What our 2024 Individual Member Survey Taught Us: Part 5

From Insight to Action: How GAIN Membership is Transforming Workplace Adjustments

Every year, GAIN’s survey helps us understand how neurodivergent employees experience workplace adjustments.

We look at what’s working, where barriers remain, and how we can build environments that truly enable people to thrive.

Last year’s findings painted a clear and encouraging picture: GAIN membership makes a measurable difference.

The power of progress

From 2023 to 2024, we saw meaningful improvements in satisfaction among employees of GAIN member organisations. In 2024, 57% of employees at GAIN members had their adjustment requests fully met, compared to just 40% of those employed elsewhere. And satisfaction with how those requests were handled was consistently higher too, with 84% of GAIN member employees reported being satisfied overall, compared to 68% elsewhere.

That’s more than a statistic. It’s the start of evidence that sustained commitment to neuroinclusion, through membership, collaboration, and shared learning, genuinely improves people’s working lives.

The trend becomes even clearer when we look at change over time. Between 2023 and 2024, satisfaction with adjustments processes among GAIN members rose sharply across almost every category. Employees reported major jumps in positive experiences with HR teams, occupational health providers, and especially with workplace adjustments teams, where “very satisfied” responses more than doubled.

How we turn learning into action

We don’t collect data for the sake of it. Every insight feeds directly into the work we do with our members. When last year’s survey showed that employees still found adjustments processes inconsistent or complex, we responded with innovation.

In 2025, we launched the Adjustments Accessibility Hackathon, bringing together GAIN members Aviva, AXA UK and AXA XL, Beazley, Hymans Robertson, QBE and Zurich to share their challenges, pool their expertise, and co-design new solutions. Out of that event came a dedicated working group focused on making adjustments processes simpler, faster, and more accessible for employees, managers, and HR teams alike.

This collaborative approach means that learning doesn’t stop at analysis. It turns into practical change. This means clearer processes, better support, and empowered decision-making for everyone involved.

What employees tell us they need

“Universal design is the main one. Neuroinclusion discussed by senior leaders and prioritised to the same degree as gender and ethnicity inclusion.”

The adjustments employees ask for are not complicated, but they are vital. The most common requests include:

• Flexible or remote working, to reduce sensory overwhelm and commuting strain

• Coaching and neuroinclusive leadership training for managers

• Access to one-to-one coaching with specialists who understand neurodiversity

• Support as parents or carers of neurodivergent individuals

• Resources to help colleagues understand neurodiversity and support one another

Flexibility remains one of the most powerful enablers. Remote and hybrid working aren’t just about convenience — they’re about empowerment, independence, and energy management. As one survey respondent put it, “Remote working replaces three potential adjustments with one.”

“For our Disability ERG to be more neurodivergent friendly - there are several barriers including a default expectation to speak in meetings, agendas being provided at the last minute, and a lack of understanding of neurodivergence leading to ableist remarks like 'we're all a little bit autistic'. I dropped out due to a combination of these factors and autistic burnout.”

Why your input matters this year

As we continue to track this journey, every response helps us build on what we know. Your insights allow us to measure the real impact of GAIN membership, confirm what’s working, and highlight where more focus is needed.

The data you share doesn’t just inform our reports. It shapes the tools and guidance we create for our members. Right now, we’re developing an industry playbook for neuroinclusion and working towards development of e-learning programmes to embed best practice across the industries we serve. Every single piece of feedback we receive helps make those resources stronger, smarter, and more grounded in lived experience.

Be part of the next step

GAIN’s progress so far has been driven by data, collaboration, and the voices of those who live and work within these systems every day. By sharing your experience again this year, you’re helping us keep that momentum going — turning evidence into action, and action into change.

Take part in the 2025 GAIN Survey today, and help us continue building workplaces where adjustments are accessible, effective, and truly inclusive for all.

👉 Take the 2025 GAIN Survey here