At Leyton UK, we\u2019re committed to building the most inclusive culture possible. We believe that the more diverse a team is, the more productive it is and the more successful it can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of this, we place great value on celebrating and gathering opinions, skills, and experiences from all areas of society, including those who are neurodivergent and those who are neurotypical.
No two brains are ever quite the same, but neurodivergent people have natural variations that mean they process information in a way that’s different from what is considered neurotypical. Some common examples of neurodivergence include dyslexia, ADHD, and autism – but there are many more, each representing a different set of cognitive capabilities that can give rise to unique talents and \u2018out of the box\u2019 ways of thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to The Brain Charity<\/a>, 15-20% of people in the UK are neurodivergent. And yet, despite this huge number, the Department for Work and Pensions<\/a> reports that just 31% of those with a neurodiversity condition are employed. An earlier report<\/a> found that only 3 in 10 autistic people were in employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dave Sweeney, Sales Enablement Executive at Leyton UK, says that that number is far too high. Dave recently spoke with us for our Life at Leyton Podcast<\/a>, as we wanted to learn more from his experiences of having autism in the workplace. Dave continued by sharing his advice for employers on how they can be more inclusive towards neurodivergent people when it comes to hiring: \u201cI think for any manager, for any recruiter, for anyone really who’s got an open position \u2013 think about what can be done to maybe open up some of those roles. And I don\u2019t mean positive discrimination here, I just mean making them more attainable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier in our conversation, Dave emphasised the importance of creating safe spaces, pointing to some historical parallels: \u201cThere\u2019s a famous graph of the rise of left-handedness through the middle part of the 20th century when suddenly we didn\u2019t think it was a sign of the devil anymore, the number of people who were openly left-handed skyrocketed. Then it levelled off by the 1970s. All that happened is people who were always left-handed felt safe to say so. And we\u2019re in that period now with things like autism and ADHD.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c… it\u2019s the same reason why the average age at which people come out as gay or bi or trans is reducing,\u201d he adds. We\u2019ve made that space safer to do so. All of these things are the same. When the environment feels safe, people start to become visible. It\u2019s not that it\u2019s suddenly a trend, it\u2019s that we\u2019ve created a space where they feel like they can talk about a thing that always existed. So, find that space that feels safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs someone who works in the world of sales enablement, training, coaching, I have a bit of a mantra. Nothing you do to make something more accessible for a minority will make it less accessible for the majority,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat I mean there is clarity. If you\u2019re displaying information in a clear way, if you are explaining why rather than just telling, that\u2019s really important.\u201d \u201cAnd everyone thrives on clarity, right?,\u201d he adds. \u201cSo, it\u2019s a good thing for everybody. But next time someone asks you why, think about that. Are they just seeking clarity, or are they arguing? It\u2019s very likely the former.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dave also suggested that managers should understand that sometimes company socials, team nights out, and other team-building events can cause a lot of anxiety for neurodivergent people: \u201cThere are different ways that we can build team morale to get to know each other better. We can have social events that don\u2019t always feel like they are leaving out some people,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think the way that benefits more than just a neurodiverse person is that if everything you do is around alcohol, or sport, or any of those related activities… it\u2019s not that the activity itself is bad. It\u2019s perfectly fine. Go enjoy it. Absolutely. But let\u2019s have some variety. Let\u2019s think about things that everyone can enjoy, whether they\u2019re autistic, whether they need to leave early because they\u2019ve got childcare to worry about, whether they don\u2019t drink, whatever it might be.\u201d \u201cBeing a bit more inclusive with how we build our teams and build that atmosphere, it does benefit everybody.\u201d Are you interested in joining the Leyton team? <\/em>Find your perfect career<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you enjoyed this article, you might also like:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n At Leyton UK, we\u2019re committed to building the most inclusive culture possible. We believe that the more diverse a team is, the more productive it is and the more successful it can be. Because of this, we place great value on celebrating and gathering opinions, skills, and experiences from all areas of society, including those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":1934,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,113,120],"tags":[560],"expertise":[],"class_list":["post-1857","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-update-en","category-csr","category-experts-exchange","tag-life-at-leyton-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\u201cA minimum of about 70% of autistic people are unemployed,\u201d says Dave. \u201cNow, some of that is out of necessity because their support needs are so high that maybe they wouldn’t be able to hold down a job. I’m one of the lucky few \u2013 maybe because I can mask highly, maybe because my loudest autistic traits aren’t things that prevent me from being able to hold down a good job and one that I’m very happy in. But there’s a massive majority of our community that isn’t able to have that kind of sense of self and purpose that having a career you like can give you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow employers can support their neurodivergent workers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We also asked Dave to share his views on how autism can show up in the workplace and what leaders or colleagues can do to make things easier or more inclusive.
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\u201c… there\u2019s got to be reasoning,\u201d he explains. \u201cBecause if there isn\u2019t, we\u2019ll ask for it. And what so often happens, in any part of life, when an autistic person asks for the why we\u2019re met with a defensive or sometimes even confrontational response. Someone thinks we\u2019re arguing. We\u2019re not. We just want clarity. That\u2019s what our brains thrive on.\u201d
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You can hear more of Dave\u2019s advice on how employers can support their neurodivergent workers by listening to our Life at Leyton Podcast episode: A Conversation on Neurodiversity in the Workplace<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n