costa has identified is that, unlike areas such as wellbeing, the gender pay gap or sustainability, very little is made public. “Unless I am actually hired by an organisation, it is very difficult to find out that kind of information. We are not showcasing the work that the organisation is doing.” That’s partly because it isn’t a cohesive movement, says Marfe. “Neurodiversity is an umbrella of many parts and they are not working together.” Yet. She believes they could. “It is moving in that direction. We are maybe 18 months or so away.” To do that, businesses need to be more open about where they are, even if it isn’t very far. “As long as we have some form of baseline, we have something to measure our initiatives against,” says Najib-Costa. But the baseline should not be the end of the work. “It is great to have neurodiversity training in an organisation. Or a network. Or to mark Autism Awareness Week,” she says. “But if it’s not linked to what organisations are actually doing then it won’t help that talent. We need organisations to say: This is our baseline today, but this is where we want to be in a year, or 10 or 15.” Changing attitudes For Marfe, the focus has to be on the attitude towards neurodiversity within the organisation, and the training given to managers. But she says it is also to follow through on any promises made to talent during the recruitment process. To attract and retain neurodivergent talent, the industry will have to navigate the choppy waters of complexity, nuance and the potential to offend. “But we have to agree to start somewhere,” says Najib-Costa. “It’s the first step that’s the hardest.” And it is nothing the industry hasn’t dealt with before. “In fact, for a lot of the work we are doing, we can use ethnicity as a precedent,” she says. She returns to disclosure as an example. “No one is going to tick the box for ethnicity if they don’t understand why they are being asked the question. The same is true for neurodiversity.” It turns out, she says, that all you really need is one line under the box explaining why you are asking – “that we have a neurodiversity network, that we want to support you”. “Do that and people are far more likely to disclose they are neurodivergent. It’s not rocket science,” she laughs. “We just need to use everything we have learnt from ethnicity and apply those learnings to neurodivergence.” But there is another shared characteristic with ethnicity. What often holds up progress is a fear of getting it wrong. “When you talk about neurodiversity and neurodivergence with people who are neurotypical, a lot of them become incredibly nervous,” she says. Faced with the prospect of saying the wrong thing or seeming ignorant, many would rather not have the conversation. “So we have to create a safe space, not just for those who are neurodivergent, but also for those who aren’t. It isn’t about calling out certain behaviours or passing judgment, it’s about ‘calling in’, having the conversation.” We all see the world differently, think differently and different things are likely to offend or upset each of us. Someone is bound to say the “wrong” thing at some point. The trick is to ensure the workplace is a safe space to do that. “Because if we can’t talk about this, we won’t make the right changes,” says Najib-Costa. But we also can’t look at neurodiversity in isolation, says Marfe. The approach has to be intersectional. “I am dyslexic but I am also many other things. We are complex human beings.” Acknowledging this, she says, is crucial to attracting and retaining the best talent. To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews Photo: Shutterstock