In February our CEO David Cameron took part in the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee looking at neurodivergence. The panel, which also included representatives from the Federation of Small Businesses, Salvesen Mindroom Centre, CIPD and our Trustee, Chirsty McFadyen from the Fraser of Allander Institute, discussed what employers could do to encourage neurodivergent people to join and remain in the workforce.
David emphasised that it is important for employers to build their capacity to support a diverse range of talents and to be better aware of unintentional barriers that exist in digital recruitment.
Marek Zemanik (CIPD) supported this by discussing the business benefits they uncovered as part of their report back in 2024 called Neuroinclusion at Work. “The report showed very clearly that employers who invest additional resources and put more effort into neuro-inclusion not only highlight positive organisational outcomes but also positive individual outcomes around employee wellbeing and employee performance. On the organisational front, they also report much better staff retention as well as recruitment opportunities from a wider talent pool. The evidence shows that supporting neurodivergence and neuro-inclusion in organisations is linked to positive business outcomes.”
The conversation moved to reasonable adjustments and the issue of disclosure.
David continued, “Disclosure always seems such a difficult word, because it feels as though are you are admitting something and that can feel quite problematic at work.
We have recently been doing a lot of work around conversations. It is Scottish Government-funded work for a campaign called “Why you askin?” It is about people -including managers and employers – having the courage to ask questions and initiate positive conversations. It is also about people feeling safe to have the conversation with their supervisors and managers in the workplace.
There needs to be the understanding that every single person in a workplace has different needs. Educating employers about the fact that it is not that different from what they are doing – making adjustments for people and promoting conversations is not that difficult.”
Chirsty discussed the recent Fraser of Allander review of employability programmes in Scotland. She highlighted that No One left Behind (NOLB) funding is very much directed towards employability rather than employer-focused initiatives – that getting the employee ready for work is not always the most appropriate route for neurodivergent people and people with learning disabilities. Employers need to have a better understanding of neurodivergence, as well as training in how to support people with neurodivergence.
“I would love the NOLB programme to be broadened out a bit in relation to what local authorities can fund, with more employer-focused initiatives. That would be really important, and it would be helpful in getting more employers on track.”
The full transcript of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee can be found on the Scottish Parliament website.
