Five ways to welcome those on the autism spectrum into the workplace
For some employers, recruiting the brightest and best might mean looking outside conventional channels to candidates that may have been overlooked in the screening process.
One of those potential talent pools gaining interest is people on the autism spectrum. But tapping into that group requires a rethinking of how hiring managers source, recruit, interview and onboard these people, says Kirsten Sutton, managing director for SAP Labs Canada in Vancouver.
Three years ago, SAP launched their Autism at Work program as a means to extend their hiring reach. It’s been a valuable learning experience in many ways, Sutton says. “As an organization, we all need to understand how to support employees in this spectrum. This program has changed the culture of the teams that work around them.”
In developing the program she cites five critical steps to success:
Partner with experts in the autism spectrum field. To that end SAP has partnered with different regional specialists including Specialisterne in Toronto, which played a role in kicking off the program in Canada.
“When we rolled out the program we realized very early on that we don’t have the expertise in house,” says Agnes Garaba, head of human resources for SAP Canada. “Having the right partners is a very critical first step.”
Rethink your outreach and candidate sourcing processes. “If people with autism apply in traditional ways, they are screened out of the process,” Garaba explains. “Typically they have the education, but don’t have a lot of relevant experience. You have to think about talent in a broader way than you have before.”
Replace formal job interview processes with approaches that showcase their skills. Individuals on the autism spectrum typically do not present well in a traditional interview as that method relies heavily on maintaining eye contact and the ability to read social cues. “Those may not be there for people on the spectrum,” Garaba says.
One highly effective technique is challenging candidates to address a business issue building Lego Mindstorms robots. This allows the interview to be done in a non-threatening way that plays to their strengths. It also shows how they communicate and deal with conflict when working in a team setting. Hiring managers also come in and interact with the candidates, in order to ensure they are placed with the right teams.
Work with coaches throughout the onboarding process. Many of these candidates will have had either short work experience or none at all, Garaba notes. “They need quite a bit of guidance in terms of how to put their best foot forward, how to learn and how to deal with conflict.”
SAP brings in outside job coaches, assigns buddies to the new hires and introduces them to others in the program for additional support.
Provide ongoing education and training for hiring managers and teams. SAP provides regular training sessions for managers, teams and employees to ensure they understand the program’s intent. Garaba reports that turnout has been exceptional. “It has been incredible to see the number of people coming out to information sessions. It has been interesting to see how many are connected to autism either through their own families or someone they know.”
Alan Kriss, CEO, Specialisterne Canada in Toronto outlines how the process typically works. The process begins as a pilot, in which Specialisterne works with the organization to identify roles and rewrite job descriptions so they are more suited to the target audience’s interests and skills.
Once potential candidates are pre-screened, the selected ones are brought in for a day-long group workshop, in which they engage in such activities as robot building and discussions with hiring managers.
New hires typically start on a short-term training contract. The structured training program is jointly led by the hiring manager and the external partner. Kriss says the outcomes have been exceptional: 98 per cent of trainees have moved on to permanent positions.
“At the same time, we also train current staff on neurodiversity and diversity in the workplace,” he says. Ongoing coaching is provided until the internal teams and managers are ready to take over.
While the process may seem onerous, SAP’s Sutton says the rewards far outweigh the effort. “As we go through it, we have had to rethink a lot of things. These are great practices that are starting to infiltrate back into our overall recruiting and management training.”
She also stresses that while people on the autism spectrum have unique needs, “the expectations on the job are exactly the same as for everyone else. They are not different from a measurement and expectations perspective. They want that and we want that.”