There’s been a real shift in how organisations talk about neurodiversity over the past few years.
Awareness is up and people talk about it more openly. Plenty of employers have made changes too. On paper, that’s progress.
Talk to managers, though, and you often hear something else. They understand the concept of neurodiversity, but they’re not always confident applying it in practice. Conversations around performance can feel more complex, and decisions around adjustments are sometimes inconsistent or delayed.
A recent research paper published in the International Journal of Selection and Assessment explores this gap in more detail.
Its main point is one we see all the time. Neuroinclusion rarely falls short because people lack awareness. It falls short in the day-to-day detail of how work is set up, explained and managed.
Awareness is only the starting point
Awareness matters. It cuts stigma and makes it easier for people to talk about how they work.
However, awareness on its own rarely changes outcomes.
An organisation may understand what ADHD in the workplace or autism at work looks like, but if expectations remain unclear, communication is inconsistent or workloads are structured in a way that creates constant pressure, employees may still struggle.
This is where many organisations reach a plateau. They have the knowledge, but it hasn’t yet translated into how work actually happens.
What they need now is less about knowing more and more about doing things differently on an ordinary Tuesday.
The workplace itself can create barriers
For us, the most useful part of the research is that it moves the focus from the individual to the environment.
Instead of asking what support a person needs, employers are encouraged to consider how the workplace might be contributing to the challenge.
This includes factors such as how tasks are assigned, how priorities are communicated and how success is measured. People tend to treat these as neutral. They aren’t, and they can make a role far easier or harder to do.
For example, an employee may struggle in an environment where priorities change frequently and expectations are communicated informally. Another may find it difficult to keep up when most communication happens verbally and at pace, without time to process or reflect.
In neither case is ability the real problem. The problem is the fit between the person and the way the work is set up.
Add some clarity and consistency and performance often improves, without anything elaborate.
Strengths depend on the conditions around them
More employers now talk about the strengths that come with neurodivergence, which is good. The risk is that it creates the impression that these strengths will naturally appear in any environment.
In reality, strengths depend heavily on context.
Someone with strong attention to detail may perform well in a role where tasks are clearly defined, but struggle when priorities shift constantly. A highly creative employee may generate strong ideas, but find it difficult to contribute in fast-paced meetings that allow little thinking time.
So rather than just listing someone’s strengths, ask whether the job, as it’s currently set up, lets them use them.
Small changes to structure or communication often do the trick. Our list of reasonable adjustment examples for managers is a useful starting point.
Recruitment processes often set the tone
The research also highlights recruitment as an area where organisations can unintentionally create barriers.
Traditional interviews often favour quick thinking, verbal confidence and the ability to respond under pressure. While these skills are relevant in some roles, they do not always reflect how someone will perform in the job itself.
So good candidates get missed.
Employers do not need to redesign their entire recruitment process, but small changes can improve fairness. Sharing interview questions in advance, including practical tasks or allowing candidates time to think before responding can all help create a more accurate assessment of ability. If you use automated screening, it is also worth understanding how AI in hiring can affect neurodivergent candidates.
None of this lowers the bar. It gives candidates a fair chance to show what they can do.
Taking a more considered approach to performance
Performance management is often where these challenges become most visible.
When someone isn’t meeting expectations, you have to deal with it. The research suggests pausing before you go straight to a formal process.
Employers should consider whether expectations have been clearly communicated, whether the workload is manageable and whether there are any barriers affecting performance. Sometimes a simple adjustment is enough. We cover this in more detail in our guide on what to do if an employee with ADHD isn’t performing.
Accountability stays. You are just making sure you judge performance fairly and with the full picture.
An early, structured conversation usually stops a small issue turning into a big one.
Managers make or break it
Policies and strategies provide a framework, but managers shape how inclusion is experienced day to day.
Managers who feel confident setting expectations, having open conversations and responding to different working styles are far more likely to create inclusive environments. Creating psychological safety for neurodivergent employees is a big part of that.
When managers feel unsure, they may delay conversations or avoid them altogether. Small problems then get bigger.
For many organisations, building manager confidence is one of the most effective steps they can take. It is also where many neurodiversity strategies fall down. Managers don’t need to become experts. They need practical guidance they can use in real conversations. Acas guidance on neurodiversity at work is a helpful reference alongside this.
What employers should take from this research
One-off initiatives and awareness sessions won’t get you there on their own. Neuroinclusion lives in how work is designed, explained and managed every day.
For employers, this means focusing on clarity, consistency and structure, while also supporting managers to feel confident in their role.
Most of these changes are simple. They still make a big difference.
And they help everyone, not only neurodivergent staff. When expectations are clear and communication is consistent, teams tend to perform more effectively overall.
How Enna can help
Getting from awareness to everyday practice is the work we spend most of our time on, with organisations of every size. Our neurodiversity training for managers builds the everyday confidence this research points to, and our neuroinclusive performance management workshop helps managers handle performance conversations fairly and early.
If you want to look at how your processes work in practice, our neuroinclusion audits and consultancy review recruitment, adjustments and management against what good looks like. A good first step is our free neuroinclusion maturity assessment or book a call with our team.
