Latest / The Diversity Career Podcast with Fexingo: Inclusion, Equity, and Underrepresented Professionals / How One Company Made Dyslexia a Career Growth Tool
Transcript
- Lucas: We talk a lot on this show about companies finding talent in unexpected places. But one of the most counterintuitive examples I've come across recently is Deloitte—the accounting and consulting giant—actively recruiting people with dyslexia for roles that are traditionally seen as detail-heavy, number-crunching, audit-focused. Luna: Yeah, that does sound counterintuitive. Audit is literally about checking every decimal. How does that square with dyslexia, which is often associated with reading and writing challenges? Lucas: Right. And that's exactly the stereotype Deloitte is trying to break. They launched a program called Dyslexia@Deloitte back in 2021 as a UK pilot. It started with about 50 employees. Fast forward to 2026, it's now in over 20 countries with more than 4,000 participants. And the firm has published data showing that those employees have 30% higher retention rates than the firm average. Luna: That's a huge number. And I'm guessing it's not just about retention—it's about performance too. What are they actually doing differently? Lucas: So the program has three main pillars. First, assistive technology. Every dyslexic employee gets licenses for text to speech software, mind-mapping tools like MindGenius, and speech to text dictation. That alone changes how they interact with spreadsheets and long reports. Second, flexible work patterns. Deloitte allows them to present work in visual formats—flowcharts, diagrams, recorded audio summaries—instead of always requiring written documents. And third, a mentorship network where senior dyslexic partners mentor junior staff. Luna: I love that mentorship piece. It shows that the firm isn't just accommodating—it's saying, 'This is a path to leadership.' Lucas: Exactly. And that's where the career growth angle really comes in. One of the senior partners leading the program, a woman named Karen, is dyslexic herself. She's an audit partner who says she compensates by being hyper-visual. She can look at a balance sheet and spot anomalies not because she's reading every number, but because the pattern looks 'wrong' to her. That's the kind of skill the program is trying to surface. Luna: Honestly, if this episode is worth a coffee to you, that's the link—buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It keeps the show ad-free and helps us keep digging into stories like this. Lucas: Yeah, and we really do appreciate that. So back to Karen's story—she's a great example of why Deloitte started rethinking their job descriptions. They realized that traditional audit job postings emphasized 'excellent written communication' and 'meticulous attention to detail in text.' But those were actually filtering out candidates who might excel at the core analytical work. Luna: So they rewrote them? What did they change? Lucas: They replaced 'strong written skills' with 'ability to communicate insights effectively in multiple formats.' They added 'visual reasoning' as a preferred qualification. And they removed the word 'dyslexia' from any health screening questions—so it's not treated as a disability to disclose, but as a trait that might be an advantage. Luna: That's a subtle but powerful shift. It moves from a deficit model to a strengths-based model. Lucas: Right. And the results bear that out. Deloitte UK tracked the performance of dyslexic employees in the program versus a control group. They found that dyslexic employees in client-facing roles scored higher on 'problem-solving' and 'big-picture thinking' in performance reviews. The stereotype that dyslexia only means reading difficulty is just wrong—many dyslexics have exceptional spatial reasoning and pattern recognition. Luna: There's actually research on that. I remember a study from the University of Cambridge that found dyslexic entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed in business because they're better at delegating and thinking strategically. They're forced to develop those skills early. Lucas: And Deloitte is basically applying that insight across the entire employee lifecycle. They've even changed their assessment center for graduate hires. Instead of a timed written test, candidates can now do a verbal case study or a visual presentation. They saw a 20% increase in the number of dyslexic candidates passing the first round. Luna: I want to zoom in on the tech piece. What specific tools are they using, and do they work in a real audit environment? Lucas: So they use text to speech software called ClaroRead, which reads aloud Excel cells, PDFs, and Word documents. Then there's MindGenius for mapping out audit steps visually. And Dragon NaturallySpeaking for dictation. In practice, an auditor might use ClaroRead to go through a 200-page contract while visually scanning for key terms, then dictate notes into the audit file. The firm has a dedicated IT support team for assistive tech, so it's not just a software license—there's training and troubleshooting. Luna: And I assume they've made these tools available to all employees, not just those who have disclosed dyslexia? Lucas: Yes, that's been a key lesson. Universal design. Once Deloitte made mind-mapping and dictation available to everyone, adoption by non-dyslexic employees actually outpaced the dyslexic group. People found it useful for different reasons—mind maps for brainstorming, dictation for avoiding repetitive strain injury. It became a productivity tool, not just an accommodation. Luna: That's the dream scenario for any diversity initiative—it improves the workplace for everyone. I'm curious about the career ladder aspect. How do promotions work? Is there any fast-tracking? Lucas: No formal fast-tracking, but there's an informal network effect. Senior dyslexic partners actively sponsor junior dyslexic staff. They'll put them on high-visibility projects, recommend them for stretch assignments, and advocate in promotion committees. The firm also has a 'dyslexia ally' program where non-dyslexic managers are trained to understand how to give feedback in ways that work—for example, providing written summaries after verbal feedback, because some dyslexic employees process information better in writing later. Luna: That's a really practical adjustment. So many workplaces default to verbal-only feedback, which can be hard for anyone to retain. But let's talk about the broader business case. Why should other companies care? Lucas: Deloitte's own internal data shows that teams with dyslexic members outperform on innovation metrics—they file more patents, generate more new service ideas, and score higher on client satisfaction for 'creative solutions.' The firm estimates that the program has saved them millions in recruitment and training costs because of the retention boost. Plus, with the war for talent in professional services, being known as a dyslexic-friendly employer gives them a hiring edge. Luna: And I imagine it also helps with brand reputation. Clients increasingly want to work with firms that walk the walk on inclusion. Lucas: Absolutely. Deloitte has actually started a consulting practice around neuroinclusion, helping other companies set up similar programs. So the initiative is becoming a revenue generator too. They're basically selling their expertise on how to hire and retain dyslexic talent. Luna: I'd love to hear a concrete example of a career trajectory within the program. Do you have one? Lucas: Yeah, there's a story of a guy named James who joined Deloitte UK as a graduate in tax. He'd always struggled with written exams and was nearly filtered out at the application stage—he failed the online written test. But because the assessor noticed his verbal reasoning score was off the charts, they offered him an alternative assessment. He passed, joined the firm, got involved in Dyslexia@Deloitte, and now, five years later, he's a manager in the M&A tax practice. He's been promoted twice, and he credits the mind-mapping software for helping him structure complex tax models. Luna: That's a great story, but I wonder about the flip side. Are there any risks or criticisms of the program? Lucas: One criticism is that it could create a 'two-track' system—dyslexic employees getting extra support while others feel left out. But Deloitte's response is that universal design benefits everyone, and they've seen no resentment. Another concern is privacy: some employees don't want to disclose dyslexia for fear of stigma. The program is opt-in, and disclosure is not required to access the tech tools, because the tech is available firm-wide. Luna: That seems smart. I also wonder about scalability. Deloitte has huge resources—can a small or mid-size firm replicate this? Lucas: It's a fair question. The assistive tech licenses cost about $200-500 per user per year. That's not huge. The bigger investment is cultural: training managers, rewriting job descriptions, and creating the mentor network. A smaller firm could start with one or two pilot mentees and one senior leader champion. The key is to focus on the mindset shift—from 'fixing a deficit' to 'leveraging a strength.' Luna: And I imagine the ROI is clear even for a small firm. If you retain even one high-performing employee who would have otherwise left, it pays for itself. Lucas: Exactly. The average cost of replacing a professional services employee is roughly 1.5 to 2 times their salary. So if you retain a manager earning $100,000, you're saving $150,000 to $200,000 in recruitment and training. The cost of the program is negligible by comparison. Luna: So what's the next step for Deloitte? Are they expanding the program further? Lucas: They are. In 2025, they launched a similar program focused on dyscalculia—difficulty with numbers. That's even more counterintuitive for an accounting firm, but they're applying the same logic: find the strengths, not the weaknesses. They're also partnering with universities to identify dyslexic students earlier and offer internships. And they're working with the British Dyslexia Association to create industry standards for neuroinclusive hiring. Luna: It sounds like they're trying to make dyslexia a recognized career advantage, not just a tolerated difference. And the data seems to support that. Lucas: Yeah. I think the biggest takeaway is that companies have been systematically excluding a group of people who might actually be better at certain high-value tasks. By redesigning the system—not the person—you unlock talent that was always there. Luna: And that's a lesson that goes way beyond dyslexia.