Employee Engagement and Neurodiversity: Creating Inclusive Strategies for All

The impact of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies in the workplace has been far-reaching. Today, many businesses place an increasing emphasis on creating more inclusive and diverse work environments, especially as so much of the world has gone remote and geographical boundaries are blurred. Now more than ever, encouraging people with different backgrounds and outlooks to collaborate and create an environment of understanding and tolerance is essential to success. 

However, for many businesses, these diversity strategies don’t only include employees of all ethnicities, genders, and identities. They also include those who are neurodivergent.

While neurodivergence is a relatively new concept that emerged in the 1990s, neurodivergent people are becoming more widely recognized as valuable team members with their own unique strengths and abilities. Yet it’s important to understand that traditional recruitment practices and standard work environments may pose hidden challenges to this talent pool. 

These challenges can potentially prevent them from receiving the support they need to propel their career trajectories and the organizations they work for forward. They can also limit their engagement in the workplace and restrict their potential, both for growth and performing their current roles to the best of their ability. 

Let’s explore the benefits of creating neurodiversity-inclusive workspaces and learn how to create inclusive strategies that maximize your neurodivergent talent’s full potential.

What is Neurodiversity?

Neurodiversity refers to natural differences and variations in how the human brain is structured and functions. We all think, learn, and process information in different ways, but these differences are usually marginal. However, neurodivergent people’s brains function differently from what is considered ‘typical.’

It’s estimated that between 10 and 20% of people in the world are neurodivergent, and this number may well be higher.  The neurodiversity spectrum includes conditions like ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), autism, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dyslexia, and Tourette’s Syndrome, among others. 

How Neurodiverse Employees Benefit the Workplace?

Neurodivergent employees can benefit their workplaces in many ways. These individuals can bring unique perspectives and strengths to their places of employment, helping to benefit businesses by:

1. Enhancing innovation

Neurodivergent people often have different ways of thinking, including fresh ways of approaching tasks and developing actionable solutions to challenges. This can provide organizations with unique new ideas and innovative solutions.

2. Improving problem-solving abilities

Neurodivergent groups tend to display an ability to focus on finer details, think outside of the box, and identify key patterns and trends. All of these traits add significant value for proactively identifying and addressing problems.

3. Boosting workplace productivity

Many neurodivergent individuals have notable strengths in specific areas, such as technical abilities, pattern recognition, information recall, or data analysis. These strengths can lead to consistently high levels of productivity and higher-quality outputs, provided that neurodivergent employees are placed in roles that allow them to use their abilities effectively.

4. Supporting a diverse company culture

Inviting neurodiversity into the workplace and celebrating neurodivergent individuals for their individual strengths and abilities can create a more inclusive work culture. In turn, this can assist organizations in attracting and retaining more talent from a broader and more diverse range of professionals.

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5 Key Strategies for Creating Neurodiversity-Inclusive Strategies for Employee Engagement

#1 Update Recruitment Practices

Traditional recruitment processes may not adequately identify or capture the strengths and abilities of neurodivergent applicants. Some of the world’s largest and most successful businesses, including tech giants like EY and Dell, have re-imagined their recruitment tactics to encourage engagement and be more inclusive. They now focus more on skill-based and performance-based assessments to effectively include neurodivergent individuals in their DEI hiring process.

Dell offers a Neurodiversity@Dell program that has replaced traditional interviews with project-based tasks. This allows all candidates, including those who are neurodivergent, to show off their real-world skills and abilities in an approachable way. 

Other companies are adapting by offering more flexibility during the hiring process, including accommodations like alternative formats or additional time to allow neurodivergent candidates to showcase their skills effectively. Make sure that your recruitment software supports diverse hiring practices by offering flexible assessments and accommodations.

#2 Tailor Workplaces to Neurodivergent Needs

Neurodivergent employees typically require specialized environments that support their work efforts and needs. Certain businesses like Ubisoft have redesigned their workplaces to meet the needs of their diverse employees, including quiet and controlled spaces for autistic staff members and more flexible and dynamic spaces for those with ADHD. 

These adaptive designs help to engage and support individuals with a range of neurodiverse conditions to play to their strengths and maximize their productivity. At the same time, they minimize factors that could hinder their ability to work efficiently.

Investing in inclusive tech tools that provide support with tasks like writing, reading, and performing calculations can also assist individuals with dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia. These tools make it easier to maintain productivity and unlock neurodivergent employees’ hidden potential.

#3 Provide Resources for Psychological Well-Being

Hiring neurodivergent employees is only one step in the process of building truly inclusive workspaces. Employers must also work towards creating strong communities in which every employee feels a sense of value and belonging. This can be done in all environments, whether in-office, hybrid, or fully remote. There are numerous diversity and inclusion activities that remote and hybrid teams can engage in to deepen their understanding and improve their collaboration, and the same applies to employees in the office. 

For example, Ubisoft has taken steps towards creating such communities through its Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) mentorship programs. These programs provide peer-to-peer support for employees and raise awareness of the challenges of neurodivergence. 

Groups like these ERGs assist employees in connecting meaningfully with one another and seeking psychological and social support when needed. This helps to ensure that they feel meaningfully engaged with their teams and colleagues in the workplace. 

#4 Offer Personalized Training Opportunities

Every inclusive workplace includes strategies for providing employees with training and development opportunities—and neurodiverse employees should always be included. Additionally, business leaders who wish to build inclusive spaces need to equip their teams with proper tools and knowledge so that they can properly understand and support their neurodivergent co-workers.

Companies like Ubisoft are taking the lead by offering extensive neuro-inclusion training for their managers, HR professionals, and recruiters. These programs educate staff members about neurodiversity, helping to build a sustainable company culture of understanding, compassion, and support. 

Providing neurodivergent employees with career development opportunities is essential, too. Training programs like self-advocacy and time management courses can help individuals with a range of neurodiverse conditions to thrive in the workplace.

#5 Measure Success and Improve Inclusion Strategies

A Gallup Report reveals that engaged employees are happier, more productive, and enjoy a 66% increase in well-being. In contrast, employees with low engagement rates have cost the global economy as much as $8.1 trillion and have low retention rates. Therefore, focusing on successful strategies is crucial to success and boosting retention.

However, creating a genuinely inclusive workplace for neurodivergent talent requires ongoing effort. It’s up to businesses and their leaders to frequently assess the efficacy of their inclusion strategies by tracking key metrics, staff turnover rates, and reported employee satisfaction levels. 

Managers should gather feedback directly from neurodivergent workers and use this feedback to regularly refine their company’s approaches to inclusion and diversity. Performance management tools can help track key metrics, providing insights that allow businesses to continuously refine their neurodiversity-inclusion strategies.

This approach will help ensure that neurodivergent employees’ unique needs are being met consistently while helping organizations build a company culture that includes neurodiversity in every form.

Conclusion

Creating more inclusive and diverse workplaces in real life, as well as in hybrid and remote environments, certainly meets ethical imperatives. However, it can also offer key strategic and competitive advantages for businesses across all industries. 

Organizations that recognize and accommodate their employees' varying needs and strengths—neurodiverse and otherwise—can reach new levels of creativity, innovation, and productivity while setting healthy examples that empower other businesses to do the same.

Building an inclusive, engaging workplace for neurodivergent employees requires strategy, continuous effort, and the right tools. Employee engagement software can help improve communication, track satisfaction, and promote inclusion across in-office, hybrid, or remote teams, empowering every employee to reach their full potential. Discover additional insights below.

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Author Bio:

This article is written by a marketing team member at HR Cloud. HR Cloud is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications & engagement, and rewards & recognition. Our user-friendly software increases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk.