Autism Employment Initiative in a Global Business Management Consultancy Firm: A Case Study

Abstract

Youth and adults with autism are being recognized for their ability to contribute to the labor market. This recognition has led to a growing number of employer-driven initiatives to recruit and hire from among this population. This descriptive case study presents a company-driven collaboration between a global consultancy management firm and a private human services provider to implement effective disability-related employer practices to hire and retain an employee with autism. Perceptions of implementation, effectiveness, and outcomes were collected. Results suggest that the changes made to accommodate a worker with autism were perceived positively by employees and had the potential to increase company performance. Company characteristics and proactive modifications to the workplace were identified as keys to success. Positive impacts on company performance, employee perceptions of the company, and overall perspectives regarding disability were reported across different levels of the company. Recommendations for future implementation and replication are discussed. This case study implicates a potential model for companies to use when working to recruit and retain employees with autism. Rehabilitation counselors have an opportunity to help this growing number of motivated employers create effective initiatives that benefit both the company and the employee with autism.

Effect of company-driven disability diversity initiatives: A multi-case study across industries

“…Initiatives for all the medium and large companies included awareness training for company employees without disabilities as an important element of the program. A description of the specific policies and practices of each company can be found in the corresponding peer-reviewed articles (Grenawalt et al, 2020;Kesselmayer et al, Ochrach, . For our purpose, we focus on converging themes across these case studies.…”

“…The purpose of this project was to integrate and interpret findings from seven company-driven disability initiatives previously published as six separate articles. The previously studied case studies include a large biotechnology company (Ochrach et al, 2021), a medium-sized men's apparel manufacturer (Grenawalt et al, 2020), a small software company focused on the inclusion of people with disabilities in their communities , a medium-sized global business management consulting firm (Kesselmayer et al, 2022), a small manufacturer of garden products (Thomas, Ochrach, Phillips, Anderson et al, 2021), a medium-sized industrial manufacturer (Phillips et al, 2023), and a small company selling environmentally conscious products (Thomas, Ochrach, Phillips, Anderson et al, 2021). By pulling together insights from across these separate case studies, we are better able to identify patterns and best practices in employer-initiated disability diversity initiatives.…”