Earlier this month I was invited back to my former employer – Bank of Ireland’s. I joined approximately 80 other people, including the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Ray McAdam, for their Neuroinclusion Strategy launch. This launch was the bank’s official strategy to become a more neuroinclusive employer by recognising the need to improve inclusivity for neurodivergent people. Partnering with Yvonne Brewer and the rest of the team at Auticonn Ireland, the bank assessed its current state and developed an action plan focused on recruitment, training, reasonable accommodations, and accessible communication.
Several of Bank of Ireland’s staff and the Lord Mayor of Dublin at the event
The strategy emphasises skills-based hiring, clear candidate guidance, multimedia content for varied learning preferences, and transparency in interview processes. It aims to create an environment where neurodivergent colleagues and candidates feel supported, valued, and empowered to thrive, with ongoing training and adjustments embedded into the bank’s culture and operations to ensure inclusivity at every stage.
This comprehensive approach reflects Bank of Ireland’s commitment to being a leading neuro-inclusive workplace on the island of Ireland.
Interviewed the bank’s Head of Recruitment, Sean O’Connell, to find out more about why they felt the bank needed to take this approach and how successful it has been thus far:
- What was the starting point of launching the Neurodiversity strategy?
We recognised that we could do better when it came to being a neuro-inclusive employer. We had already developed a relationship with Auticon, and they worked with us to understand where we were and where we needed to get to. They helped us to discover the areas we needed to focus on the most, and we developed a plan based on that together.
With the help of Auticon, we were able to carry out an honest assessment of the bank as a whole. Recruitment, Bank of Ireland Leads the Way with Groundbreaking Neuroinclusion Strategy to Foster Inclusive Recruitment and Workplace Culture for Neurodivergent Talent of course, it was a key pillar of this, as it is often the first touchpoint for new talent, and it’s our way of getting highly skilled professionals into the bank!
- How did you begin the process of becoming more neuroinclusive?
We use Textio, which is a language analysis software tool. It’s been really helpful for us because it flags any kind of bias that might show up in our job ads or other documents. It has also helped us to really simplify our job ads by highlighting anything that could put someone off applying.
So Textio was a good starting point. The next step was training from Auticon, which was outstanding. The take-up on that training was like nothing we had ever seen before. And it wasn’t just people managers getting involved – colleagues from all across the bank took part. The training really resonated, especially for colleagues with lived experience of neurodiversity – whether they’re neurodiverse themselves or have a family member or friend who is. That level of response was the most surprising part of the whole journey for us to be honest.
The training really focused on increasing our awareness of the language we use. For example, when people are invited to interview in person, we need to give them clear directions. Instead of saying something vague like “go up to the 2nd floor, and down the back”, we should show candidates the way, or even describe what the office looks like in advance.
- What were some of the next steps you took to improve the process?
Firstly, we read through Auticon’s report to understand and accept their findings. We used that to make an action plan of everything needed to do.
Then we started to look at our job ads and think about how we can focus on skills. How do we move away from some of the overly-long, vague ads we have had in the past? We reduced the number of requirements and removed educational requirements and other barriers that weren’t actually being used as selection criteria.
At the end of the day, we want people who have the skills needed for the role.
Educational requirements don’t always reflect a person’s capability, and can prevent strong candidates from applying.
Now we focus on what the candidate is expected to do in the role, and the skills needed to do that, because that’s the most important thing.
- You radically changed the way reasonable accommodations are viewed. Can you tell me more about that?
The Reasonable Accommodations page of the bank’s career website
Of course, if a candidate needed help in the past, we did our best to support them. But we wanted to make the process more inclusive so that candidates could request reasonable accommodations at any stage of the process, without fear that they would be discriminated against as a result.
We have offered reasonable accommodations before, but we saw an opportunity to really improve and expand on what we were doing. We thought about how it could be more considerate of neurodivergent candidates.
So we started that journey, and as you can imagine, the first steps were the company-wide training, increasing awareness among colleagues, and thinking about language, etc.
If you look at our careers website, you can see exactly the type of accommodations we offer and examples of how we use them. There’s also a form you can fill in if you want to request one in confidence.
We want to give candidates every chance to perform at their best. The form lets the interviewer know that this person has requested an accommodation, and then that’s where our training kicks in. We look at the whole person – their skills, experience, and what they need to succeed in the role.
- Why did you decide to introduce multimedia to the site?
Accountability is a major value of the bank and particularly of ours as a recruitment team. It’s embedded in everything we do. Adding more videos and multimedia to our website was one way to show that. One of Auticon’s suggestions was to use more varied media in our job ads, because everyone learns in different ways. Having different formats, like video or audio, makes it easier for people to engage with the content. Our careers site used to be quite text-heavy, which isn’t ideal for everyone. By offering content in different formats, we’re showing that we’re welcoming and that we understand some candidates learn better visually.
We have found that a lot of people learn more effectively from a visual format, instead of just reading text-heavy documents. This is also a universal trend – most people prefer video these days, and that’s the way content is going. Another benefit is that it’s easy to share videos on our social media, and internal channels, so that we can promote the changes we’re making.
- The career website is so impressive. Why did you decide on this approach?
We asked ourselves, “What statement do we want to make?”. How do we give potential candidates the confidence that we are an inclusive employer, so that they feel comfortable requesting accommodations during the hiring process, and assured that they would have a fulfilling career with an understanding employer if they do join the company?
Again, it’s all about culture and awareness of what we’re doing. I also want to emphasise the universal design element of this, because these changes will become embedded in the process for all applicants.
A major decision for us was to publish the interview questions that candidates will be asked. This was a really important piece of work for us, because once you publish those questions externally, you have to commit to them and be held accountable for it. But it was also great to be able to do something a little bit different.
The careers website is all about reducing stress for candidates and giving people the resources they need to prepare, so that they can perform at their best in the interview stage. We have shared content on everything from what to expect from an in-person or online interview and how to request a reasonable accommodation, to the questions you will be asked and how to prepare for them. We have even shared a video tour of Baggot Plaza, where our interviews often take place.
- Did you come up against any challenges or issues implementing the new approach?
The main challenge we had was the time it took to implement the strategy. That was mainly due to lengthy internal discussions and also conversations with Auticon about what direction to go in. Then there were things like the reasonable accommodations, which we thought were going to be a quick win, but when we investigated it, it was a lot more complicated than we initially thought. Another issue was the design and layout of our website, which took a bit longer than we thought it would.
So we had some challenges, but everyone in the bank was so supportive, it really made developing the strategy a lot easier.
- What feedback have you had from candidates?
When we think about recruitment, we often talk about talent attraction. However, over 50% of our recruitment strategies are actually internal – in terms of promotion, progression, redeployment and people moving around the bank. Sometimes internal candidates can be even more nervous, because they could have been working towards a promotion for a long time, and they want to make sure that they give it their all.
That’s where our internal resource group comes into play. They were really involved during the process. Their insights and recommendations were so valuable, it really was us following their lead, rather than the other way around! When we redeveloped the website, we included a lot of their feedback.
Externally, we have seen an increase in reasonable accommodation requests, so that’s real validation that our strategy is working. We’ve also seen very positive comments on social media when we share the multimedia work we have done.
- The actual booklet is excellent. Why did you decide to publish it as a booklet for the event?
Having the booklet is great. It makes it more tangible and brings it to life. The team did a great job with the layout and content in it. We also hoped that those invited to the launch could then go back to their offices and workplaces and show their colleagues, so they can look at redeveloping their strategy too.
We were really delighted with the launch. To have the room full of people who have a real passion for this area, including the Lord Mayor, was such an honour. I think the booklet and launch is really the culmination of a huge amount of work from a wide range of people within the bank.
- What advice would you give someone in a company that is looking to develop their Neuroinclusion strategy?
Well, firstly, Auticon were a fantastic partners. I’d definitely recommend reaching out to them to start the conversation. Their training was a big win for us. It’s engaging, practical, and helps colleagues at all levels understand neurodiversity, challenge misconceptions, and build empathy.
Getting senior leaders on board made a huge difference, too. The support we had from our Chief People Office, Matt Elliott and his team was incredible – their support really helps those who are working on the strategy to know they are making a difference, which is a huge motivating factor for people.
From there, we looked at how we could make recruitment and onboarding more inclusive. That meant focusing on skills-based assessments, flexible work arrangements, and involving neurodivergent colleagues in shaping the process. Their feedback was invaluable.
We also made practical changes to things like job specs, interview formats, and reasonable adjustments. And finally, we made sure managers had the tools and resources they needed to support neurodivergent team members day to day.