Last month saw Neurodiversity Celebration Week. Set up by Siena Castellon, who suffers from ADHD and dyspraxia, it aims to bring to the fore the talents of people who are now generally described as neuro-atypical or neurodiverse.
For those who may be unsure, neurodiversity refers to people who sit somewhere on the autistic spectrum (though it is not entirely limited to this).
It can range in scope and severity – the spectrum ranges from those with low-level social impairments who may find making friends, reading social signals and relating to others difficult (Asperger’s Syndrome is the most well-known of these).
Those more severely affected may find communication difficult or react badly to a range of stress factors.
What many ‘neurodivergent’ people do possess, however, is different – often exceptional – skills and talents. Some may be highly skilled at pattern recognition, while others have extraordinary memory or maths skills; they may also excel at problem-solving, hatching creative insights or visual spatial thinking.
But getting neurodiverse people into the workplace isn’t easy.
In the US, unemployment in the neurodiverse population runs at 80%, while in the UK, just 16% of autistic adults are in full-time employment.
At the same time, some businesses have recognised that by only hiring ‘neurotypical’ candidates, they are missing out on some very smart and capable people.
For some businesses there has been a dawning realisation that in order to maintain a competitive edge they need to recruit differently; while emotional intelligence and personal skills are important, the qualities often exhibited by autistic people are in fact just as desirable – if not more so – to a business dependent on smart thinking and new ideas.
So, where does that leave treasury? Rachael Crocker, executive director for treasury at recruitment firm Brewer Morris, believes treasury has always been an area where neurodiversity has been present – albeit often under the radar.
“It’s been a place where neurodiverse people can do well because you’ve got a really diverse range of skill sets within it – it’s a microclimate where you can let people play to their strengths.”
Crocker says that in her experience, treasury teams have traditionally tended to accommodate individuals with analytical skill sets who thrive in areas like modelling, as well as in the more technical areas like hedge accounting.
“Treasury teams have traditionally been good at managing that mix and recognising talent,” she says. “So, I think there’s a really good sense – particularly on the analytical side – of how companies can use a neurodiverse workforce to their own benefit.
But Crocker admits that some clients looking to recruit into treasury sometimes fail to understand what exactly they can – and should – expect from those they hire.
“My biggest frustration used to be when someone would brief me on a very analytical role and then they would add, ‘They also have to be really good at building relationships’. And while it’s possible that those people exist, it’s more likely that the real analytical stars don’t enjoy that side and they want to get into the data.
“I would challenge them and ask why. We know the treasury function needs relationship builders, but don’t you have them elsewhere in the team?”
Expecting neurodiverse people to conform to certain stereotypes can often lead to a mismatch. Thankfully, things are beginning to change. “We have certainly seen a shift in the perception of what a good candidate looks like,” Crocker explains.
“It used to be true that neuro-atypical individuals wouldn’t usually fit into a neat and tidy box. So we’re moving away from the ‘perfect candidate’ and the conversations I have shows that mindsets are opening up to a different way of identifying the right candidates – and that’s a good shift.
“Increasingly, we’re seeing people acknowledge difference, and accept that in some cases in certain roles they’d be better off with a knowledgeable and passionate person focused on data and less skilled at leadership or relationship building.”
Key to that is the growing understanding of what neurodiversity means and how to bring a wider range of talent into the treasury team – and see it as a benefit rather than a challenge.
“People have been uncertain about it in the past – unsure of the language to use, for instance,” Crocker says.
“But it falls into the same bracket as gender, ethnicity and so on, where we have to get comfortable with asking people what support they need; and the reality is that most neurodiverse people wouldn’t feel they needed any special provision at all. It’s more about having an understanding of their strengths and skills – as does everyone.”
And while few corporates have specific policies to identify and recruit from the neurodiverse population, it is beginning to filter into the mainstream.
“We already have partnerships with agencies who represent a range of people in this area,” says Crocker. “And it’s really good to see companies seeking out agencies like that – they’re cottoning on to the fact that there are so many talented people who they might otherwise overlook.
“Treasury can be a really welcoming place for neurodiverse talent. People just need to be confident enough about asking how they can find and support the talent that exists.”
Christian Doherty is editor of The Treasurer
