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Your company has a diversity and inclusiveness policy. You employ lots of women and people from ethnic minorities and you are careful about access, wheelchair ramps and so on. You are a "good" company. Would you then employ somebody who appeared to lack basic social skills; one who found it difficult to meet new people; one who would not work in groups or take part in meetings; one who could not interact with colleagues?
You would probably shun this person. Running a business is hard enough without having to deal with uncooperative or difficult people. However, you should think again, because the people you are instinctively excluding may have skills you need. SAP, the German business software company, is seeking out people with autism to work as software testers and programmers. SAP hired six individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Bangalore in a pilot scheme and another in Ireland is hiring another five people. Their particular abilities improved the productivity of the business units and SAP now wants to extend the programme worldwide starting in the U.S., Canada and Germany.
About one per cent of the population are thought to be affected by autism spectrum disorders, a group of similar conditions which can impair a person's ability to communicate and acquire social skills. However, these disadvantages sometimes coexist with remarkable aptitudes: an ability to focus intensely, to perform repetitive tasks thoroughly and accurately and a powerful memory. Autism has been dramatised in fiction: most recently in Mark Haddon's novel about a boy with ASD, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which was recently adapted into an award-winning play. In seeking out and training such people, SAP is working with Specialisterne, a Danish company which does software testing and in which three quarters of the staff have been diagnosed with a form of ASD. It was founded by Thorkil Sonne, who set up the business after his son was diagnosed with infantile autism. He realised that his son might spend his life being misunderstood and isolated by his condition, unable to find employment due to his invisible handicap.
SAP's initiative is encouraging, not least because it is in part about self-interest. The software firm has found a potential pool of hidden talent. Like all talent, it comes with a cost and the company is simply investing time and money in acquiring and nurturing the skills it needs. Instead of looking at people and wondering whether they fit into the organisation, SAP is seeing how the organisation can adapt to the people it wants.
For most businesses, this upside-down approach is anathema. The organisational models spewed out by business schools reek of conformity and a regimental approach to work, one which is intolerant of unusual behaviour. These models do not encourage innovation or even enterprise, but they do thrive during recessions.
Specialistinterne's logo is a dandelion: "To most people, the dandelion is seen as nothing more than an annoying weed – something to be rooted out of our lawns and flower beds. But what a lot of people don't know is that, when cultivated, the dandelion is one of the most valuable and useful plants in nature, known for its healing and medicinal properties."
Carl Mortished is a contributor to ROB Insight, the business commentary service available to Globe Unlimited subscribers. Click here for more of his Insights.
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Carl Mortished