Managing neurodivergent individuals in the workplace

One in seven people are now estimated to have a neurodivergent condition, such as dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder.

Neurodivergent people can bring valuable strengths, ranging from deep focus and analytical thinking to creativity and innovation.

Without the right understanding and support, however, they may struggle within narrow definitions of "typical" performance and communication, leading to challenges which may affect them in the workplace.

By putting in place practical measures to recognise and support your neurodiverse talent, you can unlock your workforce's full potential, increasing engagement, productivity and overall performance.

Topics covered in this session

• Recognising and understanding neurodiversity traits

• Practical adjustments that allow neurodiverse people to thrive

• Steps you can take to build a more inclusive and high-performing workforce

About the speaker

Rebecca Wones heads PAM Group's neurodiversity division, supporting organisations and employees to improve effectiveness and productivity.

She's a chartered occupational psychologist who advises employers on how neurodivergent individuals can thrive at work and how practical adjustments can help employees remain productive and engaged.

For more information, visit pamgroup.co.uk/neurodiversity.

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Transcript

Lightly edited for clarity.

Caitriona: Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's Lunch and Learn. My name is Caitriona, and I'll be your host today.

For those of you attending a Lunch and Learn for the first time, Enterprise Nation is a vibrant community platform for start-ups and small businesses.

I'm pleased to introduce Rebecca Wones, who is the Director of Psychology for Neurodiversity at PAM Wellness.

In this session, Rebecca will discuss steps you can take to build a more inclusive and high-performing workforce.

If you have any questions throughout the webinar, please post them in the chat and we'll do our best to answer them at the end of the session.

Today's webinar will be recorded, and we will send a follow-up email with the recording and further resources later today.

Over to you, Rebecca.

Rebecca Wones: Thank you very much. It's lovely to be here this afternoon. I hope everybody is well.

As Caitriona said, my name is Rebecca Wones. I'm the Director of Psychology for Neurodiversity at PAM Wellness, which is part of PAM Group. I'm here today to talk to you about managing neurodivergent individuals in the workplace.

A little bit on the agenda, just so you know the three main areas we're going to cover today. The session is half an hour long, so I'll be talking for about 20 to 25 minutes, and then there will be some time for questions at the end.

If you can add any questions to the chat, that would be really helpful, and we'll come to those at the end.

To kick us off, I'm going to talk a little about neurodiversity, strengths and challenges, and where you might see challenges in your team members and the individuals that you work with.

Then we'll look at how, as employers, managers and team leaders, you can support your neurodivergent staff and be more neuro-inclusive within your workforce.

What we know from research is that 92% of employers have a DE&I policy, which is fantastic. But only 22% of employers have a policy that specifically talks about neurodiversity, which is actually quite low.

Considering that one in seven individuals in the UK are neurodiverse, including conditions such as autism, ADHD and dyslexia, that is an important gap.

Of those individuals, around 65% of neurodivergent people worry about stigma and discrimination within the workplace, specifically from management. And 55% also worry about the same from colleagues.

As a result, people are reluctant to disclose. By creating a neuro-inclusive workforce and a neuro-inclusive work environment, and by offering support, you as managers and team leaders can help your neurodivergent staff much more effectively.

These are the areas we're going to go over today, and within my organisation here at PAM Wellness, these are the areas that we cover when we're working with clients, employees, and when we're delivering training and awareness sessions to a wider audience as well.

You'll see some information about how presentation might occur for somebody, and what kinds of challenges they may experience. We'll talk about that in a little more detail in a moment.

But as we go through today, I want you to remember that neurodivergent individuals have strengths.

The challenges are often talked about, and we're going to talk about how to support them within the workplace, but we also need to remember the strengths that neurodivergent individuals have.

This often gets forgotten in a workplace and in an assessment process.

We want to make sure that this is highlighted as we go through today, because as well as supporting neurodivergent individuals, one of the things that you have the luxury of doing as a manager or employer is helping that neurodiverse individual identify and use their strengths in the workplace.

That helps them as an individual, and it helps you as an organisation.

So what is the business case for support and inclusion?

We know that cognitively diverse teams excel in areas like creativity, problem-solving and innovation.

Neurodivergent strengths, such as attention to detail, different thinking styles, different approaches and specialised skills, can increase productivity and improve the quality of output as well.

We know that a supportive environment increases employee engagement. It reduces turnover, and that allows us to keep the knowledge we have built in somebody about our organisation and our business.

It allows us to keep that knowledge within the business rather than seeing it go somewhere else.

We know that neuro-inclusive practices build empathy and a sense of psychological safety in the workplace. We know that they can increase morale and help create a creative, future-focused organisation.

If your workforce reflects the diversity of society, then it can better understand and better meet your customers' needs and your organisation's customer base.

By having that reflection within your organisation, it shows that you are thoughtful. It shows that you are anti-discrimination, and that you are putting the strengths of your workforce first.

So, a little look at neurodivergence.

This is an awareness session, so it is a bit of a whistle-stop tour, but hopefully this will give you an idea of how to identify somebody who may potentially be neurodivergent and give you some ideas about what might be that person's strengths as well.

We know, for example, that 10% of the population are estimated to be dyslexic, and where we find that it impacts the most is on reading, spelling and writing, so literacy-based tasks.

Because of challenges with things like working memory and processing speed, dyslexia can affect an individual's ability to learn, retain and remember literacy-based tasks, and to do them as easily as somebody who is non-dyslexic.

It might impact reading, spelling, and the acquisition of those things. This is one of the reasons it can be spotted at school, because these are obviously areas that we concentrate on first.

But what we know about dyslexic thinkers is that they can be very good at seeing the bigger picture, thinking about things in a different way, thinking outside the box, seeing things from a different point of view, and being very good at problem-solving.

For example, organisations like GCHQ actively recruit dyslexic thinkers because of that approach to problem-solving, analysing and understanding information and data.

So while they may want people who see things in a very process-driven way, and who can see the detail of something, they also need people who see the bigger picture and the overarching story or journey that is happening so that they can identify risks.

So you may have somebody in your organisation who is a dyslexic thinker. You may have roles or aspects of your work where having a dyslexic thinker is especially supportive and helpful.

Then the question becomes: how can you support that dyslexic individual? We're going to talk about support at the end of this section on neurodivergence, so that you can identify some of the things that, as an organisation, you could put in place.

Dyscalculia is a challenge with maths and number.

It's not just about doing maths, being anxious about maths, not enjoying maths, or not being as good at maths. It's a challenge with understanding number concepts and applying those in the real world.

So it can affect things like telling the time, timekeeping, understanding quantity and prices, and remembering basic maths facts despite repetition.

What we do know is that individuals who have a diagnosis of, or traits of, dyscalculia can again be very creative, may have a love of words, and can be very good at problem-solving.

They may also have strategic, higher-level thinking in terms of the whole-picture point of view, and they may have strong practical abilities, so they might be good at practical tasks.

So yes, there are challenges with dyscalculia, but there are also strengths that can be valuable within an organisation.

Again, if you think about your organisation and your world of work, and you want somebody with creativity and intuitive thinking, then think about your neurodivergent team members.

DCD is Developmental Coordination Disorder, also known as dyspraxia.

At the moment, we estimate that it affects around five% of the population. At its core, it is a motor coordination difficulty, so challenges with fine and gross motor coordination.

Gross motor coordination is larger movements, so things like running, walking, avoiding objects as we move around our house or office, learning to ride a bike, and things like that.

Fine motor coordination is smaller, more delicate movements, typically done with the hands, such as putting on make-up, doing a watch strap, fastening buttons, and handwriting.

We also know that underlying that may be a challenge with working memory and potentially with processing speed, and this can affect spatial awareness, time management, and planning and organisational skills.

So that sequencing and putting things in the right order can become difficult. Even if somebody knows what to do and how to do it, it can be hard to figure out the best route and the best priority order.

But what we also know is that individuals with dyspraxia can have creative problem-solving skills, innovative thinking, bigger-picture thinking, and can be very empathetic.

Because they may rely less on practical skills, they can also be very strong in verbal reasoning, so very articulate and very good at clear communication.

As we learn more about neurodivergence, and as more employers understand the benefits of a neuro-inclusive workforce and the benefits of hiring neurodivergent thinkers, we can see that job adverts in the UK that reference neurodiversity have increased sixfold since 2019.

Employers are understanding that if they want to support a neurodivergent workforce that has these skills and strengths, they need to attract them and bring them in.

So actually mentioning neurodivergence in a job advert or on your recruitment pages can be really helpful and sends a very strong message to applicants.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, often involves challenges with attention, focus and concentration, and somebody may be very fidgety.

Someone who is impulsive and/or hyperactive may move around a lot and do things on the spur of the moment. They can have very high energy and may struggle to sit in one place for any length of time.

Where we notice that in the workplace, especially if perhaps you work virtually and don't see that energy in the same way as you would face to face, is that there may be challenges with multitasking, forgetfulness, planning and prioritisation.

So the person may know what to do, know how to do it, and be perfectly capable because they've got the right experience and qualifications, but they may struggle to put things in an order that makes sense or in the order they need to be done.

There may also be sensory sensitivities. Individuals with ADHD may find certain environments overwhelming. They may be too noisy because they are quite distractible.

They may also have sensory sensitivities around touch, taste or lighting.

And there can be time blindness, so not necessarily being able to understand how long a particular task might take, which can mean overestimating or underestimating the timeframe.

But there are some real strengths with ADHD.

There is often the ability to hyperfocus, to concentrate on something that is an area of interest, skill or enjoyment for a significant period of time.

Often in my work, the individuals I assess really enjoy the creative aspects of their role. For example, somebody in marketing might really enjoy the creative aspect of designing documents or making things that are going to be published and seen more widely.

But they may get bored and find it difficult to concentrate on the more boring tasks, or the things that are boring to them, which might be the more admin-based parts of a role.

People with ADHD can also be motivated by short deadlines, so very much a sprint, not a marathon.

Having tasks in chunks can be really motivating: we'll do this bit, then this bit, then this bit.

And as I said, high energy can be useful in a crisis where a decision needs to be made really quickly.

Research from across the world tells us that organisations with above-average diversity in terms of different types of thinkers show a 19% increase in innovation compared with organisations that don't.

So if you are a small organisation, an independent sole trader or practitioner, and you need to be innovative because you have bigger competitors in your sector, think about those neurodivergent thinkers who can bring that innovation and different way of seeing things into your organisation.

For somebody who is autistic, they may struggle with certain styles or aspects of non-verbal expression, such as body language and facial expressions.

They may struggle with social cues and have a quite formal style of communication.

They may also mask and hide their neurodivergence in order to appear more neurotypical and fit in with a neurotypical work environment.

That is not unique to autism. It can also happen in ADHD and other areas of neurodivergence.

Again, those sensory sensitivities may be present: certain lighting, noise levels, textures, tastes and similar factors.

Autistic individuals may have a preference for routine. They often work well with structure and routine attached to their role.

So even if one is not inherently built into the role, adding one in can be very helpful.

They may also struggle with emotional overwhelm. When things are overwhelming, whether because they are masking heavily or dealing with a very uncomfortable sensory environment, those feelings of emotional overwhelm can increase.

But we know autistic individuals can have very good attention to detail, deep focus, strong creativity and subject-matter expertise.

We also know that neurodiversity initiatives in the workplace really support people.

JPMorgan Chase's Autism at Work programme showed that neurodivergent individuals were able to be 90 to 140% more productive than their neurotypical colleagues because they were supported, given the right accommodations at work, and aligned to their strengths.

We know that SAP has achieved a very high retention rate for its neurodiverse employees through its Autism at Work initiative – around 90% – which is astounding.

I think any organisation would want a 90% retention success rate, regardless of how small or large they are.

So what about neuro-inclusion in the workplace?

How are we going to take these strengths, these challenges and the business case, and support people in the workplace?

How are you as managers, business owners and entrepreneurs going to ensure that you have neuro-inclusion in your workplace and organisation?

We know that organisations that are aware of neurodiversity, that understand it, and that provide training and support to their teams are about 30% more productive.

So awareness genuinely supports the whole organisation.

It is important to remember that you do not need a diagnosis to get help and support.

As an employee, you are covered by the Equality Act, and you do not need a diagnosis in order to receive support and adjustments.

So if a member of your team says, "I haven't got a diagnosis, but I think I might be ADHD and I'm struggling, and I need some help and support," that is the point where support should come in.

It is also important to think about your organisation and where your neurodivergent employees might struggle.

For example, there may not be enough suitable accommodations. That doesn't mean you don't care. It may simply mean you don't know what is suitable or what you need to do.

You might have a particularly challenging or sensory-difficult environment. Think about where your workforce works. Think about where you work.

Is it affecting concentration and focus? Is it too noisy? Too bright?

Could people be masking? If you recognise from the strengths and challenges we've looked at that somebody in your workforce might be neurodivergent, it may be that they are hiding it or not telling you.

They may have casually said they think they might be autistic, but they don't really show those traits in an obvious way. So maybe they are masking and hiding their challenges.

That is where the understanding you can have as a manager or organisational lead can really support your neurodivergent colleagues.

I'm not going to go through every single point on these slides, because there are a couple of slides on support for neurodiversity.

But as you look at this slide and the next one, I hope you'll see that there are lots of things you can do.

Yes, some will have a cost attached to them. For example, assistive technology or a workplace needs assessment.

But a lot of this is either very low cost or cost-neutral.

For example, if your organisation says, "From tomorrow, we're going to start using a dyslexia-friendly font," that is really easy to change.

You can set the default differently in Outlook. You can change your templates. There is not really a cost to that.

Chunking tasks – breaking them down into smaller pieces that are easier to absorb, easier to understand, and less likely to feel overwhelming – is again something you can do at no cost.

It is something you can build into the beginning of every week or every day.

Also, look at what you already have built in.

We talk about assistive technology, and if that is a route you are going to go down, there is a lot you can do. But think about the things already built into the systems you use.

We all use Outlook, Teams, Zoom. Think about what those tools already offer.

Think about what you can do as a manager.

Think about how you can work with your neurodivergent staff or potentially neurodivergent staff and see what can support them.

Actually, asking these questions of any employee is good practice. It helps make sure you're being respectful and finding out somebody's preferences and strengths.

For example: what is your preferred way of communication?

My preferred way of communication is for people to give me a Teams heads-up and then ring me, unless it's urgent, in which case they can obviously ring me.

That's my preference, and generally that's what my team do. They'll send, "Have you got five minutes?" and then I can reply, "Yes," or, "No, but in 10 minutes I can speak to you."

I really appreciate that.

It's just something as simple as that which can support a neurodivergent person in the workplace.

Rather than receiving an unexpected call, they get something like, "Can I speak to you for 10 minutes today about the project we're working on tomorrow? I just want to ask you a couple of questions."

That person can then think, right, okay, I know why they want to speak to me, I know how long it's going to take, and I can plan when that conversation is going to happen.

For those of you who didn't know, it was Neurodiversity Celebration Week last week, which was brilliant. We did some things internally and with other organisations.

The theme of this year's Neurodiversity Celebration Week was "from awareness to action".

So think about what you are going to do as an organisation, as an entrepreneur or as an independent practitioner.

What are you going to do to take your awareness of neurodiversity and put things into action?

How neuro-inclusive are you?

Speak to members of your team. Pick some things to do.

Maybe it is just one area of support. For example: "We're going to make dyslexia-friendly fonts standard across our text and promotional materials."

Or maybe: "We're going to look at the issues and problems we've got as an organisation. We're not going to try to fix the person. We're going to fix the issues."

Because if you fix the issues for your neurodivergent employee, chances are you'll fix it for everybody as well.

Look at your processes. Are you neuro-inclusive when you hire somebody, when you recruit, when you talk to people about your product or your organisation?

So what can you take away? What can you do today? What can you do this afternoon? What can your organisation commit to?

Do you have a neurodiversity policy? Do you have a disability, equality and inclusion policy? If not, get one.

And if you do, can you add something specifically around neurodiversity?

Look at assistive tech that you already have access to. What's built in? What do you have already?

Not just Outlook, but accounting software or whatever systems you use. What accessibility features are already there?

Okay. Thank you very much.

Any questions? I've not been looking at the chat at all, so I have no idea.

Caitriona: Thank you so much, Rebecca. We did have a question from Ethel. They were asking: what's the most dyslexia-friendly font?

Rebecca Wones: It tends to be something that is 12 point or above, and fonts like Arial – sans serif fonts.

Those are the ones I tend to go for. To be fair, I tend to use Arial across the board, with 12 point and above, and at least one-and-a-half line spacing, or double line spacing if you can.

I appreciate that's not always possible in documents, but that really helps.

Caitriona: Thank you. If anyone else has any questions, please pop them in the chat. In the meantime, I have a question here.

Where should an organisation start if it wants to become more inclusive but has limited resources?

Rebecca Wones: Very good question. I'd start by looking at what you've already got that is neuro-inclusive, because you may already have things in place.

For example, are you already sticking to each other's communication preferences? Do people know what those are?

If there are 10 of you, do people know how each person works best?

Are people being open and honest? Is there awareness in the organisation?

Ask your team where they would like more awareness, not just around neurodiversity, but around other areas of diversity and inclusion too. Then start putting those things in place.

That doesn't need to be expensive. Obviously, it can be, but there are lots of free resources out there that you can encourage people to access.

For example, if somebody says, "I don't really know much about dyslexia and I'd like to," then the British Dyslexia Association has a lot of free resources if you are limited in what you can access.

I would also look at making full use of your built-in systems, like Outlook and similar tools.

If somebody is struggling with organisation, what strategies do they use? What strategies could they use?

Even just by looking online, you can get some idea of what might be helpful for people.

So it doesn't need to cost, because I appreciate that some of our organisations here today might be quite small.

Caitriona: Thank you. We had another question: what is stimming?

Rebecca Wones: Stimming is a behaviour that is often seen in individuals with autism, although it can extend to other areas of neurodivergence such as ADHD.

It's a behaviour such as hand flapping, touching fingertips, tapping legs or feet, and similar repetitive actions.

It is a continuous, repetitive behaviour that supports the individual, usually around levels of emotional overwhelm.

So if somebody is feeling particularly stressed or worried, they may stim.

Individuals can also do that when they are happy and enjoying something. It can help them regulate those feelings.

If somebody you know does that, I would say, certainly from a workplace point of view, that unless the behaviour is dangerous in some way, I would simply allow that person to stim.

If they want to leave the office or step away from the work environment to do that, is there a private place you can offer?

If somebody is engaging in stimming that could hurt them – for example, if they bang their head – then obviously we wouldn't want that because it could cause injury.

In that case, I would suggest encouraging them to speak to their GP or another relevant professional about developing a safer form of stimming that still gives them the same support.

I hope that made sense.

Caitriona: Thank you so much.

We've just come to the end of the session now, but thank you so much for your presentation, Rebecca.

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