Kevin Shannon works at SAP in the enterprise support department, delivering services for SAP customers and ensuring the systems run smoothly.
His skills and strengths as an autistic person made him a good candidate for a role in the software company, where he's been working for more than 6 years.
"I bring my own way of thinking. It does require a little bit of support in some ways, but you're able to bring your own unique perspective to the company," he said. "SAP is very understanding and willing to support people, and able to provide reasonable accommodations to allow you to be the best that you can be."
Ireland has reached full employment, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office, and businesses regularly report the difficulties they experience attracting and retaining staff.
However, 85% of people who are neurodivergent are either unemployed or underemployed, according to Specialisterne Ireland, a consultancy for neurodivergent people, supporting them into employment. They help them find employers who will make the most of their abilities while appropriately accommodating their challenges.
Peter Brabazon, CEO of Specialisterne, said, "We are about gaining employment for people who are neurodivergent - autistic, dyslexic, dyspraxic and other challenges - gaining employment for them, supporting them in that employment and retaining that employment."
He said people who are neurodivergent often come up solutions that other people would not have imagined; "they think outside of the box".
The organisation has had a relationship with some of its candidates for up to 10 years, and has seen increased interest in their candidates across a variety of industries in recent years.
"There is some learning, and what we like to do is embed the idea of inclusivity and that you can't just design your company to be inclusive, that you actually have to think about the person, that it has to be a candidate centric approach," Mr Brabazon said. "We prepare the candidate for a particular job specification and a particular employer, and the employers as well. It has to be the two of them coming together; the pressure isn't by any means on the employer and that's why, before we put a person up, we like to prepare them for the employer."
Will Royal is Team Lead with the Client Service Desk at SAP. His neurodivergent colleagues bring important skills to the team. "There are many benefits to having neurodivergent colleagues on our team in SAP. If we look at my own department, client services; problem solving and attention to detail are two key skills that employees need to be successful in our department. We have found our neurodivergent colleagues excel in these areas."
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Do employers have to make a lot of accommodations in the workplace when hiring someone who is neurodivergent?
Mr Brabazon said there are some accommodations but usually they are of no or low cost. Accommodations may include allowing employees to wear earphones, or letting them take breaks when the canteen is not too busy. Autistic people also prefer direct less ambiguous instructions. "For example, in Ireland we tend to say, 'You might have that for me', rather than, 'I want it at 4 o'clock'. An autistic person would particularly like you to tell them, ' I need it for 4 o'clock'."
At SAP, Mr Royal said simple things like giving employees advance notice of meetings is appreciated. "We want to make sure they know we are having a meeting in a week's time, we don't want to randomly appear at their desk and ask them for a meeting, small things like that have really helped us improve the success for our employees."
Mr Shannon admits that as an autistic person, he too has had to make accommodations for his colleagues. "There were times when I was over zealous, I wanted to have a training session with my colleague Jonathan and he hadn't even put his bag down, then I realised I should just let the guy come in, sit down and have his breakfast and then I can talk to him."
Specialisterne has partnered with 52 companies in the past 10 years, and has enabled almost 500 people to get employment in banks, insurance, accountancy, IT, engineering and PR.
At a time when many businesses are struggling to attract and retain talent, Mr Brabazon says there are talented people with the necessary skills available.
"The fact that the unemployment rate is so low is good from our point of view, because we have the people who have the talent but it take a little bit longer to get it out of them. Their employment rate is 85% typically, is very high, in fact it's 3 times higher than the typical disabled person. There is a real opportunity for companies to come to us, or candidates to come to us and we can match them up."
Mr Royal said working with colleagues who are neurodivergent is rewarding for every member of the team. "We have several individuals on our team who have family members who are neurodivergent, and they have come to me and told me that they have learned so much from our neurodivergent colleagues, and they have been able to bring what they have learnt into their own personal lives as well."
A valued employee at SAP, Mr Shannon enjoys his role with the company resolving issues for customers. "There is a really positive work culture, a really positive work life balance as well. It's a really positive work environment and I really enjoy it a lot."
