Nardia Roach, Co- Chair, Digital Retail Team Lead & Disability and Neurodiversity Network Lead at Autotrader shares some of the ways that she has been raising awareness of disability and neurodiversity.
Nardia has been Disability and Neurodiversity lead for the network over the last 12 months. She got involved because she is dyslexic and wanted to create a more inclusive environment for employees through building awareness and education about disability and neurodiversity.
Nardia says feedback from members suggested that more support was needed in the workplace. As a result, the network collaborated with the Mental Health at Work Team and the People (HR) team to discuss what to cover in terms of training managers in how to better support staff with neurodiverse needs or disabilities. She says, “We wanted our managers to learn more about neurodiversity and see any signs of direct reports struggling with their workload and how this could also impact on their mental health. We worked with the mental health first aider team and ran 2 pilots which have been really successful. For our network members, it is also good to know their managers have been through this kind of training.”
Nardia says there has been an increase in new referrals from colleagues looking to have their needs assessed and she has been working on an educational piece to signpost and support colleagues who think they might be neurodiverse. She says “What we say to managers is that you don’t need to be an expert in neurodiversity and disability, you just need to have an awareness. We can put individuals through a workplace assessment and look at adjustments. This can often be small things such as needing a quiet space or using an AI programme such as Grammarly to help with writing.”
One of the key achievements Nardia is proud of is partnering with external charities to raise awareness of disabilities and neurodiversity. She says these are beneficial as “they have the dual focus of supporting a charity whilst improving knowledge about particular disabilities or neuro-diverse conditions.” She says “We recently worked with a charity called Speed of Sight, who organise motorsport events for people with disabilities. We did a fundraising event where we raised £1700 for the charity and it was also a chance to get engagement from around the business. We also work with a charity called business forum who have advised us to make some processes more inclusive.”
Another key success for the network has been creating a ‘Purple Passport’, a confidential identity card for line managers to ensure that disabled and neurodiverse colleagues get the support they need at work. Nardia says, “The passports will mean that staff do not need to repeatedly disclose their adjustments when they move around the business and this will help foster a more inclusive environment.”
Nardia is keen to build on the work done internally to support Autotrader’s customers, externally. She says “Our customers could be consumers or retailers, and we have been providing input into how we support our customers who are neurodiverse or disabled. For example, all our new products for Digital Retail have been tested from an accessibility point of view and we are looking at our website to ensure neurodiverse users can easily use our site. “
After completing the Radius Employee Network Leadership Stage 1 programme, Nardia says one of the key takeaways was how to have greater impact through intersectionality. The network has partnered with the ethnicity guild and mental health first aiders for joint events. Nardia says: “We are trying to be bolder with some of our discussions so they are not just focused on the particular condition but are a safe space for people to talk more generally.”
Nardia’s aspiration is to encourage more allies and people who want to advocate for the network. She says:” It shouldn’t always come from people who have got conditions, everyone should strive to create an inclusive workforce.”
