Critical Steps in Hiring and Retaining Autistic Employees

Starter Guide to Hire and Manage Staff with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)

It’s well known that people on the autistic spectrum may need special considerations and allowances in the workplace. Although this can seem time-consuming and too complicated, considerable research has shown that the benefits can far outweigh the cost.[1]

Increasingly, workplaces are seeing the benefit of hiring and maintaining autistic employees. These benefits include the employee’s ability to maintain sustained concentration, superior memory, strong attention to detail, high integrity, faster problem-solving, and so much more.

So, what can your organization do to get prepared to harness these advantages and get ahead of your competitors? This starter guide will give you some of the basics to get prepared from team education, interviews, and more:

Educate Staff and Human Resources (HR)

Educating your staff and HR team may be the most important step, whether you aim to hire autistic employees or generally educate yourself on ASD-related issues and benefits.

Educating yourself on some of the more general characteristics of people with ASD can help you understand your employees and ensure the correct allowances can be made so other team members can be aware and more accepting of some of the ‘quirks’ of ASD.

Many autistic people have some stimming behavior –they may flap hands when agitated, play with their hair, repeat your words back to you, and many others. Other autistic people can be very blunt in their interactions with others (this is covered more below). These are all common characteristics of ASD and should be considered a normal part of their daily life and not seen by the team as ‘strange’ or ‘concerning.’

Getting your team educated by one of the local autism organizations or groups in your area can be a great way to learn. These groups help us to gain insights into providing a psychologically safe environment, hear firsthand from autistic employees and inform your HR policymaking. Not only will this ensure you have the basics, but it can also put you in touch with people with ASD that may be an excellent fit for your organization.

Right People for the Right Job

Ensuring you have the right prospective employee for the job is vital in any organization.

Tapping into the ‘Special Interest’ of potential autistic employees is the best way to ensure you have the right person. One of the most common characteristics of autistic people is their special interests. Many autistic people consider their particular special interest to be an important strength, a way to relieve stress — this is where you will find their passion and talent.

For example, if your organization deals with railways or locomotives, look for someone with a special interest in trains, timetables, or even transport systems. Matching employees with their special interest in the field you want them to perform will instantly put your organization ahead of your competitors.[2]

Local autism organizations, special interest groups, disability employment providers, or even online forums about specific topics and interests can be a great way to look for potential autistic employees. Don’t assume they are actively looking for roles on jobseeker websites or newspapers. If you do, you may not find them.

Rethink the Interview

We all hate interviews, but autistic candidates find interviews even more problematic. Bright office lights, large interview panels, unknown people, and not knowing the questions can all be problems for people with ASD.

Think about changing the place you interview, maybe a darker room, outdoors or somewhere else quiet — sometimes even an online ‘Zoom’ type interview from the comfort of the interviewee’s home can make all the difference.

Send the interviewee a set of the questions you will ask and perhaps a photo and background profile of the interview panel members — this can give autistic candidates comfort in having at least a little knowledge of the people they will be meeting.

Why not even ask the interviewee what might help them in the interview and allow them to email you any questions or clarifications they might have after having time to process the interview?

These easy and simple adjustments will ensure you get the best out of the interviewee, and they have a chance to show their full talents.

Rules and Expectations

As mentioned above, many autistic people have unique behavioral characteristics that sometimes seem unacceptable, strange, or blunt. Adjustments need to be made for each autistic employee to ensure these behaviors don’t end up causing problems in the workplace.

Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean autistic employees can do and say whatever they wish without consequences — there still needs to be workplace expectations in place.

Clear, explicit, and concise rules and expectations are fundamental when setting norms for neurodiverse teams. Some of the basic rules and expectations you can put in place might even be things other team members take for granted (mainly unwritten rules) — so write them down and be blunt and straightforward — some of these may include:

• Unacceptable language and words (you can’t say f*#k, S*!t, etc.)
• Inappropriate behaviors (touching others, removing clothing, etc.)
• Start and finish times, lunch break times, and lengths (remember if you set a specific time, the employee may not be able to be flexible around these times without notice)

You might think some of these are basic commonsense workplace or societal rules, but often autistic people miss these nuances of life. Once they’re explained, they become almost embedded in future conduct and behaviors.

The key here is to work individually with each autistic employee to ensure they have all the information they need to fit into a workplace successfully or for the workplace to adjust to suit their needs. Performance Management Plans that can be used for all employees can effectively create the right expectations.

These simple adjustments can help avoid HR complaints and other issues with autistic employees.

Role and Performance

Clear expectations of a role or detailed instructions on what you want from them are essential — even if you think it is obvious, someone with ASD may not.

Especially if the role involves their ‘special interest’. You could end up with wasted time, too much information, or the employee going in a direction you had not intended. Simple things you can do include:

• Don’t assume instructions are clear. Be concise and explain in detail exactly what you want from them — (if you ask for a list of breeds of cat, don’t assume you will end up with a short list of domestic cats — you may get a list of every species and sub-species of feline on earth– this can be a waste of everyone’s time).
• Write your expectations and instructions down. Be as clear and detailed as possible.
• Ask the employee to clarify what they think the role is and what they should be doing. Let them read your instructions a day or two before the required start time. Providing instructions in advance is an easy way to ensure everyone is on track.

Even after you’ve made the role and performance expectations clear, if you still have performance issues with an autistic employee, don’t assume it’s because they aren’t good enough. Stop and think; is there a simple adjustment we can make as an organization to fix this? Often working with the employee on a ‘quick fix’ can solve the problem. Again, using Performance Management Plans can be a great way to structure your requirements.

Things to Remember:

I can’t stress enough that flexibility is critical. Individualize role and performance expectations with each autistic employee. It might seem time-consuming initially, but it will ensure the employee’s output outweighs any time invested in the accommodation effort.

By starting with these easy processes, your organization can be ahead of the pack on your journey to employing the perfect autistic superhero employees.

The most important thing to remember is Flexibility, Flexibility, Flexibility!

When you meet one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism

This article was written in collaboration with a person with ASD

References

[1] Jacob A, Scott M, Falkmer M, Falkmer T. (2015) The Costs and Benefits of Employing an Adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review. PLoS ONE 10(10): e0139896. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0139896

[2] Kirchner, J. & Mller-Remus, D. & Dziobek, Isabel. (2012). Special Interests in Adults with Autism and Their Potential for Employment. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268142999_Special_Interests_in_Adults_with_Autism_and_Their_Potential_for_Employment

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Photo Credit: Modified Vector from chanpipat / Shutterstock Standard License

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