More than a third (35%) of workplace professionals said managers in their organisation lack confidence when discussing reasonable adjustments for neurodivergent employees, according to research by compliance e-learning provider VinciWorks.
Its survey of 495 HR, learning and development, and compliance professionals also found almost a third (30%) of respondents described managers as not very confident regarding conversations on the topic, while 5% said they were not confident at all. Conversely, 6.5% said managers were very confident in conversations.
More than half (57%) said their organisation was neurodiversity friendly, while 28% said they were unsure if it was or not.
Almost a third (31%) cited staff lacking awareness as the biggest obstacle to improving support for neurodivergent employees, while 22% identified manager confidence.
Two-fifths (39%) of organisations have delivered any neurodiversity training, and of those that have, 21% embedded it within ongoing programmes. A similar proportion (38%) said their organisation had not trained on neurodiversity but wanted to, and 14% said there were no plans to do so.
When asked to identify barriers to improving support for neurodivergent employees, 53% noted barriers linked to training and awareness. Time and budget constraints were cited by 16%, unsupportive workplace culture was identified by 14%, and unclear or inconsistently applied policies by 11%.
Nick Henderson-Mayo, head of compliance at VinciWorks, said, “There is a pattern here that should concern HR and compliance leaders. Organisations which say they are neurodiversity-friendly should have the evidence to back this up. With the Employment Rights Act putting more power in the hands of workers, firms should be prepared to show a tribunal how supporting neurodiversity in principle aligns with practice.
“A single standalone session is unlikely to change how a manager behaves when a neurodivergent employee comes to them with a problem. What changes behaviour is repeated exposure, practice and the confidence that comes from knowing what effective support for neurodivergent staff looks like. Effective training covers how to open the conversation, how to approach a needs assessment, and how to review adjustments over time.”
