Neurodiversity Celebration Week: 10 actions employers can take that aren't tweets

Last week, a Twitter bot, @PayGapApp, retweeted employers' tweets celebrating International Women's Day alongside excruciatingly painful details of their gender pay gap.

As it's Neurodiversity Celebration Week from March 21 - 27, there's maybe a few nervous social media managers looking into how their planned posts match up with the actions of their employers. This is especially because despite around 1 in 7 adults being neurodiverse, conversations about neurodiversity and/or disability* in the workplace are still notoriously low.

There's still 1 to go week, so here's some some easy, cheap, and quick to implement ideas:

1) Ensure there are policies in place for neurodiversity, reasonable adjustments, and disabilities at work.

It's impossible for someone to use their rights if they don't know what they are. No matter how much an organisation might speak about inclusivity externally, if the policies aren't there to back it up internally, the stigma of fear, judgement and worry about being discriminated against can easily prevail.

This means having clear, accessible procedures that explain in detail every step of talking about neurodiversity at work, including who would be told (and whether this is optional), how reasonable adjustments are assessed and monitored, and overall, a policy that reads as though it's genuinely supportive, rather than a bureaucratic shame-maze. I'd really recommend involving as many employees or experts with experience in this as possible to give these policies a read over, as we may interpret things very differently to most people!

2) Have a confidential, anonymous helpline for disabilities at work

Even with policies in place, neurodiverse employees may not want to talk about their experiences at work, but they might need help with specific issues. If you can set up an anonymous helpline, this is a far easier way of ensuring employees are properly supported rather than waiting for problems to grow to the point of formally exploding at HR's door.

You could train Neurodiversity Advocates, Mental Health First Aiders, or just have an email address with the clear guarantee that everything will be kept confidential. This simple, easy step could make the world of difference in being able to have open, honest and independent conversations. If you're unsure about keeping it in-house, you could appoint someone external to the organisation (like me!) to facilitate these conversations.

3) Support employees who are undergoing assessments

The best thing I heard this week was an employer paying for their employee to have assessments for ADHD and Dyslexia. The NHS waiting lists can be so impossibly long (my GP's surgery is 7 years for ADHD!), and psychiatry is too often not included on private medical insurances from employers. A person should not need a piece of paper to magically be supported at work: the support should be there regardless.

Employers don't necessarily need to pay for medical assessments - just having a conversation with an employee about what they might be experiencing and how they can be supported can make the world of difference.

4) Learn about Access to Work , and tell your employees about it

When I was told about the Government funding to support people with disabilities at work, I couldn't believe it, especially after struggling all year to afford therapy to try and manage my ADHD symptoms. I was able to have ADHD coaching funded instead, and learned about how they can pay 100% of costs for adjustments including Support Workers (e.g a personal assistant), training for managers and colleagues, software, and more.

Less than 1% of people who could use Access to Work do, and many HR departments still don't know about it! It's worth mentioning that the processes can be quite bureaucratic, so any support from employers in terms of organising the details is extremely helpful.

5) Train managers on neurodiversity

Neurodiverse people aren't motivated by the same things as neurotypical people, and so may require different management styles. One of my favourite coaching conversations was with a manager from the US, who wanted to understand how she could best manage and support her employee who'd disclosed ADHD to her.

Managers also need to be super clear on the policies surrounding support for neurodiverse employees, and understand how they can get support themselves if they're unsure about something. Ideally, any manager of a person who discloses a disability should receive training, and possibly coaching , on how to best support that person at work. They could also read books and do their own research, such as reading 'ADHD: an A to Z ' (for ADHD) or Neurodiversity at Work .

6) Host (positive!) internal awareness events

What matters to employees is the internal actions: what's there for them? By hosting an event with an external speaker , 'Lunch and Learns', 'Fireside Chats', or an open meeting about neurodiversity where questions can be asked anonymously, this is demonstrating that you 'walk the walk', instead of just 'talk the talk'. Involving neurodivergent employees that wish to be involved can be very empowering, or inviting them to write a blog post about their experiences.

There's extra points for hosting events that are REALLY POSITIVE. There's so much stigma around neurodiversity, especially in the workplace, and talks can often focus on this rather than celebrating how valuable and important it is to have employees who think differently.

7) Create a neurodiversity group at work

By enabling people who are neurodiverse to connect with each other at work, you'll see some pretty amazing results. It's great to be able to connect with other people and realise we're not alone, which is why I write this newsletter!

8) Encourage people to bring their whole selves to work

Being neurodiverse can be challenging in neurotypical work environments, especially if our brains are going at a million miles an hour. By embracing neurodivergent people's ideas and giving them the opportunity to not only develop themselves but to put their often very excellent ideas into practice, this will likely result in long-term loyalty and job satisfaction.

As in point 5, neurodiverse people may have completely different ideas of 'success' to the norm, but being accepted for who we are is a certain winner in all situations, for both an employer and employee. It can be really helpful for employees to have job coaching for this (which can be funded by Access to Work!).

9) Listen to your neurodiverse employees

This seems a very simple thing to do, but often can be missed in the anxiety of language potentially relating to 'disability', 'HR', 'D&I', 'discrimination', and so on. It takes a huge amount of courage to ask for help at work, especially when you're 'different', and employees may not be asking for very much. Yet because there's maybe not a 'process' in place, things can become delayed or ignored, and tensions can easily build.

An employee told me how when she explained about the challenges she was experiencing with certain administrative tasks at work to her employer, they matched her with another employee, who took on these tasks in return for some of their own. This is such a brilliantly simple and creative idea - we all have our own strengths and weaknesses, and can compliment and support each other.

10) Take responsibility for everyone

Having a neurodiverse employee is a huge asset to any company: they're able to think and act outside of the box. Whilst it's a personal choice for a person to disclose or not, an employer can take responsibility to ensure there is a safe, supportive and empowering environment for employees to do so. They can reassure employees that they will be taken seriously, but they won't be expected to have all the answers.

Iniatives such as offering reasonable adjustments may not mean much in practice if an individual doesn't know what will help them, for example. Similarly, outsourcing support to Occupational Health may not leave an employee feeling able to speak about their experiences at work. The best thing an employer can do is support everybody who needs it in a curious, vulnerable, and open way, staying as proactively engaged in the process as possible.

Ultimately, the point is for employers to be a little more human, and a little less like a Twitter bot.

If you'd like to discuss implementing any of the above in your organisation with me, please drop me a message at [email protected].

*I have referred to neurodiversity & disability within this newsletter, because conditions such as ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia and Autism can be considered disabilities protected by equality legislation in the workplace for this purpose.