Innovative Strategies for Inclusive Employment: 

John D’Eri, along with his son Andrew and other family members, started Rising Tide Car Wash in 2012, mainly hiring autistic workers. Today, autism diagnoses are common, affecting about one in every 44 children. Despite this, Rising Tide thrives because of its unique workforce.

To keep things running smoothly, John and his team created foolproof processes and tools. These help their employees work efficiently, consistently, and profitably. While these systems might not be necessary for neurotypical workers, John believes they could benefit any team.

Neurotypical workers excel in a clean work environment, while autistic employees thrive with more structure. Leaders managing autistic employees must implement essential managerial practices to avoid mediocre outcomes. Rising Tide has developed a talent management strategy that provides valuable lessons for any business aiming for success.

Employ work tests, structured interviews, and prioritize character in hiring.

Modernize your hiring process with job-related tests, structured interviews, and a character emphasis. Conventional methods miss out on identifying top candidates and limiting diversity. Broaden your search and implement these strategies for improved hiring outcomes.

1. Work Test Development: Rising Tide's work test focuses on practical skills like cleaning a car interior, coaching, or making sales calls. Candidates must flawlessly clean a car interior in six minutes, repeated three times. Even unsuccessful candidates gain from this paid training experience.
2. Improve Interview Techniques: Rising Tide promotes structured, scored interviews with clear hiring criteria for skills and behaviors. They use standardized questions to assess alignment with job requirements objectively. Past behavior and hypothetical situations are considered for fair grading to find the right fit for their team.
3. Scoring System Design: Create a scoring rubric from one to five, showing what each score means. Look for specific answers from candidates, as detailed thoughts or experiences show authenticity. Each interviewer should score independently, and then compare results as a team.
4. Behavior Assessment: Define behavioral expectations for job skills. Figure out the character traits or values that lead to success. Involve top employees in making and improving these lists. Put behaviors and cultural values first to attract diverse candidates and keep turnover low.

Use training and clear processes to enhance performance, service, and safety.

Provide structured guidance to workers and refrain from immediate blame for subpar work. Strive for role clarity and align processes with organizational values. Focus on critical tasks, customer service essentials, and safety behaviors. Define success criteria for each process, including functional standards and broader objectives. Utilize visual aids like flow charts and checklists for clarity. Ensure accessibility of these resources to promote continuous improvement and accountability.

Test your processes with team members in real settings. Have one person document steps with notes, pictures, or video. Combine these into a detailed procedure. Show the process to the team members responsible and let them try, then give feedback. Adjust based on their input, with one person overseeing and making final decisions if needed.

For implementation, create training materials, certification criteria, and visual reminders like checklists. Set up a review schedule to make adjustments, starting with regular reviews and decreasing frequency over time. Keep refining and improving based on experience and team needs.

Choose empathetic leaders with strong emotional intelligence

Effective managers act as mentors, invest in their team, and treat each member as a valuable contributor. This approach promotes potential in everyone, not just certain individuals. For example, consider a study at a San Francisco school where teachers were given a list of students labeled as high-potential, though the list was random. Two years later, those students showed higher performance due to the teachers' raised expectations and focus. Promote a management style that sees every employee as capable of greatness.

An Everyone Culture

Transform into a Deliberately Developmental Organization (DDO) like the author's car wash. According to Robert Kegan's book, "An Everyone Culture," DDOs inspire all employees to contribute, promoting problem-solving skills and shared responsibility, leading to business growth.

Management often deals with personal and emotional hurdles affecting employee performance. Effective managers prioritize emotional intelligence, clear communication, resilience, and patience, alongside humility and curiosity. These emotional competencies are twice as impactful on work performance as IQ or expertise.

Clear communication involves recognition, feedback, and addressing mistakes directly. Emotionally intelligent leaders develop trust in difficult conversations, even with problematic employees. Smart managers know when to dismiss individuals who bully or threaten others.

Train managers to assist employees in avoiding mistakes.

Rapidly terminating staff can obstruct business growth by overlooking underlying problems. Prioritize assessing if the right clarity, processes, systems, and resources were provided for employee success.

At Rising Tide, an employee allowed a vital customer to drive their van into the car wash, causing substantial damage. Though she had a height-measuring stick, she didn't use it. Thomas, understanding her pressure in a busy wash with an important customer, chose not to terminate her. Instead, he installed a clearance bar to mark permitted vehicles, turning a potential dismissal into a learning opportunity.

Train managers in empathy, compassion, and human-centered design. Provide them with power and a small budget for testing ideas. Promote a culture where mistakes are learning opportunities. Encourage transparency and understanding to promote innovation. Avoid instilling fear of immediate punishment.

Create  Psychological Safety for Employees

Psychological safety involves more than just fearlessness in expressing oneself or making mistakes. It includes a sense of belonging and feeling valued. Managers should prioritize employee well-being and growth to create an environment of support, leading to active learning and continuous improvement.

Encourage leaders to admit their mistakes, be available and friendly, and regularly check in one-on-one with their team members. At Rising Tide, managers spend 80% of their time on the shop floor, working directly with their teams. They always show appreciation, which helps keep communication open.

Managers must promote open discussions on performance factors, asking for opinions, setting communication rules, and allowing time for responses. Some employees may hesitate, particularly on sensitive topics. Leaders can assess comfort levels through polls and surveys, promoting a culture of openness and learning.

Accountability through Clear Expectations for Everyone

Ensure top performance by establishing clear accountability standards through effective hiring, supportive management, and promoting a positive culture. Emphasize accountability in job descriptions, set transparent expectations, and track progress using measurable metrics.

Implement accountability practices like regular check-ins and inspections. Provide coaching and retraining for employees who fall short, only considering dismissal if issues persist despite support. Encourage managers to assist team members in finding solutions, fostering accountability without enabling dependence. Continuously evaluate and update practices to ensure clarity, address obstacles, and strengthen managers' ability to uphold accountability.

Add Meaning and Freedom to Everyday Tasks

Management literature often praises purpose, but an indistinct one fails to motivate daily tasks. Guide team members to know their roles in achieving the company's goals. Highlight the importance of their contributions to promote motivation and alignment with the organization's mission.

Talk with your team to figure out what the company stands for. If the purpose isn't clear, ask your team to help create a shared goal. Make sure everything you do matches this goal. Leaders should always remind everyone about the company's mission and values to keep everyone focused.

Create a captivating company story and share it widely.

Involve your team and loyal customers actively. Share your story with local media and consider hiring a PR firm to refine it and get more attention. Engage brand advocates by creating genuine community experiences like Harley-Davidson's events, Peloton's social features, and 4 Oceans beach cleanups.