Want to Get Your Employees Back in the Office? Employ the People Who Want to Be There

They have been labeled many things: “Neurodiverse,” “outliers,” even “quirky.” Some of these individuals don’t fall into any of these categories because their differences can be so subtle as to be unidentifiable, or perhaps even imperceptible to many. I’m not referring to the stereotypical, anti-social software coders extraordinaire, who want nothing more than to be left alone with their algorithms. For the purposes of this article, I’m calling them “differently abled” workers.

Business leaders, meet today’s key talent, the new culture champions in the office. Your struggles with recruitment and retention, labor shortages in specialized roles, and inclusive hiring can often be overcome with the differently abled recruit. These individuals are often loyal, reliable, persistent, detail-oriented and have a strong desire to contribute to achieving shared goals.

The recognition of neurodiversity—or the range of differences in individual brain function and behavioral traits regarded as part of normal variation in the human population—has emerged in the past eight-to-10 years. Experts now estimate that up to 20% of the U.S. population is neurodiverse. This means as many as one in five individuals learns, thinks, and communicates differently. For some, this may manifest as social awkwardness and a lack of intuition for navigating expected professional interactions.

“All of us have different brains that work in different ways,” Ellie Middleton, an expert in how to better support employees with differences, told TIME Magazine.

Many high-profile people regarded as technically brilliant experience social and communications challenges. Think business magnate and commercial astronaut Richard Branson, discount brokerage pioneer Charles Schwab, real estate investor and “Shark Tank” star Barbara Corcoran, and British perfumer and businesswoman Jo Malone. But beyond those prominent individuals are the men, women, spouses, children, brothers and sisters who can bring demonstrable benefits to your organization, according to the Employee Assistance and Resource Network. These can include:

• Innovation and creativity, including new way of solving problems
• Technical, design and creative strengths
• High levels of concentration, exceptional accuracy and the ability to detect errors
• Strong recall of information and detailed factual knowledge
• Reliability and persistence

When provided with the proper environments and support, differently abled employees can pay big dividends for their organizations. For example, Hewlett Packard found that neurodiverse staff assigned to a client’s software testing team were 30% more productive than other teams. And anecdotal reports indicate that neurodiverse employees are more loyal and have far lower rates of turnover than neuro-typical staff.

“The corporate world has mostly missed out on this [benefit],” Anka Wittenberg, SAP’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, told Harvard Business Review. Today’s smart organizations increasingly recognize the value these individuals offer, according to HBR, including blue-chip companies such as Microsoft, Willis Towers Watson, Ford and EY.

A Different Mindset

What’s required to identify, attract and retain these unique contributors? First up is reimagining the interview process. Many neurodiverse people don’t perform well in traditional job interviews. To address this challenge, Specialisterne, a nonprofit that helps companies integrate more diverse producers into their workforce, created “hangouts,” comfortable gatherings usually lasting half a day, during which job candidates can showcase their skills in more casual, lower-pressure exchanges.

Providing sufficient support, particularly as differently abled employees are learning an organization, is also often needed. For example, Hewlett Packard assigns new neurodiverse employees to “pods” of about 15 people, in a four-to-one ratio with neurotypical colleagues, along with two specially trained managers and a consultant, HBR reported.

The second issue many employers must tackle is accommodating sensory differences experienced by many neurodiverse individuals. These can include offering workplaces with more natural lighting and softer colors, providing employees with noise-canceling headphones, and creating more “quiet” areas or providing solo workspaces to these employees. A Job Accommodation Network study found that most such accommodations are no- or low-cost.

To minimize anxiety and overload that can be caused by multiple meetings or constant workday interactions with colleagues (true for any of us), companies should strike a balance between time devoted to individual efforts and group interaction.

However, some organizations may not be able to make all modifications recommended to accommodate the needs of differently abled employees. Your organization should identify what can be adapted and then leaders and managers can communicate realistic and meaningful ways to implement them to maximize creativity and productivity.

Other important considerations include:

• Consistent, direct and literal communications. Effective communication is a hallmark of many high-functioning organizations, and it needs to be ramped up to best support differently abled workers. Because neurodiverse employees may miss the nuance of non-verbal messages, both spoken and written communication should be direct, and avoid irony, subtle metaphors and other linguistic conventions that may be more challenging for neurodiverse employees to fully appreciate. Adopting this approach likely will better serve your entire workforce, including employees from other cultures and nationalities, and with different educational and social backgrounds. To accommodate different learning styles, illustrative examples or detailed steps can boost comprehension and retention, and again, benefit all employees. And this doesn’t necessarily translate into more written messages via Slack or email, but can involve meaningful face-to-face encounters, including conversations via Zoom, Microsoft Teams or other video platforms.
• Mentoring is a two-way street. Differently abled employees have a lot to teach their bosses and their organizations, including about new and diverse ways of problem solving. You and your leadership should proactively seek and be open to feedback because neurodiverse workers can provide unique perspectives on accomplishing goals and may even identify shortcomings in your products or services that don’t always register with neurotypical employees.

• Managers and mentors must listen and observe. Variations in behavior of differently abled employees can be so subtle that they’re missed. Again, strong listening and keen observation, including being attuned to nonverbal cues, can reveal insights into the most effective ways to coach neurodiverse mentees, and likely will boost your organization’s communication effectiveness with neurotypical employees, too.

• Social interactions can be learned. A little prompting can go a long way toward guiding neurodiverse employees, and can pay big dividends by boosting self-assurance and confidence when they witness the effectiveness of professional pleasantries. I’ve coached emerging leaders who didn’t intuitively understand the importance of greeting people. Prompts as simple as, “We’re going to meet the EVP of supply chain. I want you to introduce yourself and offer a handshake,” can go a long way.

The bottom line for business leaders: Don’t be held hostage by labor shortages or frustrating, sometimes futile efforts to retain willful employees who don’t want to spend time in an office with their co-workers. Instead, identify and recruit employees who want guidance, direction and a sense of shared purpose that workplaces can provide. Doing so will strengthen your organization in numerous ways, both anticipated and unexpected.

Written by Stephanie Nora White.

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