Our consulting managers prepare our IT consultants for a project, explaining your corporate culture and ensuring they have everything they need. They also support neurodiversity training for the client, helping them to understand the differences they may encounter and facilitating any needed adjustments, such as:
There is still much work to do in providing equality to our autistic colleagues in the workplace. The traditional job interview remains a barrier for neurodivergent people, and once hired, few are comfortable disclosing their autism and asking their employer for support. As a result, many will painfully mask their autistic behaviors to fit in at work.
The following results from our annual Impact Report show that our consultants are succeeding at work, and in life, due in part to our amazing job coaching teams:
What do you do in your role as a consulting manager?
– My role is focused on sales, meaning I often meet various companies to tell them about Unicus’ business model and our IT consultants. When a client are in need of a consultant, I help match the client’s requirements with a suitable consultant. Then, we start the introducing awareness training for the manager, the team, and the work buddy. When the consultant starts the assignment, my colleague Malin Bäckmark comes in and supports the consultant in their everyday work.
How does Unicus work with matching during recruitment?
– For our consultants to excel, we need to match them to assignments utilizing their strengths. To find a matching assignment and observing the consultant grow and build self-confidence is absolutely magical. To address prejudices and questions, we always hold an awareness training for the team where we talk about autism and how it can manifest itself. To complement this, our consultant has a workbuddy in the client’s team who also receives training for supporting the consultant – mainly during the initial period – in everyday matters related to social contracts or work structure.
What is your best advice for inclusive leadership?
– In one word, clarity. Not nessecarily in every little detail, but rather clarity around goals and deadlines. In respect to meetings, it helps to know why one are invited, one’s own expected contribution, and any expectations. Is this activity mandatory? Can I wear shorts at work during warm days? It is often difficult and energy-consuming for people with autism to understand social signals written or spoken between the lines. Therefore, clarity about expectations helps a lot.
How does Unicus differ from other IT-consulting companies?
– The biggest difference is how all our consultants are on the autism spectrum, but the goals and values of Unicus also matters. As recently as last week, a client told me that she appreciates or lunches together since we talk about the consultant’s development, not upselling. Unicus seem to stand out through that. We want our consultants to succeed, and we do that by spreading knowledge about autism and inclusive leadership. I’m really passionate about helping others succeed, and that’s true for our consultant, the client’s team, and the hiring manager.