Diversity of thought is essential for innovation, agility, change and growth.
In a constantly changing world, businesses need to create a shift in culture to successfully navigate unchartered waters.
The need for recognising intersectionality requires acknowledging a workforce that is already diverse – racially diverse, gender diverse and neurodiverse – with the understanding that every possible kind of diversity already exists within clients, suppliers, and employees.
Greater inclusion leads to superior business outcomes.
Diversity of thought requires businesses to consider how to engage with all under-represented groups, including neurodivergent individuals.
New ideas and innovation
These individuals are often excluded through restrictive recruitment practises, retention and promotion process and procedures that are predominately aimed at the neurotypical.
Johnny Timpson, supervisory board member of Gain – the group for Group for Autism, Insurance, Investment and Neurodiversity – is a member of the neurodiverse community himself.
He says: "Businesses need to consider a cultural shift that demands a neuroinclusive workplace. A safe haven where diverse voices feel empowered to bring their whole selves and innovative ideas to the conversation.
We can diverge positively with our strengths, which is exactly what financial institutions need to attract talent.Dame Amanda Kirby"New ideas start with challenge; a challenge to the existing old ideas and old ways of thinking. Such innovation can be readily found within the skills and abilities of neurodivergent individuals.”
This sharing of new ways of thinking and innovation present "clear benefits", according to Peter Hamilton, head of market engagement at Zurich (pictured below, at the 2022 FTAdviser Diversity in Finance Awards).
Hamilton says: "There are really clear benefits from having a diverse workforce that reflects the profile of the customers you are looking to serve, whether that’s across areas such as gender, ethnicity, or disability.
"Having a neurodiverse workforce brings additional benefits; it’s tapping into a valuable talent pool often with a very different skill set.”
Variety of skills
That skill set is not just focused in one particular area.
Traditionally, people consider those who are neurodiverse to be mathematically inclined or studiously analytical, but the skill set itself is diverse, says Laurie Edmans, co-chairperson of Gain, financial inclusion commissioner and chairperson of the Quest school for autistic children.
Edmans is keen to point out that while it is common to associate neurodiversity with more analytical left-brain thinking, many people on the spectrum of neurodiverse conditions have strengths in a variety of areas.
He explains: “I’m conscious of much being said, namely that people with autism tend to be stronger in relation to analytical thinking, identifying patterns and problem solving.
"But it is key that we do not pigeonhole people but remember that neurodivergent people sit on a spectrum, with many having a propensity to be strong in relation to marketing, visioning, verbal and nonverbal communication skills plus understanding and empathy.”
Resilience
There are undoubtedly many different advantages to having diversity among a workforce. As well as plugging the talent gap, small and easily made adjustments can help build a more resilient organisation.
Dan Harris runs a company called Neurodiversity In Business, which helps businesses incorporate neurodiverse-friendly practises, policies and structures.
According to Harris, given that up to 15 per cent of employees in the UK are neurodivergent, leveraging neurodivergent talent provides access to hidden talent pools and supports and catalyses the potential of the existing workforce, reducing talent turnover.
“What organisation doesn’t want increases in employee output and reductions in employee turnover with no associated increase in salaries or overheads?” he asks.
Broad, analogical, integrative thinking capable of identifying valuable and relevant connections and opportunities across domains is a strength associated with many neurodivergent individuals.
This core component of “fluid intelligence” happens to be the main driver of innovation, problem solving and creativity, which in turn constitute the main drivers of sustained competitive advantage in 21st century capitalism.
Harris has seen how neurodiversity in a workforce can unleash the value potential of big data. The reasons for this are as follows:
- Business has transformed as the amount of data available to organisations increases and human involvement in basic data processing decreases.
- The skills needed now are more about how to integrate a broad spectrum of knowledge into decisions about what data to look at and to how to interpret and surface the most valuable insights from it. This can be a core strength for many neurodivergent employees.
- There will always remain tasks in relation to collecting and organising this growing amount of data require intense, sustained and narrow focus – another strength.
This capability spectrum is over-represented in neurodivergent populations, he says, adding that as a result neurodivergent workforces “supercharge team working”.
He explains that neurodivergent individuals with highly specific skill sets typically seen as ‘too narrow’ are more valuable than ever, as team environments can synthesise their skills into something far greater than could be achieved by groups of psychometrically similar individuals.
Many of the behaviours managers and organisations are increasingly coming to view as critical to organisational performance, such as integrative thinking or intense sustained focus are challenging for neurotypical employees as they lie at the extreme end of their capabilities and are incredibly hard to learn.
Diversity of perspectives is often just as valuable as a diversity of thought when it comes to maximising creative output and innovation in organisations.
Neurodivergent employees are wired to see the world in a different way than their neurotypical colleagues and therefore offer a reservoir of unique perspectives.
This is why he says it can be useful to develop employee resource groups/ability groups to draw from the wisdom of lived experience among staff.
Systems based on an 'average' person in reality don't completely fit anyone.Amanda Kirby, Do-ItDame Amanda Kirby is an emeritus professor at University of South Wales, and chief executive and founder of Do-It, a company specialising in neurodiversity screening, training and profiling.
Within large organisations Kirby advocates having 'champions' on the ground that can help people navigate what is available is really helpful. She says: "ERGs and ability groups can allow a conversation to be had about what is working or not and feed that back to HR."
Strengths and challenges
Kirby feels it is vital to adapt to neurodiversity, not only because neurodiverse people can contribute very positively in a much needed way to organisations, but also because she considers it an important practise to take very generalist approaches and tailor them more towards meeting unique needs.
“Some people don't like the term 'neurodivergent' but what we are discussing is diverging positively away from a social norm or average that creates a structure that excludes people who don't fit into it.
"We have assumed most people can talk, walk, have good literacy and numeracy skills and work in teams.
"The reality is that we can diverge positively with our strengths, which is exactly what financial institutions need to attract talent, but recognise that someone can also have a 'spiky profile' and have challenges.
Embracing differences allows the organisations to leverage the potentially huge source of value they represent.Dan Harris, NIB"Someone could be amazing at maths but have real spelling challenges.
She says: "If we say we are all different, that is true, but we also need to recognise that systems based on an 'average' person in reality don't completely fit anyone."
By being responsive to differences in the capability profile of all employees, especially those who are neurodivergent, organisations can position themselves to leverage these differences through employee collaboration.
Harris concludes: “Embracing differences allows the organisations to leverage the potentially huge source of value and competitive advantage they represent."
By plugging each other’s capability gaps, neurotypical and neurodivergent employees can maximise each other’s productive potential.
This is especially important as the strengths and capabilities offered by neurodivergent employees are often deemed incredibly rare and valuable. Companies that practice cognitive diversity are genuinely more innovative and productive.”
Anita Boniface is a freelance journalist
Diversity in Finance Awards 2023: have you entered yet?
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