Neurodivergence in the Workplace Part 2 - Adding value
Thanks to all of you who reached out privately. I know this is an important topic to a lot of us and there are many folks whose stories of neurodivergence in the workplace are not happy ones. One person mentioned the HR manager told their boss that that person was “weird, or odd.” Another mentioned the same creativity and high energy they were hired for was the same thing that made success difficult. However, this article talks about starting to make the workplace neurodivergent friendly and how organizations can tap into the enormous potential of neurodivergent employees.
In 2013 the German software company, SAP, started an initiative to hire more people on the autism spectrum. As their CEO, Christian Klein, said "SAP teams who have colleagues with autism report a rise in patent applications, innovations in products, and an increase in management skills and empathy." They also discovered that neurodiverse employees' ability to see problems and situations from different perspectives, their ability to see patterns, and other gifts have led to many innovations for the company. JP Morgan Chase discovered employees in their "Autism at Work" initiative are 90%-140% more productive than neurotypical employees.
How do we start?
Companies like SAP, JP Morgan Chase, and Microsoft have started to address recruiting and hiring practices to help neurodiverse candidates and employees navigating the recruitment process.
This starts with recruitment ads. Size, font, and color can affect how neurodiverse folks process information. Using plain language and focusing on essential skills while avoiding unnecessary information make the ad more understandable. Taking out generic "excellent communication skills" or "team player" if they aren't essential to the position can make recruitment ads more neurodiverse friendly.
Many neurodiverse candidates don't have the same social networks as neurotypical candidates. Some organizations have established relationships with schools and nonprofits that work with neurodiverse candidates to access a more diverse pool of talent during the recruiting process.
Next, candidates navigate the interview process, which can be overwhelming with its distractions, noise, large groups, and unknown social expectations. Many times, neurotypical candidates don't perform well in an official sit-down interview. Even if their resume gets them an interview, they may perform less successfully in the interview than their equally qualified peers.
At least one in seven candidates are likely to be neurodiverse, and most won't feel comfortable disclosing during the interview. Therefore, it is recommended that you change how you interview all candidates, not just those who disclose their status. A good idea is to ask questions specific to the job tasks and skills, avoiding hypothetical questions. Neurodiverse candidates may take longer to answer questions, so it's good to give all candidates time and not interrupt.
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Finally, an inclusive culture that has open, safe communication can help neurodiverse employees succeed. This can be as simple as creating quiet office spaces, flexible working arrangements, and learning resources that are accessible to all. These elements can increase all employees' productivity, performance, and job satisfaction.
According to Forbes, "creating a neurodiverse workforce will require managers to take a step back, remove assumptions and communicate in a new way. The bottom line is that inclusion is worth the extra effort." (Forbes, 2020)
How do organizations create and foster an inclusive culture? How do we make learning function for all our employees, including neurodiverse employees? Where do we start? Stay tuned, we’ll begin addressing these questions next week. In the meantime, check out the website below for more information.
Excellent information. Especially on interviewing. The best candidate may very well be the one who didn’t interview well. I’ll keep this in mind when the opportunity presents itself again.