Innovation comes from people who think and experience the world differently. This is true whether we are talking about volunteer organizations, the government, or large corporations. Unfortunately, as humans, we are wired to look for people who work like us, look like us, and think like us. The challenge facing organizations today is overcoming those instincts to hire more diverse teams.
Recently, I had a chance to talk to Nish Parikh as part of a REDi chat about how organizations can build neurodiverse teams. A big part of that discussion was why creating an environment conducive to neurodiversity is beneficial for your whole company.
Neurodivergent People Are Already on Your Teams
When I work with clients who are looking to hire neurodiverse teams, I remind them that they already have neurodiverse people on their teams. Neurodiverse people are everywhere, some are simply better at masking, or have stumbled on roles that really fit their skills, than others.
A client that I used to work with lost their best salesperson after implementing a learning management system (LMS) to train salespeople on their new products. They introduced the LMS to gamify training and try and promote better product knowledge amongst their salespeople. The only problem was their best salesperson, someone who knew their product inside and out, kept failing the online quizzes they needed to “qualify.” As per the policy, the salesperson couldn’t sell those new products because he didn’t pass the quiz. They had put the whole thing down to the salesperson struggling with technology, but just from hearing the story I knew what the issue was. The salesperson was dyslexic. They lost their best salesperson (and the millions that person was bringing in) because they were too rigid with an arbitrary policy.
When people think of neurodivergence, they often think of really specific examples of things they have seen before. The truth is neurodivergence is a spectrum and no two people have the same experience. Your company already has neurodivergent people, you just don’t know it. In many cases, some neurodivergent people may not know they are neurodivergent. I was diagnosed later in life because my son was being diagnosed for things that I also struggled with. That was how I found out I was dyslexic and had auditory processing issues. I just thought I was a slow reader.
Becoming more inclusive and offering options will help your current neurodivergent employees experiment and find what works for them. This will help your staff retention and help your employees thrive in their roles.
A Neurodivergent-Friendly Environment Helps All Your Employees
No two people work the same. Before we start looking at preferences, you have different learning and communication styles to deal with. When I help companies implement flexibility in their policies, it opens the door for all employees to be able to work in the way that suits them best. Employees are happier and more productive because they are not having to deal with barriers to work.
It also allows people to be open about their needs and understanding of the needs of others in the workplace. During COVID-19, one company I worked with started doing daily stand ups over Zoom to check in on how people were doing and communicate needs based on the challenges of working from home. Neurodivergent employees thrived because they were able to say that they needed to concentrate and so people should only contact them by email, so they were able to really focus on what they were doing. Other days, they may be feeling great and are happy to jump on calls; these standups let them communicate their needs for that particular day.
When I told my husband about this, he was envious. He works in technology, so there are days when he needs to focus on difficult tasks and there are days when he is doing smaller tasks or easier tasks and he doesn’t need such intense concentration. Your employees may even have days when they are tired or emotionally in a place where they need a less stimulating environment. Allowing all employees to express their needs creates a better and more productive environment.
New Ideas Lead to Innovation
Neurodiverse people see and experience the world in different ways. Encouraging everyone on your team to share ideas could lead to creativity that sets your company apart from competitors. That means setting up a system where everyone can share their ideas in a way they feel comfortable.
It is not just your neurodivergent team members who may feel reluctant to speak up in meetings. Many of your other employees may not like it. Brainstorming ways you can overcome barriers to speaking up will help you get the most out of your employees’ creativity.
If your team is experiencing these barriers, other people likely are too. Because 30–40% of the population are neurodivergent, identifying common issues can make your product more suitable for wider audiences.
Neurodiversity Definition
Neurodiversity: this term refers to a general diversity of minds. It includes people who are neurotypical and neurodivergent. When I talk about promoting neurodiversity in the workplace, for example, I am referring to creating a diverse workforce representative of the broad spectrum that exists when it comes to ways of thinking, processing information, communication, and learning. Some employees may be “normal” or neurotypical while others may have ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism, or trauma impacted ways of thinking. I am not referring to any particular label or diagnosis, but rather, the concept of an environment where a diversity of minds coexist.
Neurodiverse: This word is pretty much the same as neurodiversity, but should be used as an adjective. You can say, for example, that your workplace is neurodiverse.
Be careful though, because you should never describe a person as being neurodiverse. Individual people should be described as neurodivergent.
Neurodivergent: This word describes an individual whose way of thinking falls outside of society’s defined version of normal. Oftentimes you will see it abbreviated as ND.
Many times, neurodivergent people will have a diagnosis or label you may recognize, like autism, dyslexia, or ADHD. But neurodivergent people are also those with epilepsy, different kinds of brain trauma, or simply a unique way of thinking that may not have a specific diagnosis.
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