Employing the under-served was always the intention in our company, but the initial mindset was that it was a good thing to do rather than seeing the direct benefit to the bottom line.  However, our experience over the past few years has changed my thinking.  I now see that having neurodiversity in the business as a huge benefit rather than being a cost to carry. 

My experience

In 2019 I visited a café in Jersey where all the front of house team had Down’s Syndrome, and it was an amazing experience to be served by these beautiful, authentic and loving people.  The whole experience moved me and my friend to tears.

So, when we were planning our retail business, Flourish, I was very keen to offer employment to neurodiverse people.  Not only am I a strong believer in what all people have to offer a business, but I also have a neurodiverse son myself, who works for a supermarket chain that simply doesn’t appreciate what he has to offer their business.

We planned from the start of the business in 2021 to work with a local agency to employ three neurodiverse young adults to work within the business.  The aim was to build up their confidence and give them experience in a workplace.  Three years later, two of the original three are still with us—the third went on to gain employment with a national restaurant chain—and we now have two more neurodiverse adults contributing to our business. 

Enriching a business

Employing people with neurodiversity has enriched our business in many ways.

Firstly, those with neurodiversity, given the right role, can perform that role better than many without neurodiversity.  Some tasks are better suited to the neurodiverse.  I speak from personal experience here.  My son is autistic, and he works on the tills in a national supermarket chain and on the Customer Service desk.  He is the most outgoing person on the tills, talks to customers and generally adds huge positivity to the rather stale atmosphere.  Yes, possibly sometimes he overshares, but their customers love him!

Secondly, having neurodiverse people in our business helps develop the rest of our team, many of whom won’t have worked with, for example, those with Downs Syndrome or autism before.  They will learn how best to interact with people different to themselves and how best to communicate in a way that others understand.  And rather than possibly being slightly afraid of diverse people, they will learn to love them instead.

Thirdly, once settled into a workplace those with neurodiversity, if they are treated with respect and care, gain a huge amount of dignity and are far more likely to stay.  There will be high degrees of loyalty - and what business doesn’t need that?

Fourth, although clearly not the reason for acting in this way, the local community and our customers love that we are employing neurodiverse people.  One of our neurodiverse young adults invited many other colleagues to her birthday party, at which her dad made a speech exuding the gratitude towards us as her employers.  There was not a dry eye in the house and many people there were customers of the business.

And that brings me to my final point that having people who are different within our business add to the joy, love and gratitude within it.  Rather than being a burden to carry, they enrich the business community and add to revenue and profitability.

Buckland Report and beyond

The government commissioned Sir Robert Buckland to review employment and autism, and there were 19 recommendations in the Buckland report, and I would encourage you to read it, but we can respond positively without knowing the details.  I suggest you talk to other businesses who are tapping into the huge potential in this area, go and see what they are doing and talk to the other employees about the benefits they bring.  As I hope is clear from our experience, this isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s good for business. Your company will be positively impacted by creating space for those with neurodiversity.

There are nearly a million unfilled vacancies in the UK, particularly in the hospitality and retail sector, but many others too.  I encourage every business to investigate the huge untapped potential of the neurodiverse community in the UK.  They could transform your business for better.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Hargreaves is a speaker, author, CEO and B Corp Ambassador. He is one of the leading voices in the UK encouraging and inspiring businesses to make a positive impact on the world, strongly believing that businesses should be a Force for Good, which is the title of his first book. 

Paul’s is CEO of Cotswold Fayre, a large speciality food and drink wholesale business supplying over 2,000 retail sites in the UK.  In 2021 the company opened Flourish, its first foodhall, restaurant and home and lifestyle store.

Cotswold Fayre was one of the UK’s founding B Corps in 2015 and the company was named Elite Business’s No 1 in The SME Top 100. It has won the Lloyd’s Bank ‘Purpose before Profit Award’ and a coveted Grocer Gold Award.  Paul’s team of over 120 is constantly looking for ways to be generous and compassionate by putting people and planet before profit; this is at the root of the business’s success.

Paul believes that to bring the radical and systemic change required to reverse climate change and the growing inequality in the world a new compassionate, loving and servant-hearted leadership is required. This is what he calls The Fourth Bottom Line, the title of his second book.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulwhargreaves/