GAIN Unveils Ambitious Three-Year Strategy to Transform Neurodiversity in the Insurance and Investment Industry

London 9th May 2024 - GAIN (Group for Autism, Insurance, Investment and Neurodiversity) announces the launch of its new three-year strategy and business plan aimed at revolutionising the employment prospects for neurodivergent individuals within the insurance and investment sector. The unveiling of this strategic roadmap marks a significant milestone in GAIN's mission to foster neuroinclusion and create a more diverse and equitable workplace environment.

The launch event, on the 9th of May at the Old Bailey will feature a keynote speech from Sir Robert Buckland, KC KBE, MP, who is the Honorary President of GAIN and author of the independent Buckland Review of Autism Employment. He will share insights into the wider national context for neurodivergent employment and underscore the significance of neuroinclusion in driving business success. Sir Robert is also expected to highlight the importance of collaboration and partnership in driving meaningful change and advancing the cause of neurodiversity inclusion.

Francis McGee, Executive Chair of GAIN will emphasize GAIN’s commitment to transforming the industry for neurodivergent individuals. "The launch of our strategic roadmap signifies a pivotal moment in reshaping the employment landscape for neurodivergent individuals within the insurance and investment sector. With the support of our 43 corporate members and their 100,000+ employees we're charting a course towards a workplace that is not only more diverse but also truly equitable. This strategy underscores our dedication to creating opportunities that empower neurodiverse talent and drive innovation and productivity within our industry."

Barbara Schonhofer MBE, Founder of GAIN shares, ‘The organisation's growth since its inception in 2021 has been remarkable. This shows the compelling nature of our mission to empower neurodivergent individuals in the workplace. Through this industry owned and led initiative we can foster a culture of neuroinclusion that benefits individuals and businesses alike.”

The three-year strategy and business plan outlined by GAIN are organised around four key themes:

Building Belief: Through education and awareness-raising initiatives, GAIN aims to grow its community and promote the business benefits of neuroinclusion.

Harnessing Expertise: GAIN will leverage the expertise of its panel of service providers and community members to offer practical solutions and support to its members.

Creating Neuroinclusive Workspaces: GAIN will develop tools and resources to help members build neuroinclusive workspaces and establish best practices within the industry.

Growing Talent Streams: GAIN will focus on nurturing talent pipelines for the industry by supporting education leavers, individuals returning to work, and those transitioning into new career paths.

GAIN also sets out for discussion a framework for measuring progress and change over the implementation of the plan. This includes the pace of attracting new talent to the industry and closing gaps between the workplace experiences and career outcomes of neurodivergent people and others in the workplace.

Laurie Edmans CBE, Founder and Co-Chair of GAIN emphasizes, “Our industry is leading the way towards neuroinclusion through the radical transformation of the employment prospects of neurodivergent people. We’ve fostered a shared belief that neuroinclusion at work is not just a good thing to do, but also a good thing for business. This three-year strategy takes the next steps towards tangible change.”

GAIN invites interested parties to join its community and contribute to the advancement of neurodiversity inclusion in the insurance and investment sector. By becoming members, sponsors, individuals, and organisations can play a crucial role in shaping the future of the industry.

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Notes for the Editor

View the Executive Summary video and full document at Strategy Summary | Gain Together Member

For follow-up questions, comments or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Liselle Appleby, Communications & Marketing Lead, GAIN

07866 718701 liselle@gaintogether.org

Sackers signs up to GAIN

London, 02 May 2024 - Sackers announced today that it has become a corporate member of the Group for Autism, Insurance, Investment and Neurodiversity (GAIN), as a further demonstration of its commitment to ED&I.  It is only the second law firm to do so.

Sackers is looking forward to working with GAIN to help make its office and working practices more neuro-inclusive and benefiting from GAIN’s industry specific support, advice and guidance.  As a first step, GAIN will undertake an assessment to benchmark Sackers against similar sized organisations, including conducting bespoke surveys and reviewing communications.

Sackers is also encouraging both neurodivergent staff and allies to become individual members of GAIN to access the full range of information, activities and networking opportunities that being a member of the GAIN community offers.

David Saunders, Senior Partner of Sackers, said, “Sackers has a long tradition of championing diversity and inclusion in the workplace.  We want all our staff to excel.  Our membership of GAIN is an important step in enhancing our support for neurodivergent colleagues and industry partners.  Making Sackers as neuroinclusive a place to work and meet as possible will benefit us and our clients.”

Liselle Appleby, Supervisory Member of GAIN states, “We are delighted to welcome Sackers as the latest corporate member of GAIN.  As a market leader in the pensions and retirement savings industry, Sackers is committed to investing in a neuroinclusive culture encompassing universal design principles that will benefit employees, clients, and the business as a whole.”

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Notes for Editor

For follow-up questions, comments or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Liselle Appleby, Communications & Marketing Lead, GAIN

07866 718701 liselle@gaintogether.org

We need to change the narrative.

by Dan Neill, AXA Health

Yesterday was the closest I’ve been in many years to having a full blown autistic meltdown at work. “A meltdown is ‘an intense response to overwhelming situations’. It happens when someone becomes completely overwhelmed by their current situation” It was nothing to do work or the people I work with. It was actually something that was supposed to be discussing Autism in the workplace. I listened to a webinar/podcast and fundamentally disagreed with the narrative that it portrayed . The stats, such as only 16% of autistics in full time employment , I can live with, they’re accepted and for the most part about right. What I found challenging  was the overriding perception of negativity, the attitude of this is how you fit these people in. Some of myths were rightly dispelled only to be replaced by other things that are similar assumptions.  I felt frustrated, angry and marginalised everything I’ve tried to achieve in helping people understand what being autistic is like felt for nothing. Rather than walk away from it all (which I was very close too) I regrouped and started to look for people who shared a similar view to me on this. I didn’t have to go far as over the last couple of years I’ve met and chatted with a number of people who are like me and have a similar viewpoint.

So narratives

The first thing we need to address is the use of the term spectrum it’s exactly that a spectrum, NOT a line that runs from high to low functioning. After yesterday I was anything but high functioning. Function is subjective to the individual and no one else. If we are talking about co-morbidities and learning difficulties then we need to talk about level of impairment rather than function, the two things are hugely different.  In terms of starting to understand Autism the video below by Sara is a really good starting point to understanding the complexity and nuance of what being autistic is like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeQxSdEpi7Y

The second is the perceptions around strengths and weakness. Yes there are areas where we find things challenging, more so than most. The other side of that is that because our brains work in a different way to most, we can have a fundamentally different perspective, use it. As an example lets take communication differences. Why do I need to use my eyes (to maintain eye contact) to prove that I’m listening to what you are saying. This is a social construct and has actually nothing to do with whether my ears are actually receiving the information you’re trying to impart. The reality being without looking at your face I’m probably more focused on what you have to say and how you are saying it, being eidetic I will probably be able to directly quote you years after you have forgotten about ever having said it. So when you see a job advert that says it requires “exceptional communication skills” what do you actually mean? Written, oral, presentation, analysis? From an autistic perspective we look at what you write and say. If you rely on the unwritten and implied rather than being able to directly articulate it, who are the ones with the communication difficulties? I wouldn’t say it’s the autistics. In terms of utilising the skills we have Helen Needham’s is recently diagnosed and a senior leader in a management consultancy and someone who I’ve been talking to a fair amount recently. Her speech at the house of commons highlights how taking a different perspective can provide a competitive advantage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_XoF7jnyIY

Hopefully this may have shown that taking a purely pathological and medical approach to autistics in the work place really doesn’t help move things forward. We need to be more creative and disruptive in how we look at and utilise skills in the workplace rather than focus on negative assumptions.

The overriding impression I was left with is that while we aren’t prefect here (simply because it’s going to take time), there is a genuine desire to understand and change is happening. The difference I’ve seen in AXA in the 2 years since I was diagnosed is huge. That’s why I think yesterday hit me so hard. We are a lot further forward in our vision and outlook than many other companies and organisations and that comes down to the fact that people are able to speak up if they want to and people do listen, they may not agree with everything I say, but we discuss it find common ground and build from there rather than just shutting down a debate. The support I’ve received from colleagues all over the business at all levels and all over the world has been a little overwhelming at times (in a really good way) and is what drives me to carry on. Innovation doesn’t just come from tech and the products we create, it comes from the people and how you view them and as far as I can see we’ve got that covered too.            

D😊