Fuller's launches neurodiverse recruitment guide

A premium pubs and hotels business has launched a guide to recruiting team members who are neurodiverse or have intellectual disabilities (ID).

The guide has been produced by Fuller's, with help and support from LVS Hassocks – a specialist school for children with autism owned by the Licensed Trade Charity – and the pub company's corporate charity Special Olympics Great Britain. 

While some Fuller’s pubs – in particular The Cabbage Patch in Twickenham – are already active in this space, the business says it has identified an opportunity to build on this work.

The guide offers advice such as team members with an ID potentially needing shorter shifts and clear, often visual, instruction. They may also have a range of sensory needs, such as quiet spaces for respite, or the avoidance of loud, busy sessions.

Fuller's says that against the backdrop of these minor adjustments, the benefits of a more diverse team are huge – building camaraderie and pride while helping to enrich the life of the new team member and their family. The pub company argues that it is also a step in tackling the 94% unemployment rate among the 1.5m people with an ID in the UK.

More on the guide

"This is such a great booklet aimed at giving our general managers the confidence and skills to recruit team members from a whole new, and vastly underrepresented, section of the community," says Monique Samra, Fuller’s people experience manager with responsibility for DE&I. "We had a goal of recruiting 20 new team members with an ID – and we’ve already beaten that target. With the roll out of this guide, I hope that number will continue to grow."

The guide covers all aspects of the recruitment process, from the use of inclusive language and visual cues, through interview, induction and making small, but suitable, changes to the working environment. Fuller’s took direction from Special Olympics athletes with first-hand knowledge of good and bad workplace practices and the teaching aids used in the classrooms at LVS Hassocks.

The booklet is being rolled out to all Fuller’s managed pubs and will also be available to all Fuller’s tenants. Moving forwards, the Licensed Trade Charity will take the work out to the wider industry later this year.

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