What is neurodiversity?
Neurodiversity refers to a range of differences in human brain function, including dyslexia, autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, and other neurological conditions. Amongst employers, the term Neurodiversity has been used to represent a movement that seeks to embrace the talents of individuals who think differently.
Neurodiversity in recruitment and assessment
When it comes to neurodiverse candidates, the recruitment process of your organisation will undoubtedly play a key role in determining whether you hire any neurodiverse candidates at all.
There are many arguments to suggest that common selection processes may actually act as a barrier to entry for individuals who are neurologically diverse and seeking employment.
If you want to make accommodations for neurodiverse candidates then there are some basic points you can follow to make it as easy as possible for them to apply to any position at your organisation;
- Make sure your company website, jobs pages and assessment platform all allow for resizable fonts
- Ensure the above technology is fully compatible for users with accessibility devices such as screen readers and refreshable Braille
- Offer users of your website and assessment platform high visibility display settings that can be accessed through the accessibility button in the footer of every page
- Provide assessments that have adjustable time limits
Accommodating neurodiverse candidates
As well as the accessibility adjustments mentioned above, we have listed some further accommodations or suggestions that you, as an employer, may want to consider in order to make your assessment process more accessible to a neurodiverse talent pool.
- Give clear explanations as to why you are asking the candidate to complete any assessments, and be very open about the adjustments that can be made
- Re-iterate the context in which the questions should be answered (e.g. think about the workplace rather than home)
- Emphasise that there are no rights or wrongs to personality
- Explain the transparency of our items, i.e. there is no hidden meaning to the items, they are not trying to trick you
- Ask your neurodiverse candidates what would make the process easier for them
- Consider sending interview questions to the candidate in advance to reduce interview anxiety
- Have someone present with candidates to support them during assessment completion
- Consider whether these reasonable adjustments could be made, and consider whether these adjustments could be offered to the other candidates too.
