Neuro-inclusion at NewDay

At NewDay, we want every colleague to be themselves and to be brilliant.

This means supporting you to be the best of yourself, so you can make your mark. We caught up with a colleague who is neuro-diverse to find out more.

What are some myths about Neurodiversity?

The first myth that comes to mind when we think of neurodiversity is that all neurodivergent people are similar and can be grouped together for ease in the workplace. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Every person is unique in their own way and neurodivergence doesn’t change this, everyone has their own opinions, preferences, and nuances. Some traits that apply to one person won’t apply to another so you can’t assume that each person isn’t their own entity just because they are neurodivergent.

The other myth is that neurodivergence stops you from succeeding in a job role. Yes, you may need some adjustments within your job to function to your full potential and feel supported at work but that doesn’t mean that you can’t develop further and do excellently in your role. I’ve actually felt a lot of my traits have helped in the workplace, they have provided me great analysing skills, attention to detail, and determination. There is no way I would be as successful within NewDay in moving forward without these skills today.

Are there any adjustments that have helped you perform your job better?

I have made my manager fully aware of my thought process and differences to someone more neurotypical. This for me, has mostly been the inability to notice social cues or small implications in conversation, the main impact being when having meetings and feedback not understanding whether its positive or negative. My manager now lays out any meeting for me with points on what it will cover and will reassure me the second it appears on my calendar if its ‘good or bad’. Also being allowed preparation time for meetings means I can collect my thoughts and know any questions I’ll need to ask beforehand.

Also just having the availability to have a ‘break’ when I need it, say after a tough call or where I’ve started to feel overwhelmed and need to recollect my thoughts. My manager knows I only taking these extra breaks when I need them, and we have built that trust.

How does NewDay ensure that neurodiverse employees feel valued and appreciated for their unique skills and contributions?

I find there’s so many different options for how to communicate to teams around you within NewDay, it opens up a much broader scope to not have to rely on walking up to someone in person and talking. This also links in to NewWork, which allows people to work and interact without requiring a physical presence. I think altogether NewDay takes on any feedback given, especially things that may be considered ‘nit-picky’ or very specific, because they see it as an opportunity to improve and grow instead of a fault/flaw.

What are your neurodivergent super-strengths?

Attention to detail is my main skill developed from being neurodiverse, I will look into everything before coming up with a decision. I really think everything through before acting and I know that impulsive actions wont work well for me. I know once I’ve come to a decision I’ve taken everything into account before so I am very confident when speaking about this and showing my opinion.

Other skills I would say are Analysis and Determination. I don’t let things go, and that’s a good thing! I find myself being hyper-aware of little issues and not being satisfied with something just ‘not working’ so I like to investigate further and figure out the root issue. This has actually helped me to develop quickly into a Complaints Coordinator role which has ‘root cause’ as a tool used to decipher a complaint.