Neurodiversity - How we can win the 'neurotalent wars'

Talent attraction = inclusive practices

We have been through some challenging times over the past few years.In light of the economic shock caused by Covid-19 and the ripples we are now experiencing, the need to re- or up-skill the workforce is now even more acute due to rising unemployment.On average, employee turnover rates have increased by 9% since 2019. For example Gartner says the business sector could see a whacking turnover rate as high as 24% in the years to come in the US.

(Retention may be measured as the proportion of employees with a specified length of service (typically one year or more) expressed as a percentage of overall workforce numbers).The costs associated with employee turnover related to resignations (not including redundancies) may be estimated by calculating the average cost of replacing each leaver include administration, recruitment costs, and covering the costs if you need temporary cover, and the induction training.

What's the cost of of hiring?

Hiring new employees takes on average 40 days and costs £7,729 in the UK.New hires mean more training. According to 2020 UK government figures, this averages out as a spend of £1,530 per employee for training each year (Department for Education UK).

While talent attraction is important retaining the talent you already have is essential.There is a lot of talk about neuroinclusive hiring which is important but you already have neurodiverse talent within your workplace. Understanding what keeps talent seems to be me even more important at this point but will also ripple across hiring too.

Many people with neurodivergent spiky profiles have skills that may organisations need but may not get to the interview or are excluded by a range of actions that mean they find it hard to get into or stay in the workplace.

Team stabilisation

The impact of poor retention rates can create a cycle where teams getting destabilised.Team interactions are so important for feeling safe and being able to function well. Destabilisation can result in even more employees choosing to leave. Change is hard for all of us.

One survey from the US late last year interestingly found that 80% of people said a change in leadership, such as a new direct manager or someone higher up the organizational chart, impacted on their stress levels. When new people come into an organisation rechecking and establishing communication preferences can make a big difference to creating bonds and understanding.

People with neurodivergent traits may have varying communication preferences that need to be considered to ensure they are not misunderstood. By doing so we can create diverse solutions and better team cohesion.This also means challenging biases and misconceptions.

Why does someone quit?

More than three quarters of workers have experienced burnout from excessive work hours at their current job and 42% quit their job for this reason (Deloitte).

Burnout can be a complicated mix of different factors coming together that create a tipping point where you just can't go on anymore. We often wait till we cannot move at all before we give ourselves permission to stop. It's like we have to be collapsed before it's OK to tell other people we can't go on...

This may be an even greater risk of quitting and burnout for Neurodivergent parents if flexible working is not allowed.

This was certainly noted in the City and Guilds Neurodiversity Index I co-authored.

"I have to be part time self employed to address the heavy duty life admin and work that comes with my amazing neurodivergent daughter with significant learning disabilities. I can manage 2 days a week employed. Any more than that I would take too much time off for it to be sustainable.

Lack of flexible working is a key reason employees leave their roles and this may be essential to balance home and work life if you have ND kids you need to support."

How often does someone quietly leave as they can no longer cope and have run out of steam?

How much lost talent happens and it could be quite a different outcome with a bit of flexibility. The shame of it is that person could be your best team member?

Are we still measuring productivity only if you can see someone sitting in front of you?

While hybrid working has become far more common there is a tension and almost a disconnect with many organisations' senior leadership wanting their staff to be in the workplace again rather than enabling some choices working from home some or all of the time. (Gartner).

Hybrid working in recent times has become a sort of calculated formula of 2 or 3 days per week rather than an option that may be variable depending on the person and the tasks needing to be done and may need to change over time as people's circumstances change. We are moving back to being more rigid and wanting to deliver equal approaches rather than an equitable one.

“Everyone has talent. What's rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.”

― Erica Jong

One size never fits all!

This may create a double disadvantage for neurodivergent talent (and those with specific disabilities where home working opens the door to opportunities) and where hybrid working may allow someone to work at home and create the optimum environment.

This can create an even greater challenge for those with ND children and who are ND themselves and who are needing to be around at home and manage their own energy levels too. Having to commute on top of the day job can be the difference between coping effectively or just tipping you over into exhaustion. Have you experienced this?

What aids retention?

Planning to be inclusive in all you do. We need to find ways to allow people to thrive and to see that not everyone works best in the same environment.

I need to move about.. I need quiet for some tasks....I need to ask people for clarification and find that a quick Skype chat can make all the difference... we need different things to allow us to be our best selves.

Exclusion can happen in our everyday actions if we don't constantly consider who is not at the table.

Consider the following:

• Hybrid or flexible work models have had the lowest overall turnover rates since 2019 with a turnover rate 5% lower than those fully office based.Fully remote roles are predicted to have the highest retention rate in 2023 with 39% just slightly lower than hybrid jobs with a predicted 40 % rate and 4.5 % lower than office jobs which are estimated to have a 44% turnover rate.Data from UK ONS from late 22/early 2023 showed that among working adults 16% reported working from home only and 28% reported both working from home and travelling to work.

Recognise who we are excluding by not offering any choices ( where and when it is possible),The Global Workforce report in 2022 stated that:

"Individuals increasingly fall prey to exclusionary practices regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or disability. This severely affects all individuals' quality of life and social equity. The business case imperative should be for our actions to validate that all people have the same opportunities and rights, no matter where they are or where they are from."

We may think that flexible working is not possible in front line roles. CIPD have some great examples of how this is possible including:

• Choosing shifts/split shifts/evening/weekend working
• Flexi time - early/late starts on some days
• Job sharing
• Working from home for some work/other bases
• Ability to swap shifts using an app to book in sessions

2. Getting your onboarding right - is a key aspect of a successful outcome.69% of employees who go through a well-managed onboarding process have a more positive view of their work environment and will stay with their company for at least three years (SHRM). This means:

• going through the job description and explaining what it means
• explain jargon/acronyms
• work rules - dress code if any, breaks during the day e.g. lunch time can you eat at the desk; making tea/coffee
• communication preferences and processes used to communicate

3. Gaining opportunities for progression and growth is important for all and may be less likely to happen if people don't understand ND thinking and communicating. Sometimes too little work can be demotivating.We really need to consider if ND people are progressing at the same rate as their peers. We need to also consider if this may relate to manager understanding of ND too. If we miscommunicate or are misunderstood more this may lead to more ND people getting passed over when it comes to opportunities. What do you think?Employees who feel they’re progressing in their careers are 20% more likely to still be working at their companies in one year’s time (TINYpulse).

We need to show people what we can do...this can lead to improved wellbeing and great happiness too.

“The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it. ” said Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

• Regular reviews to consider progress
• Discussing training opportunities and needs

4. Regular feedback sessions I think are so important for ND people and can dramatically reduce employee turnover.Short sessions that are regular, direct and lack ambiguity are so important.Companies that implement regular employee feedback have 15% lower turnover rates than companies that don’t give employees consistent feedback (Firstup). A recent LinkedIn poll I ran showed this to be the most important thing to retain ND talent. This doesn't need onerous meetings but enables greater understanding of tasks needing to be completed and reduces misunderstandings.

The blog author

I am Amanda Kirby, CEO of Do-IT Solutions a tech-for-good company that delivers web-based neurodiversity and wellbeing screening tools and training that help 1000s' of people. We deliver person-centered solutions .

Contact me if you want to discuss how we can help your organisation be more neuroinclusive. (www.doitprofiler.com)

I am a mixed bag of experiences and skills and have 25+ years of working in the field of neurodiversity.I am a medical doctor, Professor, and have a Ph.D. in the field of neurodiversity; parent and grandparent to neurodivergent wonderful kids and am neurodivergent myself.

Theo Smith and I wrote together the award-winning book Neurodiversity at Work Drive Innovation, Performance and Productivity with a Neurodiverse Workforce. My 10th book came out last month called Neurodiversity in Education with co-authors Paul Ellis and Abby Osbourne.