How can action on neuroinclusion accelerate business transformation?

Our global sample of neurodivergent professionals feel optimistic at work. Two-thirds agree they were fully engaged at work (67%) and enjoying their job (65%) in the six weeks prior to completing our survey. Similar numbers (62%) said they were able to cope with their workload and maintain healthy working habits (covering physical, mental, social, and financial health factors). And over half of our neurodivergent respondents (58%) felt energized by their time at work.

Progress on neurodiversity awareness is evident. Forty percent of neurodivergent professionals indicated that their organization has created and communicated a neurodiversity strategy. Over half reported adjustments to make hiring (54%), learning (60%) and performance management (61%) processes more inclusive.

However, when we applied the 15-driver scale developed by Professor Robert Austin’s research, we found that only 25% of neurodivergent professionals feel truly included at work. While this is a disappointing finding, it is reflected in the neurotypical control sample too, where only 22% feel truly included.

Our research reveals that:

• 25% of neurodivergent professionals are truly included at work – reporting robust agreement with all 15 identified drivers of neuroinclusion and strong positive sentiments regarding their workplace experience.
•  42% fall into the engaged middle, registering agreement on job-related factors and line manager support and recognition, with room for improving environments that are safe and inclusive, as well as asynchronous working.
• 33% are ambivalent observers, indicating a neutral stance on team ways of working and job-related factors, with a negative experience of some line manager behaviors and limited exposure to neuroinclusive practices.

In our study, the rate of truly included professionals varies significantly across geographies, indicating the continued importance of regulatory, social and cultural factors in shaping the lived experience of neurodivergent professionals and access to support mechanisms. We saw little variation by sector and other demographics is limited.

Neurodivergent professionals indicate that their experience is shaped by line manager behaviors (42% of neuroinclusion score) and team ways of working (29%). Truly included professionals are up to three times more likely to report that line managers and colleagues often or always display neuroinclusive behaviors. They are also 2.4 times more likely to be working in an environment where they feel secure to take risks, voice differing opinions, and raise concerns without fear of negative consequences - all within a culture of inclusion and support.

The line manager lottery

The importance of line managers getting this right is underscored by our survey sample, of whom 63% openly discuss their neuroidentity with line managers or colleagues. This increased to 81% of those who are truly included at work. Line managers show up both as enablers of better conversations and blockers to conversations happening in the first place. 

Avoiding the line manager lottery is imperative to improving neuroinclusion. Unfortunately, just 37% of respondents indicated that their organization provides neurodiversity training to line managers. Shifting from general awareness training to dedicated line manager training is a critical next step, both in adjusting managers’ own behaviors and setting expectations for team members.

Neurodivergent managers experience a double bind, required to facilitate the neuroinclusion of team members while lacking the support mechanisms to help them manage the demands of their own jobs. This takes a toll on their neuroinclusion levels – first-line managers or team leaders are 30% more likely to be ambivalent observers, indicating limited exposure to neuroinclusive practices. Middle managers are 24% more likely to be ambivalent observers.

Team harmony

The second largest influence on neuroinclusion in our survey relates to the level of safety and inclusion within teams. Reports vary widely between our neuroinclusion segments: 90% of truly included professionals report strong feelings of safety and inclusion compared with 67% of the engaged middle and 37% of ambivalent observers. Being able to make mistakes without fear of punishment and receiving recognition for their strengths are among the most valued dimensions for neurodivergent professionals.

The workplace environment also makes a significant difference. Organizations pondering changes to their remote or hybrid work policies should carefully consider the impact on neurodivergent professionals, who are almost twice as likely to experience regular sensory distractions in the workplace. Seventy-three percent of neurodivergent professionals working fully onsite report regular sensory distractions. This reduces by up to 12 times if working remotely, or more than three times if working on a hybrid schedule.

Neuroinclusion can be achieved by ensuring there is a broad, accepting workplace culture; by specifically training line managers; and by listening openly to individual preferences for different working modalities. 

In a multi-factor analysis of research findings, negative workplace relationships are the predominant driver of intent to leave (74%) rather than talent policies or practices. Workplace relations describe the impact of microaggressions, such as being mocked for speech patterns, being interrupted or asked not to interrupt colleagues, or being excluded from social events. These hidden forms of soft bullying can and do have a pernicious impact on happiness at work.

Within modern teams, the neurotypical professionals in our sample are much less likely to experience non-inclusive behaviors, with up to 70% reporting that they never or rarely experience them versus only 45% of neurodivergent professionals. This inclusion gap reduces within truly inclusive organizations, where 57% of the neurodivergent professionals report that they never or rarely experience non-inclusive behaviors.

Barriers to career progression also strongly influence intent to leave (19%), with many neurodivergent professionals whom we surveyed facing barriers such as lack of career pathways (faced by 36% of neurodivergent professionals) and limited job shadowing opportunities (34%). Collectively, barriers are widespread – 91% of neurodivergent professionals reported at least one barrier to moving into new positions.

When it comes to realizing their full potential, the neurodivergent professionals in our survey cite lack of organizational support (37%) and lack of timely adjustments or support (34%) as the most frequent barriers (34%). Lack of professional development opportunities was reported by one-third of all respondents, while limited line manager understanding of strengths and working styles is more commonly felt by neurodivergent professionals (31%) than neurotypicals (21%).

There is no one way for building a neuroinclusive workplace culture, but there are examples that work. Start with an understanding of your own organization’s neuroinclusion journey and tap into your own community of neurodivergent professionals: there is no better voice than those within your organization often found in employee resource groups (ERG).

Many organizations create a Neurodiversity Center of Excellence (NCOE) that can act as a learning ground for trying out different workplace modalities with smaller groups of neurodivergent professionals. Learnings from NCOEs can then be applied and amplified across the organization with the knowledge that they have been pre-tested and validated.

To expand neuroinclusion in search of transformational skills, organizations need to shift their thinking from awareness to collective action. Everyone benefits when everyone gets this right, amplifying business value through improved productivity and skill proficiency.

Here are four actions that organizations seeking to transform their approach to talent can take to amplify neuroinclusion and unlock transformational skills and opportunities:

1.Take a skills-based approach to talent strategies: Our research indicates that neurodivergent individuals have the future skills most needed for business. They are, for example, 55% more likely to use AI than their neurotypical colleagues. Adopting a skills-based approach to talent strategies will enable organizations to identify workforce strengths, that may lie dormant. Activating these latent capabilities can be a force multiplier.

2. End the line manager lottery: Currently, neuroinclusive environments largely rest on the strengths and abilities of individual line managers. A more systematic approach to training is required to equip managers with the skills to manage the unique challenges facing neurodivergent professionals and build a positive team environment. Better conversations, improved role and task clarity, assistive technology, regular high-quality feedback and personalized career pathways are all levers that managers can use to enhance neuroinclusion.

3. Adopt an open and flexible approach to working practices: When you work, where you work and what physical environments best suit your needs are all choices that can be make or break for neurodivergent professionals. Ensure that individual needs are discussed in a safe and open way that avoids presumption and avoids stigmatizing the employee. The more routine such discussions are, the more included and heard employees feel. Our research across workplace studies shows that a degree of personalization is highly valued by all employees, not just the neurodivergent whose needs may be more acute.

4. Unlock the cognitive intelligence of your organization: Neurodivergent and neurotypical professionals possess complementary skills that strengthen the cognitive intelligence of the organization. Our research measures neuroinclusion across generations, regions and sectors, providing a baseline for employers to use in building their own roadmap for identifying talent opportunities and mitigating risks in a rapidly evolving job market. Taking a data-driven approach to measuring progress will help to accelerate change.