How neurodiversity and inclusion enhance workplace digital transformation
Neurodiversity in Business (NiB) - the Neurodiversity Charity
An industry forum that seeks to improve the participation of the neurodivergent in the workplace.
Author: Sebastiano Stichter??
In this article, Neurodiversity in Business (NiB) volunteer Sebastiano Stichter examines the current thinking on neurodiversity and digital transformation. He highlights that companies which harness the power of neurodiversity as part of an inclusive approach are more productive. And when companies address barriers to neurodivergent employment, everyone benefits.?
?To adapt to a business environment that is rapidly changing owing to the rate of digitisation, organisations must engage with professionals who can expedite new technologies and solve complex difficulties , according to @Hiren Shukla, EY Global and Americas Neuro-Diverse Center of Excellence Leader. Companies may drive transformation and fulfil their full potential by engaging neurodivergent people as members of a truly multidimensional team.??
The unemployment of the neurodivergent population can be as high as 80%, according to a 2017 article by Austin and Pisano . This is particularly true when organisations discard these candidates during the selection process despite the strong capabilities and skills of some neurodivergent candidates. However, as stressed by the authors, organisations that hire neurodivergent individuals are often characterised by teams that are up to 30% more productive.??
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Building neurodiversity into your management framework?
Neurodiversity management is an effective model of inclusion that can mitigate the development of inequalities associated with the digital transformation. That’s what Emmanuelle Walkowiak reported in a 2021 qualitative study involving interviews with neurodiversity leaders and experts . The main factors for successful neuro-inclusion include:??
Walkowiak reports that these factors contribute to the process of digital transformation by closing the digital skills shortage. Businesses may offer a unique chance for people to distinguish out by developing inclusive, high-performing teams.?
In his 2020 publication, Shulka of EY suggests that if we want to live in a future in which the power of diverse, multidisciplinary teams is paired with converging technology to transform industry, academia, and governments, then we need to consider the nexus of transformation and purpose in order to cultivate the curiosity, agility, and resilience needed to thrive in this new environment. He stresses that nowadays, what can determine companies’ value and durability is their ability to simultaneously develop and implement creative ideas coming from the bottom with state-of-the-art technologies and the increasing power of data.??
However, how can companies address the issue of inclusion along with the rapid development of technologies? I agree with the conclusions of a 2021 publication from the Orange Foundation : By curating and including cognitive diversity into their teaming models, organizations can place themselves in a good starting position to address issues related to organisation’s change and transformation. Austin and Pisano suggested in 2017 and Walkowiak corroborated in 2021 that when new talent requirements arise, leaders must consider how they can leverage the strength of their workforce and swiftly upskill it. As corporate leaders adapt to a fast-shifting market and society, neurodiversity is an essential component of redefining the idea of agility.??
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Empowering organisations through neurodiversity?
Businesses that have or are moving towards building a staff of talented individuals with different technical skills, viewpoints, and cognitive structure can gain a competitive edge over the competition. Thanks to this variety, the possible solutions and ideas that can arise in brainstorming are potentially limitless. Organisation must understand, integrate and implement the powerful potential, problem-solving abilities and added value that can stem from the simultaneous cooperation of diverse (and divergent) brains working on the same task.??
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In their 2022 Bain & Company publication , Coffman, Bax, Noether and Blair share their viewpoints about enhancing business outcomes. As stressed by the authors, people with a sense of belonging at work are more creative, healthy, and engaged – especially if they are neurodiverse, this evidence, as mentioned in the Bain publication, is presented in accordance with earlier researchers at the University of Bristol.? These individuals are often characterized by good analytical thinking and innovation, reasoning ability, complex problem-solving and ideation, and understanding of technology design and programming. These factors and their creativity, originality and initiative often remains undervalued and unseen.??
The corporate world is evolving quickly due to more advanced technologies and a faster rate of innovation. Businesses, now more than ever are shifting towards a data-driven and networked structure as they implement innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robots, and process automation. For this reason, strong analytics and cybersecurity are becoming more essential than ever for organisations (BR?NZEA, 2019; Orange Foundation, 2021). The ability needed to carry out this crucial task, however, is lacking in many fields. By enabling their most competent employees to concentrate on the most valuable tasks, organisations may make the most of their human resources (Harvard Business Review, 2017 ; Walkowiak, 2021).?
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Addressing the neurodivergent employment gap?
Research shows that 15% to 20% of the global population is neurodivergent, including those with autism, Asperger's, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia (Forbes, 2020 ; Orange Foundation 2021). However, as pointed out in these publications and notwithstanding the organisational needs mentioned above, the unemployment/underemployment affecting the ND population is incredibly high at almost 85%.??
The high neurodivergent unemployment rate is often explained by the fact that, to date, neurodivergent candidates can have a tough time fitting traditional job descriptions and job postings. This explanation doesn’t make sense when considering how positions are re-invented and re-structured almost daily in a world where the challenges get increasingly ambiguous and complicated (Forbes, 2020; Orange Foundation, 2021).??
Once again, it falls to organisations to raise internal awareness and address barriers to including and empowering more neurodivergent employees.??
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Harnessing the power of thinking differently?
Businesses are discovering that people with autism and neurodivergent individuals approach challenges in different ways and may inspire process innovations that significantly boost productivity. This will enable enterprises to maximize the value they can provide to their stakeholders. Talent and teaming innovation offers the power of cognitive differences needed for businesses to better connect with stakeholders,while inspiring their staff to enhance internal procedures and infrastructure and develop the culture of innovation (BR?NZEA, 2019; Shukla, 2020; Forbes, 2020; Walkowiak, 2021).??
Finally, it is worth considering what several authors have pointed out: In addition to being detrimental to the neurodivergent community's wellbeing, unemployment can generate a significant knowledge gap for businesses. This is especially true in fields such as technology and data science where there is a great need for experts in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and data science (Walkowiak, 2021; Bruyère & Colella, 2022; BR?NZEA, 2019).??
It is imperative for organisations to become realise that lack of trust and discrimination perpetuated against neurodivergent people is detrimental not only for these people and their wellbeing but for the companies themselves.?
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Interested in learning more? Sebastiano has shared these references and resources for further reading:?
PhD fellow at UNU-MERIT | MA in Development and Social Policy
1 年Interesting!!
Hiren Shukla - with appreciation!
Very insightful!