Neurodiversity at work.
Diversity and Inclusion are incredibly multifaceted and require us to look deeper than gender, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background. Neurodiversity and understanding it falls under the D&I umbrella, and if you’re an organisation that is striving for a more inclusive workforce, it’s important to familiarise yourself with neurodiversity and how you can support these employees in your organisation.
Neurodiversity is defined as, “the variation and differences in neurological structure and function that exist among human beings, especially when viewed as being normal and natural rather than pathological.”
Neurodiversity also encompasses various cognitive disorders or differences such as Dyslexia, Autism, ADHD, Anxiety, OCD, and Tourette’s to name a few. Naturally, each of these disorders presents differently in individuals and can also sit on a spectrum that can fluctuate constantly.
In essence, Neurodiversity is an umbrella term for multiple things that are defined as neurodiversity, so understanding who presents as neurodiverse in your organisation (and if they have a disorder attached to it) can equip you with the right information to start catering to them as best possible.
For example, the support that you would give someone with OCD would vary from someone who has ADHD or Autism. Sometimes, more than one disorder can be present in an individual, so again, getting a depth of understanding first is a great initial step to take.
Did you know that 20% of the global population are considered neurodiverse? Yet, there is still an incredibly high portion of unemployment for individuals due to the lack of resources (and understanding) of how to accommodate neurodiversity at work.
How can neurodiversity benefit the workplace?
Diversity of thought has been proven repeatedly to benefit the workplace, whether this is from a productivity standpoint, performance standpoint, or generally just creating an enriching culture full of different individuals.
Neurodiversity, in particular, can be incredibly beneficial; AskEarn produced an article on this, stating “people with neurocognitive disabilities have talents, perspectives and skills that can be distinctly beneficial in many work environments.”
The unique perspectives can enable better critical thinking in a group scenario, as well as in leadership roles too. Neurodiverse leaders will naturally manage in different ways, plus having the ability to lead those who share the same degree of neurodiversity as them.
How can you support neurodiverse employees, and what are the preliminary steps?
Like with any element of a D&I strategy, education is the key to supporting neurodiverse employees who are already in your organisation - especially before you start integrating this into your wider talent acquisition strategy.
Forbes produced an excellent piece highlighting three ways that organisations can support neurodiversity, citing reviewing interview processes, assessing working environments, and integrating self-awareness into the day-to-day operations. All three of these suggestions are incredibly effective, and we wanted to build on (and break down) five ways you can support neurodiverse employees in your organisation.
Roll out continuous training and development to managers to build awareness: Understanding neurodiversity takes time, especially as there are a number of disorders that fall under this umbrella. Running regular management sessions geared towards how to support neurodiverse employees can be a great way to promote consistent learning and development in the organisation. This builds awareness and keeps neurodiversity front of mind for all leaders.
Celebrate neurodiversity: There’s no diversity without inclusion, so celebrating neurodiversity and treating it as a positive helps to break stigmas and misconceptions around neurodiversity at work. For example, ADHD has consistently received negative misconceptions, specifically in an academic setting, with those suffering from ADHD branded as “disruptive” or not taking education seriously. These attitudes and biases can, unfortunately, filter into the workplace, so ensuring that neurodiversity is spoken about consistently in the business - and is seen as a positive addition to the team, is imperative.
Review your interview process: Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to change your interview process to only cater for neurodiverse individuals, but, you may want to work with an external partner to review how you can modify certain elements of your process to ensure that you aren’t excluding neurodiverse candidates from your talent pool. A recruitment partner can help you with this as well as an external consultant.
Review your working environment: Whether neurodiverse or not, a working environment can heavily impact performance and job satisfaction, so you must be regularly collecting feedback (and implementing it) to make your working environment more balanced and enjoyable for all. You can do this by running quarterly surveys, and ensuring that you are spending time to understand how you can make your working environment more neurodiverse friendly. The best way to do this - speak to the neurodiverse individuals in your organisation!
Focus on how L&D can support neurodiverse employees: This will differ for each organisation, but spend time with your L&D department to check that the training that is being delivered isn’t a “one size fits all” approach and is appropriate for the neurodiversity of the business.
And finally - be patient! Neurodiversity is essential for every organisation, but understand that it can take a lot of time and resources to ensure that you are supporting your employees in the right way. Focus on small changes first and remember that what you do in your business will vary from others - as each neurodiverse individual has different needs.