It’s World Autism Acceptance Week, and at Capita we’re reflecting on what more we can do to attract, recruit and support colleagues with autism in the workplace.
Autism is a lifelong condition, which affects how people communicate and interact with the world.
More than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum, and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.
All of us bring unique talents to the workplace, and one of my experiences of working with colleagues with autism is that they often have an ability to look at problems and opportunities from a different angle, display fantastic attention to detail, and innovative thinking. All of these are skills that I think are valuable in any organisation, and can enable improved productivity, creativity and competitive advantage.
Too often, these skills are going to waste. Many organisations across the public and private sectors struggle to accommodate neurodiverse employees, including those with autism. This is reflected in the fact that less than 30% of autistic adults are in full or part-time employment, even though the vast majority want to work. A huge waste of talent, at a time when there are 1.1m open vacancies across the UK labour market.
As Chair of the Capita Ability Network, our Employee Network Group focused on supporting colleagues with disabilities at work, I’m proud of the work we are doing at Capita to ensure that #neurodiverse candidates get the same opportunities for work as everyone else. My colleague Tom Marchant explains this far better than I can. Please do take the time to listen to what he has to say.
As part of our #bebrilliantbeyou campaign, we are challenging ourselves to have more open, honest, and informed conversations about how to support all colleagues in the workplace. Last year, we introduced our reasonable adjustments passport, to make it easier for colleagues with disabilities and long-term health conditions to move around our organisation, without needing to explain the support they require to their new line manager, every time they move to a new role.
We know we have lots more to learn, and to do, and we’re continuing to listen to our colleagues on how we can do better. So, this World Autism Acceptance Week, I challenge all of you across my network, to reflect on what more you can do, better to harness the talents of neurodiverse friends and colleagues, especially those with autism. I’d love to hear how you are doing this, so please comment on this post and let me know.
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