What is neurodiversity?
By definition, we are all neurodiverse. This is because no two brains are the same. Neurodiversity, sometimes also called ‘neurodivergence’, refers to natural differences in the ways that people perceive and interact with the world. The idea is that there is no one ‘correct’ way for the brain to work, and we should embrace cognitive differences as a natural part of human diversity.
Most people are ‘neurotypical’, which simply means that they think, behave and process information in the way that society considers typical or standard. Neurodivergent individuals have brains that diverge from this typical way of functioning. People who fall into this category could have any of the following conditions:
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD): a developmental disability that affects social interaction, communication, learning and behaviour
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): people with ADHD have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviours, and they may be overly active
- Dyscalculia: a learning disability in mathematics. People with dyscalculia often have difficulty understanding numbers and mathematical concepts
- Dysgraphia: a neurological condition involving difficulty turning thoughts into written language and problems with fine motor skills.
- Dyslexia: a learning disability characterised by difficulty with word recognition and spelling
- Dyspraxia: also called developmental coordination disorder, dyspraxia is a learning disability associated with difficulty performing fine motor skills and issues with coordination
- Tourette Syndrome: a condition of the nervous system that causes people to repeatedly exhibit sudden twitches, movements or sounds known as ‘tics’.
The benefits of neurodiversity for employers
The benefits of embracing neurodiversity in the workplace are similar to the benefits of embracing diversity more generally, but more direct. Here is a breakdown of the advantages of hiring neurodiverse individuals.
Larger talent pool
As a large, untapped talent pool, neurodivergent individuals can help organisations to fill skills shortages. Many are highly qualified and highly intelligent yet struggle to find employment. Harnessing the unique perspectives and abilities of these individuals can give your organisation a competitive advantage. Tapping into this talent pool requires a targeted and neurodivergent friendly recruitment strategy.
More creativity and innovation
Solving problems and responding to the complex challenges that organisations face in today’s competitive landscape requires fresh thinking. That’s precisely where many neurodiverse employees excel. The brains of neurodiverse individuals are wired differently, which means that they often see things in a unique way. They can bring fresh perspectives into an organisation in which everyone has been looking in the same direction.
ADHD, for example, is commonly associated with creative abilities. This may be because people with ADHD often have wandering minds, drifting from one thought to another, which can lead to new and creative ideas.
Unique abilities
While not every neurodivergent individual is necessarily ‘gifted’ in the traditional sense, they often excel in certain areas. For instance, people with ASD often have higher than average abilities on tasks that require attention to detail, pattern recognition and repetition. Organisations can leverage these strengths by employing individuals with ASD in roles where they can thrive, such as security, data analysis and testing.
People with dyspraxia are often highly empathic with strong active listening, problem-solving and strategic thinking skills. They are well suited to jobs in areas that leverage these skills, such as coaching, the creative arts, business development and leadership.
Higher employee retention
The unemployment rate among neurodivergent people is considerably higher than average. This is due to a range of factors, including ongoing discrimination from some Australian employers, a general lack of supportive workplaces, and recruitment processes that preference neurotypical abilities. It therefore isn’t surprising that neurodivergent employees tend to be highly loyal when they find an employer who supports their unique needs. So, promoting neurodiversity in the workplace can help to boost your employee retention rates.
Higher productivity
Some neurodivergent individuals have strong attention to detail and can sustain intense focus for long periods of time. They are generally adept at tasks requiring precision, accuracy and a meticulous approach. Organisations can therefore yield significant productivity gains when these individuals utilise their abilities in roles that involve meticulousness, data analysis or quality control.
Enhanced company culture
Embracing neurodiversity in the workplace is part of creating an inclusive and accepting company culture. It lets your employees know that you value, respect and celebrate their differences. This can have a positive impact on employee satisfaction, engagement and, ultimately, help you to attract and retain top talent.
How to promote neurodiversity in the workplace
Becoming a neurodiverse employer requires you to make some concrete changes, particularly to your recruitment strategies. Here are some important steps to consider taking to foster neurodiversity in the workplace.
Revise your hiring practices
A major reason that organisations don’t hire more neurodivergent candidates is that their recruitment process favours neurotypical attributes, such as good communication skills, being a team player and emotional intelligence. This effectively screens out many neurodiverse candidates.
Autistic people, for example, may not not perform well in interviews by traditional standards. They tend to avoid eye contact, give overly detailed answers and may be too honest about their weaknesses. Making your hiring practices more inclusive can help to ensure you don’t miss out on hiring potentially high-performing employees due to unconscious bias.
There are several ways you can adjust your hiring practices to better meet the needs of neurodivergent candidates. Giving the candidate clear information in advance about what to expect in the interview – including when and where it will take place, who they will meet and the types of questions they’ll be asked – can help to ease their anxiety about the interview process. Ensuring that recruiters have proper training and awareness of common neurodivergent traits, such as a lack of eye contact and unconventional posture, can help to reduce unconscious bias.
Make adjustments and provide support
Providing the necessary support for neurodivergent employees to thrive at work doesn’t have to be expensive or require large organisational changes. Reducing excess noise or bright lights and providing noise-cancelling headphones, for example, can make a big difference to individuals with sensory sensitivities, such as people on the autism spectrum. Effective ways to support employees with ADHD include assigning one task at a time, splitting work into smaller tasks with shorter deadlines, and allowing short work ‘sprints’ with frequent breaks.
Other things you can do to support neurodivergent employees include:
- Assign a buddy who is also neurodiverse or who has experience working with neurodiverse colleagues. The buddy should be able to provide ongoing support
- Arrange regular check-ins to identify any issues
- Provide additional job training resources.
Implement awareness training
Ensuring that all staff have access to neurodiversity awareness training can help to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Providing this training during the onboarding process ensures that your team has the necessary resources to work with their neurodivergent colleagues from day one.
During the training, you can introduce the concept of neurodiversity, explaining what it is and that there are many different forms. At a later stage, the training can delve deeper into neurodiversity, looking at its implications in the organisation and potential issues that may arise. The focus of the training should be on how to create a more inclusive work environment and how to best support neurodiverse employees.
Create neurodiversity policies
Establishing organisational policies regarding neurodiversity can help to ensure a consistent approach. It can also be helpful to have codified rules in place should actions be required due to discriminatory behaviour. Your policies can include targets for hiring neurodivergent talent, separate to your other diversity and inclusion targets. It’s important to establish metrics and monitor your progress over a number of years. As you draft your policies, incorporating the input of your neurodivergent team members can help to make them more effective.
Key takeaways
Here are the most important points from this article for you to consider.
- Neurodiversity describes a range of cognitive differences, and it is a natural part of human diversity.
- People with neurodiversities are underutilised in the world of work. Hiring neurodiverse individuals is good for business.
- In addition to bringing creativity, innovation and unique abilities, neurodivergent employees can also contribute to higher employee retention rates, productivity and an enhanced company culture.
- You can make your workplace more neurodivergent friendly by adapting your recruitment process, particularly interviews, providing adequate support to neurodiverse employees, implementing neurodiversity training and establishing neurodiversity policies.
