Doing the Opposite: A panel discussion – Strengths and Strategies for Neurodiverse Workforces

In the newest episode of Doing the Opposite: Business Disruptors, I spoke with a brilliant panel of experts to discuss an increasingly important issue for employers and employees: neurodiversity in the workplace.

Research suggests up to 20% of the global population is neurodiverse, but we’ve only started to talk about what this means in the workplace relatively recently.

To learn more about how employers can navigate the challenges faced by neurodiverse people and make their organisations more inclusive and productive, I brought three experts onto the podcast to share their thoughts.

I was joined by Dr Jasmine Virhia, a postdoctoral researcher in Psychological and Behavioural Sciences at the London School of Economics and Political Science; Dan Maudsley, a multi-award-winning broadcaster, podcaster and senior producer at the BBC; and Angela Pretner-Smith, the MD of This Is Milk and Founder of Neve Learning.

Watch the full conversation below, or read on to discover my biggest takeaways.

Supporting neurodiversity benefits us all

By making your workplace more inclusive for neurodiverse people, you’ll create an environment where everyone can bring their best selves to work each day.

“You have to focus on creating psychological safety,” Angela explained. “By that, I mean supporting people to come to work, be themselves, speak up, and raise challenges without being penalised for it. Making the workplace more psychologically safe for everybody has an even more impactful result for neurodiverse people and other minorities.”

And when you embrace the unique qualities your neurodiverse employees possess, you’ll see how their different ways of thinking can open up new possibilities and solutions you hadn’t considered.

“By bringing in neurodiverse staff, you get different perspectives, outlooks, skills, and ways of approaching things,” Dan said. “If you can foster that, you can drive amazing results.”?

Leaders need to be courageous in going against tradition

If you want to improve the inclusivity of your organisation, you need to question how you typically do things.

For example, the panel discussed how job interviews are often not fit for purpose — a belief I’ve held myself for some time.

“Leaders need to be courageous in doing things non-traditionally,” Dr Jasmine said. “In a typical interview, you tend to be put on the spot in a way that’s not necessarily required of you in your day-to-day role, so you’re not assessing the skills they actually need.”

“If you understand how neurodivergence manifests in the workplace, you’ll have a better idea of how to assess an individual’s skills equitably.”

You can listen to or watch the insightful conversation with the panel.