A workplace’s culture is what drives all decisions, missions, and motivations. It is what supports its team members. It is how a business grows. Essentially, culture is vital to a workplace and should be taken seriously. This also means that a culture shouldn’t be created for one type of person. If you want your organization to grow and have a consistently high morale, your culture needs to include and support everyone. That means neurodivergent employees.
A culture is allowed to change and adapt as time progresses. What was decided upon five or ten years ago does not need to be unmoving. Sometimes, to ensure your organization is along with the times and supporting everyone, a flexible culture is exactly what is necessary.
If you want a culture that helps the growth of your business but also supports its team members, you need to build a culture that supports neurodivergent team members, too.
Make Requesting Accommodations an Easy Process
A great way to build a culture that supports its neurodivergent employees is to make requesting accommodations easy. A reason many neurodivergent individuals keep their needs to themselves is that the process of implementing their accommodations, or even asking for them, means jumping through a handful of hoops and explaining themselves over and over again. That can be extremely tiring and frustrating.
Make the process easy and straightforward. You could make it a simple online fill-in form for team members to complete at any time, or include the process in the hiring stage. The easier you make the process, the easier (and faster) you can support your neurodivergent employees.
Allow Multiple Ways to Communicate
Communication is often seen as one-way and one-way only. In-person, with intense eye contact, and no stuttering. That’s a very narrow-minded process. It can make everyday communication and necessary feedback difficult for neurodivergent employees to participate in.
Once again, make communication simple. Provide various communication channels for your team members. Whether that is through email, work chats, or video meetings, you open up so many possibilities for your neurodivergent employees, as now they can feel more comfortable speaking up and asking questions.
Discuss The Accommodation Policy From the Start
If your organization already has accommodation policies enforced within its processes, that’s great! Talk about them! This is something that should be discussed during the hiring and onboarding process, so you can already establish a supportive culture and provide aid where necessary.
This is also your opportunity to help new neurodivergent employees acclimate to the organization better from the start. This shows you and your organization are open, supportive, and willing to listen and learn.
Don’t Forget About the Physical Environment
Many organizations might assume that accommodations focus on mental health and personal space needs, but they can also affect the physical environment. The physical environment of your organization should be flexible if you want to build a culture that supports neurodivergent employees.
Rethinking the traditional office space to include areas for visual learners, quiet rooms, lower lights, or other environmental supports can leave the door open for neurodivergent employees to feel supported and comfortable in their work environment. Every neurodivergent individual is different and will enjoy or need different physical accommodations, so having options and being flexible can be the best choice.
Trickle Down Education and Awareness to All Team Members, Not Just Leaders
A significant way to ensure your organization builds a supportive culture for neurodivergent employees is by trickling down all education about these topics to team members. While it is essential that leaders continuously learn about neurodiversity, disability, and inclusion, those topics shouldn’t be stagnant in their minds. For a truly supportive culture, everyone should be involved in the education.
This ensures that everyone in the organization is on the same page, biases are squashed, and a supportive culture is there for everyone, not just neurodivergent individuals. When workplace support is provided, it often benefits everyone, not just those it was specifically intended for.
Create an Open, Flexible, Ever-Adapting Workplace For All
The absolute best way to build a culture that supports neurodivergent employees is to create a culture that is open, flexible, and ever-adapting. There is no such thing as a one-and-done culture. Yes, the values and mission statement might be the same, but that doesn’t mean the way to uphold those values or achieve that mission needs to be the same as it was ten years ago.
Your culture must be able to adapt and grow alongside the times we live in. When that is the case, you will be in the best position to support all of your employees at every opportunity.
If you have further questions or would like to hire Haley to speak at your next event, contact her!