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Some people thrive on office culture. Having a conversation at the water cooler (socially distanced), long, working lunches and exploring your team dynamics in high-energy, creative meetings can be a fun part of lots of jobs, and after almost sixteen months apart, many people are excited to finally get together again and return to the office.
But some people are less excited about the imminent return to in-person working, and, as Joanna Rawbone in HR Magazine reports, many of them might have their neurodiversities at the heart of their reasoning.
Some people who learn and think differently thrive in office environments and love the feel of a busy working hub, with lots of people to bounce their ideas off and collaborate with – the company buzz and collaborative potential can really help some people make the most out of their time and offers the ability to get truly creative. However some neurodiverse people find the standard office week a distressing or quite stressful environment to earn a living in – and after over a year working remotely, it’s a big change to expect people to adapt to quickly.
Hootsuite founder Ryan Holmes polled over 2 million adults and gleaned some interesting statistics on home working, creativity and balance available at LinkedIn. They revealed that many people found themselves to be more productive whilst home working, and over 70% of people found that they felt it had bought out the ‘hustler’ in them, with more drive, grit and creativity. But due to the increasingly isolated nature of pandemic living, many employers and employees have been worried about the impact that this will have on their businesses and business culture, and many have been anxiously awaiting the safe return to offices all over the UK and the US as a means of touching base with their teams, reconnecting on projects and simply getting back to something that looks like normal.
A Year of Remote Working
Neurodiversities come in all shapes and sizes, and very few neurodiversity experiences are the same. Some people with ADHD might find it difficult to focus on their tasks if they’re in a busy and distracting environment like a studio or an office - and there’s some that might find the busier backdrop and more structured day helps them, too. People with social anxiety might find that the added stress of a commute and 8 or 9 hours of social interaction leaves them feeling burnt out and uninspired, and the sudden return to a standard Monday to Friday week might lead to feelings of panic and not being able to cope. And it doesn’t have to be a confirmed neurodiversity that can trigger these feelings either – although we often picture the textbook employee as an extroverted go-getter, it’s important to remember that many exemplar players in a workforce are quieter and more introverted, and work better when they’re not in environments that they find uncomfortable.
The same goes for people with physical disabilities or some medical conditions. The idea of an office return for people with conditions like IBS or idiopathic nausea, which can be triggered by anxiety and feelings of stress, could represent a large problem when it comes to doing the work that they’re tasked with and getting through the working day safely and comfortably. For somebody who walks on crutches or uses a wheelchair, commuting and sitting in an office all day might be labour intensive, uncomfortable and time consuming- or it could represent a very welcome opportunity to touch base with colleagues and stoke the feeling that the world is slowly and carefully getting back to normal.
Everybody is different when it comes to working out how we work best, and it’s widely agreed that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model post-pandemic doesn’t accurately represent the diverse nature of the global workforce. After spending over a year working from their own homes, many employees who are neurodiverse or have physical disabilities could find an office return simply too much to handle after an already stressful period in history, and look for other opportunities with businesses that offer remote working. The same could go for businesses who have sold or repurposed their office space and have transitioned all employees to a remote working model – seeking that sense of collaboration and socialisation, employees who live for a busy office vibe could begin looking for workplaces that have a strong in-person community. We’re all different, and if the past year has taught us anything, it’s that as a working society we’re great at cracking on, changing and looking after what matters - so the office return/remote working conundrum shouldn’t pose too much of a problem for us if we listen, adapt and put welfare at the heart of how we work.
The Future of Neurodiversity at Work
So… what do we do?
Communication is key. For businesses, when returning to the office and deciding what route you’re going to take, it’s always a good idea to chat to your employees- especially those who are neurodiverse- and make sure to address the reasons behind why they prefer remote or in-person working. For employees, it’s important to make sure that your employer understands why you’re asking to stay at home or make an office return, and how it helps you in relation to your job.
Working with people and taking on board their points of view is important on both sides, and it’s important to remember that somebody asking for the ability to work from home some or all of the time isn’t likely to be looking for an opportunity to slack off – we’re all grown ups, and many people have simply just used the past twelve months to reassess how they work best, and what's best for our health. Similarly, somebody excited to get back into the office isn’t likely to be trying to use it as an opportunity to keep an eye on their colleagues, add additional tasks to people's workload or micro-manage their co-workers – they probably just feel like in-person working allows them to fulfil their role the best.
Hybrid models provide a great starting point in that people can choose how they use their working time and don’t have to spend too long working in a way that they don’t find suits them – and they’re a wonderful way of starting people off slowly, working out what’s the best solution, and where you all want to be going forward.
A neurodiverse-inclusive workforce is a powerful force for good in the business world, and it can change the lived experience of so many people who learn and think differently. Having people on a design team who think about accessibility in a personal way, or can use their skills to highlight things that neurotypical people might miss is part of changing the whole world for the better, and it helps businesses be the best that they can be. Nurturing and adapting to the needs of neurodiverse talent is one of the corporate world’s new focuses going into the post-pandemic era, and with businesses like GCHQ and Ernst & Young actively advocating neurodiverse recruiting and leading the way, it’s certainly something to think about. So it’s important to recognise how the remote vs. office debate plays into this – more than ever, it’s time to listen and it’s time to adapt, and make sure that our working models are as inclusive as they can be, and hopefully walk out of Covid-19 stronger and more accessible than ever.
