As neurodiversity gains recognition in the workplace, organizations globally have different levels of understanding and support. While some have well-established neuroinclusive practices, others are just beginning to explore how to better accommodate and empower neurodivergent employees. The challenge isn’t just about policies—it’s about shifting mindsets, increasing awareness, and fostering environments where all employees can thrive.
In a recent webinar, Ekaterina von Gertten from GN Group, Rob Surratt from State Street, and Anthony Greco from Aperian shared insights on what it takes to build neuroinclusive workplaces. From effective accommodations to hiring process audits, they provided actionable strategies for organizations at any stage of their neuroinclusion journey. Watch the recording for all their helpful tips, and read through some key takeaways from what they shared below.
Ekaterina: We create guides for our employees on things like inclusive communication and facilitating inclusive meetings, with a focus on neurodiversity. Some examples include sending agendas and role descriptions ahead of meetings, providing time when asking for input, balancing asynchronous and synchronous communication, and considering light and background noise for in-person meetings. We’ve also created guides on how to respond to non-inclusive language and different accommodations, tools, and resources people can utilize.
Rob: The reality for any organization is that folks are coming in and leaving the organization—it’s a continual revolving door. The work around awareness, understanding, and inclusive behaviors never stops because there will always be someone new joining the organization. There needs to be awareness about how we’re communicating when we’re working on projects, ensuring that everybody at the table really is able to play their part.
The first piece is the accommodations and adjustments—small things that enable individuals to do their best work and be their best selves. They’re no different than someone wearing glasses or having a light on their desk to see better.
The second piece is policies, like a global disability inclusion policy or something around accommodations and adjustments. It’s important to have that to validate neurodiverse individuals. It’s empowering for an individual, someone like myself who is neurodivergent, to know that I’m going to be set up for success and that I can really bring my best self to work every day.
Like Ekaterina said, we also share resources and guides related to teams, disability, and inclusion and continuously make sure that folks have access to these resources. We host live webinars and trainings to set the right tone within the organization and ensure that whether someone’s been at the company for 20 years or it’s their first day, everybody’s coming to the table with the same approach.
One thing that is really critical for us is having closed captions on by default. We have this across all platforms at State Street so that when joining a webinar, for example, closed captions are on. They are helpful for the hard-of-hearing community as well as the neurodivergent community and non-native English speakers. Multiple populations benefit.
Rob: One accommodation I use is darker contrast for all the platforms I use. Lighting and noise levels are also areas where you can provide support with adjustments. Some folks do better in an active environment, some in an independent environment, and others prefer one or the other at different times. Another element is providing learning experiences to increase awareness of different accommodations and to set the standard that they are welcome in meetings.
Ekaterina: I remember when I first learned of the blurred background feature that is still widely used for virtual meetings. It was actually created at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic by a neurodivergent employee at Microsoft. Seeing activity behind meeting attendees was a lot of visual input for her. So she decided to create the blurry background. Another widely used accommodation is fidget toys. We have them around the office, and a lot of people use them to help with focus.
Through surveys, we found that opportunities for flexible work is the top accommodation that benefits both neurodiverse and neurotypical colleagues across all regions. It’s important to consider that everyone has different energy peaks throughout the day, and be respectful of that.
Rob: We started by focusing on universal design. The reality of universal design is that it’s not just going to benefit one group, it’s going to benefit all groups. The reality is that folks can benefit from having a dark contrast on their screen even if they’re not neurodivergent. They can benefit from closed captions even if they’re not hard of hearing, and speech-to-text tools or screen readers even if they don’t have low vision.
It’s also important to start with building awareness throughout the organization. Focus on building a core foundation where folks are aware of themselves and others, and are starting to think of ways in which they can build and grow inclusive environments.
We’ve found that awareness is a good place to start to be able to actually drive systemic change within the organization. That could be anything from training folks on inclusive communication to purchasing software to make tools accessible for employees and you don’t have to go through an elongated process when someone needs an accommodation or adjustment.
I traditionally have focused on supporting teams in the U.S. and Canada, but now we’re able to roll out awareness and inclusion initiatives on a much larger scale. It’s so critical for our folks to have resources like Aperian® for things like building inclusive global teams, thinking cross-culturally, and being aware of your work style from a cultural perspective. Those elements are so critical as you’re getting started.
The last thing I’ll say is it’s very helpful to build a network of champions. Find those folks who are champions like yourself to be able to drive the change. A strong cross-functional cohort of champions can help you affect change in much quicker, effective ways because they have a better understanding of their business or functional areas.
Rob: You have to build the environment before you can fill the environment. If we aren’t a workplace where once folks get here, they feel like they can thrive and succeed, then we’re doing a disservice, not only to the prospective individual but also to ourselves.
With the help of our employee resource groups, as well as internships and hiring programs within the disability space over the years, we have built that reality. We also launched a neurodiversity hiring program out of our Kilkenny office in Ireland. That office building was actually redesigned to specifically be a space where neurodivergent individuals could come in and thrive. We also mapped our Boston office to make sure that no matter what floor you’re on, there are accommodations for neurodiverse individuals. These include factors like low light, noise, maneuverability, and activity levels.
We also ensured that folks were trained, especially in the Kilkenny office, so that neurodivergent folks were set up for success. When you think of productivity from a business perspective, when you have those diverse realities in the business environment, you’re going to be more innovative, you’re going to be more creative, and you’re going to have better outcomes when you make sure the environment is facilitative to all folks that are interacting there.
Ekaterina: In Europe, our main challenge is being able to track if we are able to attract and retain neurodiverse talent. This is because of the strict regulation under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to Article 9, neurodiversity—alongside, for example, racial and ethnic origin and sexual orientation— falls under the category of sensitive personal data. This means, among other things, that organizations must have a legal basis before processing this sort of information.
One of the ways to acquire the legal basis is to have explicit consent from employees to acquire and store this type of data. We know that when you are applying for a job, you can include a box to check if you want to disclose that you are neurodivergent and ask for accommodations in the hiring process. However we know that not many people do that out of fear that they will have a smaller chance at being offered the job.
Thus, we decided to start by performing an audit of our hiring processes to determine where they could be more neuroinclusive. We also focused on educating our talent attraction team so they understand neurodiversity and ways to support neurodiverse individuals. We trained hiring managers on writing inclusive job ads, the difference between “culture add” and “culture fit,” how to create a supportive interview environment, and the ways onboarding may look different for neurodiverse colleagues.
Anthony: It’s important to learn a little bit about the different cultures that you’re working with in general, but particularly around this topic of neurodiversity. One of the key differences we see is how differences in general, as well as differences in norms around discussing medical conditions, are perceived around the world. This might make it easier or more difficult for individuals to disclose any kind of neurodivergence they have.
Similarly, different strengths and challenges that neurodivergent individuals face may be exacerbated in certain cultures due to their cultural norms. For example, there are many neurodivergent individuals who struggle with making eye contact, and in a more egalitarian culture, that might be seen as disrespectful. But in a more hierarchical culture, that could be something that’s normal or expected—you’re showing deference and respect to another person. I encourage everyone to learn a little bit more using the Aperian platform if you have access to it. The GlobeSmart® Profile and GlobeSmart Guides are great resources.
Ekaterina: Intersectionality is always important to consider. Say, for example, someone tends to be quiet in meetings, the majority of people would view them through the lens of personality and assume they’re shy. But there could be so many other reasons. It could be due to cultural background, neurodivergence, or other factors. That’s why it’s important to have learning opportunities about different aspects of diversity.
Rob: The reality is that we are all built very differently. We are not similar, even within our own cultural contexts. It’s vitally important to create space for folks to show up with those differences and be included. We’re all talented, but we have different ways those talents show up. We need to make sure we’re building the right workplace because innovation, the dynamism of humanity, and what we potentially could do together depend on it.
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Want to hear more from these panelists? Check out the full on-demand recording. Contact the Aperian team or start a free trial of Aperian to see how our learning platform and training solutions can help you foster neuroinclusion at your organization.
