RW - 004: What We're Getting Wrong About DEI
Welcome to Reimagining Work where we challenge assumptions about what work can, and should, be in our lives.
Did you know the future of work is about more than just technology advancements?
It’s also about creating healthy connections between people and work that leads to fulfillment and meaning.
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In each edition of Reimagining Work, I’ll share content that’s concise and challenges common assumptions concerning the future of work! The formatting and structure are consistent each week with unforgettable segments like:
Perfect Labor Storm ⚡️
Jaw-dropping data and trends around the future of work
Weekly Connection 💡
The most important learning or unlearning from this week
The Prescription 💊
Tips and recommendations
The Journey Ahead 🔮
What’s coming soon
Let’s begin!
Perfect Labor Storm ⚡️
Despite the fact that upwards of 20% of the US population are neurodiverse, half of people managers and leaders say that they wouldn’t hire a neurodiverse employee. Unfortunately, there are still many lingering misconceptions about neurodivergent people in the workplace. Employers worry that they’ll require too much support, won’t be a good culture fit, or won’t have the necessary skill sets to do the job.
In large part, research and public initiatives are debunking these myths. For example, a national report from Drexel University says 51% of workers on the spectrum have higher skills than what they need to do their job. JP Morgan & Chase’s Autism at Work program found employees with autism are “48% faster and up to 92% more productive than their peers – with common factors including strong visual acuity, attention to detail, and a superior ability to focus.”
Research from Deloitte suggests that teams with neurodivergent professionals in some roles can be 30% more productive than those without them.
Weekly Connection 💡
“Neurodiversity may be every bit as crucial for the human race as biodiversity is for life in general. Who can say what form of wiring will be best at any given moment?”— Harvey Blume, The Atlantic, 1998
We’ve totally dropped the ball on a critical aspect of DEI, and it shouldn’t have taken a massive labor shortage to bring the issue to light.
The aspect I’m referring to is Neurodiversity in the workplace.
Neurodiversity has taken a back seat to the color of one’s skin, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in the DEI conversation. And while these aforementioned aspects of DEI must continue being addressed, it’s also essential that we offer the same due diligence to neurodiversity in the workplace.
But before we go any further, let’s get clear on the definition of neurodiversity.
Neurodiversity describes the natural ways that people think, learn, perceive the world, interact, and process information differently. And a neurodiverse workplace is one that supports all of these different ways to think, learn, interact, and perceive the world.
Neurodiverse individuals may identify as being on the autism spectrum, having certain learning disabilities such as dyslexia, or having ADHD to name a few.
This topic of neurodiversity in the workplace has become even more important in a tight labor market that won’t let up given the ever-increasing demand for knowledge workers and a shrinking world population.
Employers are finding their neurodivergent workers can show strong skills in work that requires attention to detail, patterns, inferential reasoning, repetition or complex processes.
But neurodivergent workers can also excel in other job roles.
For instance, employers may find that some neurodivergent workers thrive in jobs that focus on communications such as social media use and the design or manufacturing of new products.
Other neurodivergent workers may thrive in tasks that require innovative, out-of-the-box and creative thinking. Their perspectives can help solve problems, create or improve products, and develop and support new ways of performing work and delivering services.
Additional demonstrated benefits from neurodiversity in the workplace include:
Neurodiverse teams are often more effective and productive than teams lacking neurodiversity.
Research shows that leading companies embracing neurodiversity in hiring are, on average, twice as likely to have higher total shareholder returns than those of their peer group.
Industry research shows that consumers prefer doing business with companies that employ people with disabilities and other people from diverse backgrounds.
All of this underscores the many reasons WHY organizations should prioritize having neurodiverse teams.
But now let’s focus on HOW organizations can build neurodiverse workplaces to deliver on the value listed above.
In order to build neurodiverse teams, employers need the right tools and processes to uncover people’s natural strengths around how they do work and whether it’s aligned to the role and the subsequent task demands.
The natural strengths around how we do work is known in research as the conative mind.
Your conative mind contains the instincts and innate attributes that define your natural method of operation (MO). When you work in your natural style, you are more productive, more comfortable and more successful.
Whereas your cognitive mind drives your thinking and your affective mind drives your feelings, your conative mind drives your doing.
This is why it’s so important to align roles and, even more so, tasks to the conative strengths of each person in the organization.
Last week, I had executive coach and HR consultant, Shawn Gulyas of HumanWorks8 on my top-rated podcast (Geeks Geezers Googlization) with Ira Wolfe to tackle this topic of the conative mind and neurodiversity head on.
Watch the full episode on Youtube below:
Or listen to the full podcast episode on your favorite audio platforms below:
https://link.chtbl.com/cgXC8UYq
Here are just a few of the connections Shawn made on why understanding the conative mind is an important aspect of talent strategy:
Understanding a person’s conative profile is important for hiring for roles and also designing ideal teams
Stress and burnout often occur when someone is working against their natural instincts
People can’t hit their “Zone” at work unless their conative strengths are aligned to the role
Within a team, understanding each member’s conative profile allows for ideal dissemination of project tasks
Teams become high performing when everyone is working in their natural mode of action
Conation is about equality by understanding that every brain is beautiful and unique
Sometimes our cognitive mind paralyzes us from just jumping in and figuring things out with our natural instincts
In school, we’re taught to approach things in similar ways cognitively which goes against the grain of the conative mind for many
Conation should have its fingerprints on the touchpoints in the employee lifecycle (e.g., onboarding, recognition, learning and development, total rewards, performance management, etc.)
The Prescription 💊
Here are some ways to reimagine neurodiversity and the conative mind in your organization:
Follow the recommendations in the Neurodiversity Inclusion: Checklist for Organizational Success
Learn about the Kolbe tools and methodology for uncovering conative strengths to improve your talent acquisition practices
Follow these specific tips from Deloitte on building a neurodiverse workplace through HR practices
Additional Resources:
The Journey Ahead 🔮
I’m excited to share that our guest on this week’s LIVE episode of Geek Geezers Googlization (12/14 at 1:00 ET) is Jason Feifer - Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine!
Watch and listen live using this link.
We’re going to unpack why some people thrive in change and others want to go back to the way things were. Jason wrote a new book about it titled:
But until then, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss these must-listen episodes!
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