Navigating the Future: Regulation, Data and Neurodiversity in Inclusive Hiring

On 2nd May, our UK team hosted a roundtable event in partnership with Talentspaces, a company that advises organisations on how to enhance the inclusivity of their recruitment process. 

The roundtable welcomed a panel of speakers including Richard Yeomans, Partner at Addleshaw Goddard, Tania Martin, former Head of UK&I Neuro-diverse Centre of Excellence at EY and Jemma Pearson, Senior Resourcing & Inclusion Manager at Grant Thornton. The discussion centered on neurodiversity; the planning for the FCA and PRA Regulations on DEI, harnessing data for inclusive hiring, exploring neurodiversity and investigating successful inclusive hiring strategies implemented by organisations.  

Key Takeaways From the Event: 

Focus on setting D&I Targets:  

The roundtable commenced with Richard Yeomans discussing the upcoming implementation of D&I regulations as posed by the consultation papers of the PRA and FCA. He highlighted the benefits of D&I on market outcomes, decision making and overall work culture, thus emphasising the necessity to have a concise strategy in place. Richard talked through the expectations from organisations, such as goal setting, progress measuring and the adjustment of recruitment processes to ensure inclusivity.  

Understanding Neurodiversity:  

Tania Martin began her talk by discussing what it means to be neurodivergent;  individuals with cognitive differences who encompass approximately 20% of the population, thus highlighting the large number of people that are likely to come up against challenges in a traditional workplace, particularly through the recruitment process. Tania spoke about the importance of accommodating these individuals through a wide range of reasonable adjustments and highlighted the importance of educating and training recruitment teams and hiring managers in asking the right questions to suit specific needs; to ensure fair opportunities.  

Belonging and Transparency:

Jemma Pearson’s segment began by examining the implementation of inclusive practices such as inclusive interview questions, gender pronoun options, transparency in the recruitment process and the impact of sharing examples of reasonable adjustments that can be made. Fostering a sense of belonging and transparency is crucial for an inclusive culture and was emphasised in Jemma’s reference to hiring practices such as salary transparency, removal of current salary questions and flexibility inquiries. These were branded as key contributors to a fairer recruitment process for those who require more than someone who is labelled as neurotypical.   

Thank you to our inspiring panel of speakers for sharing their insights and expertise on fostering an inclusive work culture and environment for those who are neurodivergent. This was an engaging session in which people shared their personal journeys with this topic as well as approaches their organisations have undertaken to combat these issues.