What is neurodiversity and why does it matter in the workplace?
Every brain is different, very different.
We know this anecdotally but also neurologically our brains are structurally and functionally unique. Given that we have over 86 billion neurons connecting in different ways it is hardly surprising that having two brains the same is an impossibility.
If you think about your team you will probably be able to easily see that these differences are evident in the workplace. Some people like quiet workplaces with minimal distractions, others like a bustling office. Some love to work individually and others enjoy being in a team. Some can focus on the same thing for hours on end, others like to take on different projects and jump between them. Some people thrive on written information others like to talk things through or use diagrams. This is because our brains all functions slightly differently. In this situation the ‘norm’ is created by defining where most people tend to sit rather than by any standardised brain structure or functionality that we should all be exhibiting.
Why does this matter at work? Put simply if we can harness the power of difference then we have the opportunity to supercharge our team and if we don’t create accessible environments we run the risk of loosing out on a lot of potential.
Our brains will naturally have environments in which they thrive and environments that create barriers. Context is everything! Take the same brain doing the same task and give it different settings you will find there are different outcomes. For some these differences impact minimally, they have a preferred working environment that will see them at their most effective but they can adapt to other settings well enough however for some people who sit further outside of the defined norm they can have real difficulties. This is because the workplace does not feel like it’s set up to align with the way their brain works, everyone around them might appear to function or see the world in a way that doesn’t make sense to them and they can feel on the outside and unable to cope.
Yet embracing neurodiversity and working within neurodiverse teams can be the key to not only supporting our current teams to thrive but in creating accessible spaces to welcome talent and perspectives that might otherwise be lost to us. The benefit of including people who sit outside the defined “norm” is that they have skills and perspectives not held by the majority, they can add something that most cannot – who wouldn’t want that that person in their team! However at the moment most workplaces are not creating accessible space for these incredible individuals … and are loosing out because of it.
The stats say it all, including neurodiverse workers has been found to boost team productivity by up to 30% and yet some stats estimate that 80% of neurodiverse people are unemployed and over 50% of people with ASD were found to be in roles that were below their skill set potential.
So how do we start to create accessible workplaces? Well there are 2 key elements to think about:
1. How are we acknowledging and working with the innate differences that we all have to give everyone the opportunity to thrive?
2. How do we identify and support people for whom these differences are not within the same range of others, who sit outside the defined norms to the extent where they need specialist personalised support.
The answers to both lie in getting the right support to create the change needed for your specific environment. Your approach needs to be simultaneously top down and bottom up for sustainable, meaningful change to occur and create an inclusive culture.
When we work with companies around neurodiversity we support employees to have a good basic awareness of the topic and start opening up and discussing individual differences and needs in a safe and meaningful way. We also work with management to make sure that these conversations are supported by a culture of feedback, inclusive policies and changes to procedures that open the door to people who have felt excluded historically. Finally, alongside this we offer individualised support for people who experience significant difficulties in the workplace due to their neurodiverse needs. We believe that skipping any of these elements will mean that a company falls short of creating the change they want to see but when we bring all of these elements together you have a powerful approach capable of making the meaningful change that will see your company thrive!
If you want to find out more about our neurodiversity approach Contact Us to see how we can support your team
Written by Nicola