Originally published Feb. 28th 2022 on Medium

Tips for Employers on How to Support These Valuable Employees

This is part two of a two-part series on supporting neurodiverse employees.

Ensuring neurodiverse employees are supported during unique challenges that can be presented by remote work is key to making certain the diversity and inclusion of all people within the workforce.

As we talked about in part one of our series on neurodiverse employees and how employers should rethink accessibility in remote work, giving workers a hybrid schedule with the ability for them to work from home is seen by many as a fantastic benefit to employees. But it’s important companies don’t let the needs of the neurodiverse population slip through the cracks.

Neurodivergence is the term for when someone’s brain processes, learns or behaves differently from what is considered typical. This spectrum of individuals who are neurodiverse is wide and can include individuals with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, tourette’s syndrome and more, according to HRzone, an online publication for global HR professionals.

Supporting Neurodiverse individuals during remote work

While some neurodiverse employees may actually prefer remote working to being in the office, as a supervisor, it’s important to remember that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to management, and working remotely can impact your neurodiverse employees in unique ways. Be sure to continue to listen and seek perspective on how to best support your staff. In addition, here are a number of ways you can support your employees in the ever changing work environment.

1. Combat Zoom Fatigue — Letting your employees know they don’t have to have their camera on during Zoom calls can help employees overcome zoom fatigue, according to HR zone. It can be really hard work and exhausting to maintain eye contact. Alternatively, why not try a good old-fashioned phone call?
2. Encourage workers to step away from their devices — It’s possible for people with neurodivergence, such as ADHD, to become hyper-focused on an assignment and lose track of time. Encouraging employees to take breaks ensures everyone, not just neurodiverse individuals, are able to refresh.
3. Help individual employees set a structure — ​​Neurodiverse employees may find it helpful to get a simple check-in email from a manager or may want to set up regular calls with colleagues, etc. Another aspect of structure is reiterating the company’s core working hours to ensure employees aren’t overdoing it.
4. Reach out to demonstrate empathy and compassion towards a neurodiverse employee, or any worker, who may be faced with isolation while working remotely. As a manager, it can be beneficial to everyone to give an employee a space to speak out about how they are feeling.

How BluXinga Can Help

At BluXinga we know that each individual is on their own journey and believe that high performance begins with high job satisfaction. Through our app built on proprietary technology, we act as a liaison to improve communication between managers and employees — this can help a neurodivergent, or any, employee — by giving workers a streamlined way to convey their thoughts to supervisors.

Conclusion

While the hybrid work environment comes with a number of benefits, it can pose certain challenges for others. As managers, it’s important to be empathetic and understand the potential impact on your neurodiverse employees. Even more so, it is essential for companies to adopt organizational changes to accommodate neurodivergent employees to ensure they’re supported as the working landscape continues to shift.

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