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We all thrive when being given the opportunity to work with our most trusted peers. In a good company everyone is acutely aware of all the collective intelligence and capability that is available in the form of trusted colleagues, friends, and family.
This intersectional community-powered service enables employees to rate their employers in terms of psychological safety, cultural safety, and inclusiveness for:
- all staff
- autistic and otherwise neurodivergent staff in particular
- LGBTQIA+ staff in particular
Nothing about us without us
No large organisation can claim to have a genuine commitment to diversity and inclusion if it does not subscribe to independent oversight by marginalised segments of the population.
Organisations are only able to deliver valuable services to the extent that they can rely on a network of trusted relationships both within the organisation and the wider community that supports and is supported by them. Unfortunately many companies like to pretend that organisation charts and reporting lines are more important than trusted relationships.
Creating good company
Creating and maintaining a psychologically and culturally safe environment is fundamental for the flourishing of all staff, yet in many organisations psychological safety is still the exception rather than the norm.
Discrimination against autistic people is comparable to the level of discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people 50 years ago. The pathologisation of autism has led to what some critical researchers refer to as the autism industrial complex.
The objectives of the autism and neurodiversity civil rights movements overlap significantly with the interests of those who advocate for greater levels of psychological safety in the workplace and in society in general. In the workplace the topic of psychological safety is relevant to all industries and sectors.
How does it work for staff?
Staff are invited to submit feedback via an anonymous survey at any point in time.
The core of the Employee Wellbeing / Employer Rating Service is an anonymous assessment of cultural safety and psychological safety. As an employee you can submit feedback on your current and past employers via this psychological safety assessment.
How does it work for employers?
Employers that are committed to providing an inclusive and psychologically safe workplace can register their interest in regular Employee Wellbeing Surveys by submitting an inquiry via the the form below:
Employers are encouraged to enrol in the service, and to run the anonymous psychological and cultural safety survey administered by volunteers from the Autistic Collaboration Trust and the Design Justice Network on an annual or quarterly basis. The survey consists of 15 questions and is sponsored by S23M.
To offer maximum protection to employees, results are made available to employers subject to the limitations described in the service user guide, i.e. the Autistic Collaboration Trust never shares the individual anonymous responses with employers or with any other party.
Download the service user guide
Making the world a safer place for everyone
You can also watch a 12-minute webinar or view a 15-slide presentation that walks through key elements of the service.
A healthy workplace culture based on mutual trust and an appreciation of all forms of diversity has profound effects on all aspects of the organisation. Employees who feel safe and appreciated at work are not only more productive and healthy, they are also able to extend greater levels of trust to their colleagues, and are much more likely to share their tacit knowledge, allowing collective intelligence to flourish, resulting in greater levels of confidence and agility in collective decision making.
Collaborative service design
An Employer Rating Service / Employee Wellbeing Survey is an interesting idea, but it must be designed by the autistic community and other marginalised groups in order to have legitimacy.
The topic of verifying which organisations genuinely do a good job of empowering autistic and otherwise neurodivergent employees came up in an online discussion with fellow autists in 2020 and then led to further discussions within the autistic community. This survey has been designed based on input from the autistic community and from other marginalised groups.
The Autistic Collaboration Trust (that operates this website) engages with the wider neurodiversity movement and other minority groups to offer a trustworthy and globally accessible Employer Rating Service that is administered by volunteers from marginalised groups.
If you would like to promote and establish the Employer Rating Service in a specific jurisdiction, the Autistic Collaboration Trust can offer relevant software tools and assist with establishing an intersectional team of independent volunteers from various marginalised groups.
The considerations that have shaped the service design to date are documented in detail on this page.
You can contribute to the service design by submitting your ideas and feedback via the form below.
You can also use the form to indicate interest in being actively involved as a volunteer in administrating the Employer Rating Service: