Why this matters now
Around 1 in 7 people are neurodivergent (ACAS, 2022). So neurodivergence exists in every workplace, whether or not anyone has said so.
Up to 76% of neurodivergent employees choose not to disclose at work, citing stigma or a lack of support (Birkbeck University, 2022). Which means most organisations are managing neurodivergent people without knowing it, using approaches built for a different kind of brain.
In South Africa, neurodivergent employees fall inside the Employment Equity Act's disability group whether they disclose or not. In a skills-scarce market, the cost of losing them is one most organisations cannot absorb.
And the upside is real. JP Morgan's Autism at Work programme found neurodivergent employees to be around 48% more productive within six months, with retention rates over 90% (Benefit News, 2020).
Five places to start
1 · Fix the recruitment process before the culture
Most organisations start with awareness training and leave hiring untouched. But if your process screens out neurodivergent candidates, you are running inclusion training for people who are not there.
Practical: send interview questions in advance, say what the format will be, allow written responses where the job does not require speaking under pressure, and drop unstructured "tell me about yourself" openings.
2 · Make adjustments ordinary rather than exceptional
If an adjustment requires disclosure, a form and a manager's approval, most people will not ask.
Practical: make the common things available to everyone without a request. Camera-off meetings. Agendas in advance. Written follow-ups after verbal briefings. None of these cost anything and all of them help more people than they were designed for.
3 · Train the managers, not just the organisation
A well-received awareness session changes the mood for a fortnight. A manager who knows how to have one specific conversation changes someone's job.
Practical: managers need to know what to say when someone discloses, what they can offer without escalating, and where the line is between supporting and managing.
4 · Write things down
The single most common piece of feedback from neurodivergent employees is that important information arrives verbally, at speed, in a meeting, and is then assumed to be known.
Practical: decisions, deadlines and owners in writing, every time. This is good practice for everyone and essential for some.
5 · Ask before you assume
Two people with the same diagnosis will need different things. The adjustment someone needs is often not the one you would predict.
Practical: "what would make this easier?" is a better question than any checklist.
What gets in the way
Treating it as a one-off. Training raises awareness and sparks new thinking. Without follow-up it fades. Ongoing support is where the change actually happens.
Aiming at the wrong level. Awareness sessions for everyone, capability training for managers, and structural change at policy level are three different jobs.
Waiting for people to disclose. Given the 76% figure, an approach that depends on disclosure will miss most of the people it is meant to help.
Where to begin
Most organisations start with an awareness session and build from there. It gives everyone the same starting point and the same language, and it tells you where the real gaps are before you spend money fixing the wrong ones.
Book a short call and we will work out what would actually help.
Book a free 30-minute callSources: ACAS (2022); Birkbeck University (2022); Benefit News (2020), reporting on JP Morgan's Autism at Work programme.