How Neurodiversity Is Transforming Workplace Culture: Insights from Lived Experience and Most Loved Workplaces®

4 min read.

By Jack Fitzpatrick, PhD Student, Liverpool John Moores University

Hi Everyone, I am Jack Fitzpatrick, a PhD student at Liverpool John Moores University. I have been diagnosed with Autism and Dyspraxia since the age of three. My thesis is focused on Neurodiversity support for people in the workplace and how organisational culture can be improved. It is titled ‘Modern Policing in the 21st Century: Time for Inclusive Cultural Shift’. Most Loved Workplace has asked me to provide my insights on how organisations can utilise Neurodivergent talent and the power it can have upon workplace cultures due to April being Neurodiversity Awareness Month.

This article will be broken into:

• The Business Case for Neurodiversity
• The Need for Training
• Top Tips to Make Your Organisational Culture Neuro-Inclusive
• Examples of Reasonable Adjustments and Accommodations through Assistive Technology

The Business Case for Neurodiversity in Organisations

Deloitte states that roughly 10–20% of the population worldwide are neurodivergent, and ‘Today, organisations are under pressure to integrate a diverse workforce, encourage out-of-the-box thinking to gain a competitive edge, and deal with a worker’s market’ (Deloitte, 2022). This highlights the need for out-of-the-box thinking in a competitive market, which is essential. The skills and attributes of neurodivergent people can be an extreme advantage for workplaces.

The Harvard Business Review wrote an article titled ‘Neurodiversity is a Competitive Advantage’ highlighting that neurodivergent employees have ‘30% more productivity’ than their neurotypical colleagues (Harvard Business Review, 2018). This was proven when Hewlett Packard did a test to prove it (Harvard Business Review, 2018).

However, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the UK, only ‘22% of autistic adults in the UK are in full-time employment’ (National Autistic Society, 2021). This highlights that although some neurodivergent people are employed and fulfilling their full potential, many struggle to use their talents in the workplace.

It is imperative to nurture this talent, as neurodivergent people are loyal and produce impactful, high-quality work for your organisation. Organisations must consider neurodivergence and its benefits to the workplace throughout the recruitment, retention, and progression lifecycle. This can be done by providing reasonable adjustments and accommodations for workers and understanding the legislative requirements to ensure that the workplace is tailored to their sensory, physical, and emotional needs.

The Need for Training

Many employers I have spoken with have neurodivergent support in place but do not know how to deploy it when an employee requests accommodations or reasonable adjustments. In addition, organisations I have spoken with during my research have highlighted that line managers must have the knowledge and skills to manage neurodivergent people in their teams.

Neurodiversity training is essential for organisations to foster a more inclusive culture, reduce discrimination, and improve communication. These training sessions should be mandatory across the organisation so that every employee knows what neurodiversity is and improves your organisational culture.

These training sessions should be led by people who have lived experience of the challenges of neurodiversity and the daily hurdles people face. They should also provide insight and enable people to change their organisation’s approach to become more inclusive.

These sessions should include the business case for neurodiversity, storytelling of best practices and challenges that neurodivergent people face in the workplace, and suggestions for managers on how to improve the workplace environment. There should also be a call to action at the end of the session. This will enable all employees to understand and be aware of neurodiversity if they interact with their teams and clients, as it will at some point arise.

Top Tips to Make Your Organisational Culture Neuro-Inclusive

As highlighted earlier in this article, recruiting neurodivergent people is essential to improving organisational effectiveness, development, and cultural change. Ernst Young (EY), a big financial firm, is an example of a different hiring strategy. They have created the Neurodiversity Centre of Excellence, which is very popular in the US. Over 100 of these schemes have been set up and are currently in development, with two active in the UK.

These schemes remove the need for assessment centres and interviews. Through ‘empowerment weeks,’ neurodivergent people are deployed into a team, giving them a live project to work on. This is then reviewed at the end of the week, with the other team members interviewed to see if the neurodivergent person is a good fit for the team. This pragmatic approach has created some success stories and solutions to different problems due to the out-of-the-box neurodivergent thinking.

I like to say that if you have met one neurodiverse person, then you have met one neurodiverse person, as each person’s profile is different with their own strengths and weaknesses. In addition to recruitment, there are some other strategies to create a neuro-inclusive environment including:

Just ask neurodivergent people what they need to thrive within the work environment, as this will give you important insights into their working style.
Ensure that information, when spoken, is backed up in writing if requested, as this reinforces the tasks that they need to undertake and defines deadlines.
Let people communicate how they want to. This could be through the internal chat system, calls, emails, or face-to-face, and stick to this as it enables people to feel comfortable.
Offer flexibility to colleagues regarding whether they want to work from home some days and in the office when they need to be. For example, for more sensitive information handling, they need to be in the office.
Recognising the strengths and weaknesses of a neurodivergent employee is one of the most effective supports a manager can provide. Some neurodiverse people are better at data, and others are better at reports. Play to the individual’s strengths.

With the approaches outlined in this section, your organisation will create an open culture that will enable everyone to bring their full selves to the workplace, reach their full potential, and give their all without fear of discrimination or harassment.

Examples of Reasonable Adjustments and Accommodations through Assistive Technology

There are many different things that can benefit neurodivergent people in the workplace. Below are some points to consider when designing office spaces or implementing assistive technology into your organisation:

Workplace Zoning – Areas should be divided into collaborative spaces, shared spaces for common activities such as lunch, quiet zones for intense work, and private zones for confidential calls.
Soundproof Work Booths – Used in organisations like Merseyside Police, these enable people to do deep work and focus without distraction.
Ergonomic Chairs – Products like the Be You chair allow movement and support kinaesthetic learning styles, especially useful for people with ADHD.
Earplugs or Noise-Cancelling Headphones – Help drown out distractions and support concentration.
Assistive Technology – Includes screen readers, speech-to-text software, and other accessibility tools.

Most Loved Workplaces® Championing Neurodiversity

Many organisations are putting these principles into action—and have been recognized as Most Loved Workplaces® for Neurodiversity for their commitment to building inclusive cultures that actively support neurodivergent talent. Here are just a few:

Ultranauts – A software testing company where neurodiversity is a core business advantage. Their workforce is primarily neurodivergent, and they’ve built systems that empower every employee to thrive.
Spectrum Designs – A social enterprise employing over 70% neurodivergent individuals, proving that inclusive business models are both scalable and sustainable.
The Precisionists, Inc. – Known for creating jobs for neurodivergent individuals through partnerships with major corporations in IT, analytics, and business operations.
Auticon – A technology consultancy that exclusively employs autistic adults as consultants, using their strengths in data, pattern recognition, and analytical thinking.
DaVita, Cloudflare, Hope Network, and Brookdale Senior Living – These companies integrate neurodiversity into broader inclusion strategies, creating more empathetic, innovative, and effective workplace cultures.

Each of these organizations exemplifies what’s possible when neurodiversity is not just supported, but celebrated. They are proof that with the right leadership and systems in place, workplaces can become engines of empowerment for all minds.

For more on becoming a certified Most Loved Workplace® with a neurodiversity badge, visit mostlovedworkplace.com.