We want to be an inclusive workplace that is representative of the communities we support. Gemma Goymer, Head of HR, shares what we have done to become a more inclusive and accessible workplace for Disabled and neurodivergent people.
20 March 2024
We understand the importance of diverse backgrounds, perspectives and problem solving in the workplace and are driven to be more representative of the organisations that we support as a Foundation. Despite all the benefits of bringing diversity to the workplace, Disabled and neurodivergent people still experience huge obstacles to entering and staying in the workplace. For example, according to the National Autistic Society, 45% of neurodivergent people have lost or left their job because of challenges due to being misunderstood. That’s why we have been taking steps to ensure that our recruitment practices are more inclusive, and that our people get the support that they need in the workplace.
As part of our commitment to making our workplace more accessible and supportive for people who are Disabled and/or neurodivergent, we signed up to the Disability Confident Employer scheme at the end of 2022. As part of that process, we conducted an accessibility audit for our new office before moving in, reviewed our recruitment processes, provided disability awareness raising sessions and ensured that we were capturing data to evidence progress and identify areas for further development.
We have made changes to our recruitment practices to attract more Disabled and neurodivergent candidates and make the process more inclusive and accessible. We have considered the whole process – from where we are advertising, and the language we use in our adverts and job descriptions, to providing other ways to apply if our online application is not accessible (such as video applications).
We have also made changes to our interview process and are now offering:
We have also looked at how we can better support our neurodivergent and Disabled colleagues in the workplace. The Foundation has paid for diagnostic tests where required, supported people with Access to Work applications, provided note takers, occupational health support, offered different technology such as speech-to-text apps, Grammarly, noise cancelling headphones and ensured that those leading meetings are doing so in an accessible way for all.
We have been working to raise awareness across the organisation around Disability and neurodivergence. This has involved delivering awareness raising sessions around the social model of disability, d/Deaf awareness and we currently have a book group working through The Pocket Guide to Neurodiversity by Daniel Aherne.
All of these changes have led to positive progress. We’ve seen a 25% increase in applications being received and offers being made to Disabled people since we have adopted these changes which is extremely positive, and we hope that this continues. We have also just offered an internship through the 10,000 Able Intern scheme, a programme that matches disabled students and graduates with paid work internships across a range of UK industries.
We know that there is still so much more we can do, and we will continue to evolve our recruitment process and employee support as we learn to become a more inclusive workplace and reduce those barriers further.
We are currently working through our level two assessment as a Disability Confident employer. As part of that, we are looking to create more awareness and training for our colleagues and managers around neurodiversity. This was kicked off recently by Diane Johnson from En-fold who delivered a powerful and thought-provoking session on autism, which generated more great suggestions for us to adopt in both our recruitment process and the support we offer in the workplace.
We also want to do more about normalising the conversation around disability and neurodivergence, look at workplace adjustment policies, and develop wellbeing plans for all employees. Ultimately, our aim is that these changes will enable people to feel they can ask openly for what they need and that everyone in our workplace will feel valued and supported.
