Neurodiversity in the boardroom: A short guide
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Guidance on creating neuro-inclusion at board recruitment level

The main goal here is to enable employment in the organisation that is as close as possible to the UK population demographic in terms of neurodiverse people and therefore recruitment practices need to take into account the issues listed in order to attract applications from talented individuals. 

This will begin with the implementation of a Neuro-Inclusive recruitment policy, a sample of which has been provided as appendix 7 that includes measures such as:

For the candidates

Job adverts
  • Jargon free, using inclusive colours and fonts, neutral and direct language, with a focus on specificity about the role and the ethos of the company rather than ambiguity
  • Adhere to the co-operative code of Governance in accordance with the ICA values and principles
  • Define abbreviation
  • Specify that applications from candidates of all neurotypes, with varied employment backgrounds are encouraged and welcome
Application process
  • Simplify application forms, focus on essential skills and experience
  • Offer alternative options for applications to be received be that in a creative format such as video, or by providing the option for oral applications
  • Encourage questions from applicants to help provide clarity
  • If rejecting an application, aim to give feedback as to the reasons, especially if your organisation is part of the disability confident scheme (see Appendix 8) and the candidates have disclosed conditions
Interview process

Interview pack

Ensure any information sent out includes and offer for adjustments that can be provided and invite candidates to contact you if they require any of these or other options. 

Adjustments

These should include but are not limited to: Sending interview questions in advance; allowing more time to complete assessments; allowing the candidate to bring notes and refer to them; making questions direct and specific; allowing the candidate to bring a stim toy; providing photos/video footage of the building the candidate will be interviewed at; providing a photo of the interviewer. 

Documents

If any guides, principles, values or codes of conduct etc have been mentioned in the advert, ensure the full documents are sent as part of the interview pack. Within the pack, also include support options such as information on the Access to Work grant (see appendix 5) so that the candidate can feel comfortable in applying for additional support if needed. 

Site visits

Where possible for board recruitment, invite candidates to attend the interview/meeting sites prior to the interview date as a way of them familiarising themselves with the environment and getting a feel for it from a sensory perspective, ensure you communicate that the visit is not part of any assessment.

Feedback

Ask for feedback from each candidate on their experience of the recruitment process and considerations for possible improvements that could benefit others. Build this into the review process.

Induction process

Once recruited to a board role, ensure that candidate has a specific induction process to follow which includes: 

  • Easy access to any employee handbooks and relevant policies
  • Easy access to any guidance documents available, training on internal systems
  • An introduction where possible and with any necessary adjustments to the various departments within the organisation, organisational charts, any process documents relating to the running of the board and access to all past board papers
HandoverEnsure the recruitment team provide a warm handover to the board member who will become a buddy to the new candidate for their first year on the board.

For the recruitment staff and interviewers

  • Provide adequate unconscious bias and interview training that includes information on the Access to Work grant (see appendix 5) so that any questions can be supported. Training needs to include information about the Equality Act 2010 (see appendix 9) that underpins any policies around disabilities.
  • Ask recruitment staff to create a guide for recruiting managers/interviewers that can be referenced each time they need to interview candidates.
  • Ensure internal recruitment follows the same guidance as external recruitment.
  • Create and maintain an up-to-date training log of the above guidance.