Neurodiversity Driving Innovation from Unexpected Places a Neurodiverse World Is a Better Working World
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Neurodiversity Driving innovation from unexpected places A neurodiverse world is a better working world To drive sustainable growth in the 21st century, businesses need to continually innovate and identify new sources of talent. Leading companies are finding that people on the autism spectrum can spur innovation and often have the very skills they’re looking for. Companies are also discovering new benefits for their brands, customer relationships, employee engagement and more. Though many people with autism are Neurodiversity in a companies such as SAP, Microsoft, HPE and intelligent, well-educated and eager to work, professional services firm Ernst & Young LLP they often face interpersonal challenges that connected world are addressing strategic business issues by make it difficult to get in the door. According The business world is rapidly changing, fueled leveraging an often-overlooked pool of talent to a Drexel University study, 58% of young by increasingly sophisticated technology and — people on the autism spectrum. adults with autism are unemployed. This an accelerating pace of innovation. As can lead to isolation, financial insecurity businesses adopt applications like AI (artificial Neurodiverse individuals are often and social and economic dependence on intelligence), robotics and process automation, technologically inclined and detail-oriented, family, government and community-based they become more data-driven and connected. with strong skills in analytics, mathematics, organizations. However, some employers are Strong analytics and cybersecurity are critical pattern recognition and information turning these challenges into opportunities. for effective, stable operations. However, processing — among the very skills Read on to learn how EY is helping diversify there’s a shortage of science, technology, businesses most urgently need. They its talent pool, excite its workforce and engineering and math (STEM) talent needed to thrive on predictability and can be especially drive innovation and productivity by hiring do this vital work. Moreover, the overall tenacious and loyal workers who prefer to neurodiverse professionals. workforce is shrinking. Organizations need to stay with one organization rather than move maximize their human resources by enabling from opportunity to opportunity. Companies their most highly skilled workers to focus on are finding that people with autism approach the highest value activities. One of the ways problems differently and that their logical, they’re doing this is by streamlining and straightforward thinking can spur process automating labor-intensive processes. STEM improvements that greatly increase skills are needed to do that work too. Leading productivity. Fewer than one in six autistic adults is in full-time employment. 32% 77% 16% 51% Only 32% are in some kind of paid Less than 16% of Slightly more than half work. More than three-quarters survey participants of autistic people in have full-time paid work said their skills (77%) who are unemployed say work. This figure has were higher than those they want to work. hardly changed since their job required. Statistics 2007. Source: National Autism Indicators Report, Drexel University B EY’s neurodiversity initiative had four key phases — scoping, getting buy-in, building and measuring. Driving innovation through neurodiversity To consistently deliver high-quality services to clients, EY professionals must perform a Scoping the project wide array of detailed tasks, calculations and EY is one of the first professional The team enlisted the EY resources processes. Technical professionals handle services organizations doing this work, required to build and run the pilot, as some of these activities, including data and there are few precedents. The usual well as the key internal stakeholders collection and analytics, engagement recruiting, training and onboarding they’d need to consult. Those included economics, and document tracking and practices don’t necessarily apply well the following: control. They generally work for one client to people with autism. The firm needed and are based at the client’s office alongside to create new ways of doing things and • Project management — The launch colleagues focused more on client assemble a new team to figure out how. team included recruiting and diverse relationships, higher-level analytics and abilities professionals, functional area complex business issues. To drive even Talent professionals with recruiting and leaders and managers. greater efficiencies, EY took the specialization disabilities subject-matter knowledge one step further. In Philadelphia the firm set came together with functional managers • Stakeholders — These included up a new Center of Excellence (CoE) where a to form a project team. The project recruiting, legal, local office team of EY office-based professionals handles team then made a list of the external leadership, administration, talent professionals and professionals in job some of the most time-consuming, repetitive resources they’d need to source, select, onboard and support the new hires. descriptions, compensation, training tasks for a number of client engagements Those resources included the following: and benefits. across various areas of the business. • Sourcing — organizations that specialize The project team surveyed other in recruiting and screening neurodiverse employers, and spoke with vendors, candidates community service providers, schools, advocacy organizations and other • Job coaches — trainers to help constituents to determine costs and neurodiverse hires adjust to the which program elements EY would business environment and negotiate create and run and which would be interpersonal relationships at work outsourced. It was decided that CoE members would be full-time employees • Community partners — government and compensated on the same scale as agencies and nonprofits supporting other technical professionals in similar these activities roles. The existing role description was revised based on the location, responsibilities, education and skills required for this new position. 1 Getting buy-in from the business Though the idea for exploring neurodiverse talent originated with senior firm leaders, testing it out required buy-in from many constituents – an executive sponsor, local office leadership, a range of functional stakeholders and the business owners in the lines of business the new hires would be supporting. The project team prepared a high-level budget Yvonne’s story for their sponsor. After securing approval, they began soliciting support from the senior “My son has autism. At a recent event, leaders of the lines of business and finally, I shared how delighted I am that EY from the highest levels of leadership in the is not only hiring, but collaborating Americas firm. with other employers to expand career opportunities for individuals with autism. Afterwards, one of our interns The pilot came up to say that he has a little In 2016, Ernst & Young LLP hired four cousin with autism and that EY’s individuals to work in a new Philadelphia commitment to neurodiversity gave Neurodiversity Center of Excellence (CoE). him hope for the future.” Philadelphia was chosen as a pilot location for its proximity to universities with good STEM Yvonne Metcalfe Principal, International Tax Services Americas and autism-specific programs, its location Member, EY Americas Inclusiveness Council midway between DC and NY, and its history of generating strong candidates for SAP’s Autism at Work program. The office also had suitable workspace and a highly supportive leadership team. Creating the CoE took several months, divided into four stages. Autism High-functioning autism Neurotypical Know your a developmental condition generally refers to types of people who do not have terms marked by difficulty in autism with more limited autism or other neurological communicating and forming impacts and average or above- variations. Neurodiversity relationships and in using average IQ, such as Asperger’s a concept that considers the language and abstract syndrome. Some advocates Autistic range of differences in human concepts. dislike this term, favoring someone with autism brain function and behavioral Asperger’s syndrome or syndrome; some disability traits as normal variations. Autism spectrum disorder simply autism. advocates prefer the terms Though often used to refer to describes a range of “with autism” or “has autism” the autism spectrum, some neurodevelopmental disorders Asperger’s syndrome though others prefer the term definitions may include learning varying in degrees of impact is an autism spectrum “autistic.” disabilities and even mental on daily functioning. Recently, disorder characterized by health conditions. advocates have begun social, emotional and referring to “autism spectrum,” communication challenges. dropping the term “disorder,” Individuals have average or to stress that neurological above-average IQs and may differences are normal human be referred to as having “high- variations. functioning autism.” 2 Building a Neurodiversity A key element in helping Center of Excellence the new hires acclimate to their new role is hiring and training them as cohorts. #1 Sourcing #3 Assessment and Working in a small group helps them An external vendor, Specialisterne, sourced get comfortable, build relationships training and create a sense of community. candidates for Philadelphia; additional In the pilot, candidates who were selected to Supervision is more