PEOPLE & PLANET | DIVERSITY
But the tide is changing . Increased awareness and understanding coupled with an expanded corporate focus on DEI and continuing talent shortages is turning employer attention towards what has historically been untapped talent .
Embracing neurodiverse talent While there is no data on neurodiverse hiring specifically , growth in the recruitment of persons with disabilities ( PwD ) in India rose to 4 % in Q2 FY23 from 1 % in FY22 , according to Quess General Staffing – and more organisations are getting on board .
Monika Mahto is a research leader at the Deloitte Center for Integrated Research . She works on Deloitte ’ s global research campaigns on advanced technologies and future of work and leads the Inclusion- Wellbeing initiative for Deloitte ’ s 700 employees across Mumbai , Hyderabad and Bengaluru .
“ We are seeing positive developments in support of neurodiversity , including employers ’ willingness to support neurodiverse individuals ,” Monika tells Business Chief .
Citing Deloitte research , Monika points to multiple forces of change within the corporate world – from the war on talent and widening skills gap , to the pressure to integrate a diverse workforce , not to mention the need to create and sustain business value in new ways .
“ Neurodiverse professionals can help organisations find solutions to some of these challenges by fuelling innovation , facilitating problem-solving , and enhancing productivity – delivering benefits at many levels ,” she says – adding that
AI TO DRIVE NEURODIVERSE INCLUSION
According to Deloitte research , AI offers an untapped opportunity to drive diversity and improve accessibility in the workplace for all .
AI can remove language barriers and improve accessibility in meetings and discussions by using text summarisation to help professionals who may find it difficult to comprehend large bodies of text in one sitting . “ Meeting notes can be transcribed for those with diagnoses such as dysgraphia or dyslexia , to improve the work experience and effectiveness ,” says Deloitte research leader Monika .
She further suggests mitigating human and algorithmic biases in screening potential candidates with AI . “ During screening , traditional processes that involve identifying an ideal candidate through stereotypical criteria , such as facial or speech expressions , may make it difficult for neurodivergent applicants to showcase their capabilities . AI screening programmes may help control some of the human subjectivity , as long as AI biases are controlled in the programme .”
Deloitte research finds some companies use evaluative AI screeners with neurosciencebased games embedded to better understand candidates ’ hard-to-assess competencies , such as risk-taking , perseverance , and emotional intelligence , along with traditional traits such as logical reasoning and quantitative and verbal abilities .
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