It has been shown that neurodiverse teams, which include both neurodivergent and neurotypical members, can outproduce teams composed of only neurotypical employees.
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I am learning how to build a company that welcomes employees with varying cognitive abilities. I am no expert in this, even though our company focuses on developing inclusive leaders. During the pandemic, the challenges around mental health in the workplace have come to the fore, so I decided to share my adventure in navigating the benefits and challenges that come with neurodiversity. I hope you accept my invitation to do your own learning around this aspect of inclusion, because as you do so, your leadership will grow, and your company will profit.
1. Get clear about neurodiversity
Let’s start with two key definitions:
Neurodiversity “is an umbrella term that encompasses neurocognitive differences such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, Tourette’s syndrome, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, intellectual disability and schizophrenia.” (from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network)
Neurodiversity also includes those who operate with “normal” neurocognitive functioning, described as neurotypical. Neurodivergent individuals are those whose brain functions differ from those who are neurologically typical. (from the EARN website)
It’s crucial to remember that many neurodivergent disorders are not evident to the people who are navigating them. Establishing yourself as an ally sends the signal to your colleagues that you are someone to whom it is safe to disclose any challenges they encounter.
2. Clarify the business case
A business should build its capacity to hire and work effectively with neurodivergent employees for a number of reasons, including access to previously unexplored talent pools in a tight labor market and reasonable accommodations for staff who have not previously identified themselves as neurodivergent.
Neurodivergent employees often (but not always) bring strong abilities related to accuracy, concentration, attention to detail, loyalty, timeliness and satisfaction with routine as well as unexpectedly creative views that improve products, services and operations.
It has also been shown that neurodiverse teams, which include both neurodivergent and neurotypical members, can outproduce teams composed of only neurotypical employees.
3. Build your capability
You and your firm can start by building a strong foundation:
If you have an employee resource group with people of different abilities/disabilities, build your approach in consultation with the members of that affinity network. If you don’t, encourage neurodivergent employees to connect informally with one another. The bottom line: You are creating a positive and inclusive environment in which an employee feels safe enough to self-identify as a person with a disability.
Self-identification is the rule and practice. Employers and managers should not preemptively identify any employee as having a disability. Relationships built on high levels of trust make it possible to talk about all manner of identities. In this way, our differences can become assets and not liabilities — that’s what diversity at work looks like.
Work with your HR colleagues to develop the discipline of reasonable accommodation to support those who may or may not know what to ask for. Not only is this required by the law, but it’s also the right way to honor and value your employees.
For neurodivergent employees like those on the autism spectrum, practices like those detailed in the following three points often serve as powerful investments.
4. Provide opportunities to work flexibly and remotely
The pandemic has created new norms that make working with neurodiverse employees that much easier. Offer flexible work hours, with options for telecommuting and/or working from home, a part-time schedule, job-sharing opportunities, adjustments in the start or end of work hours and compensation time.
5. Focus on employees’ strengths and accommodate their challenges
If a neurodiverse employee reports to you, you get to learn how to assess their strengths and adjust to their challenges. The reality: You already do this in the way you individualize how you support every neurotypical employee. You get to prioritize the time it takes to optimize the contribution and solve the challenges that your neurodiverse employees present.
6. Utilize technology to support employees
For some coworkers, assistive technologies can transform their performance. Such support can include software and devices like portable and talking word processors, assistive listening systems, visual organizers and supports as well as virtual reality and gaming for training purposes. The world of assistive technologies is exploding, and tools and approaches like these will equip neurodivergent and neurotypical people alike.
Dimensions of identity like race and gender will always loom large for inclusive leaders, because history and society continue to organize opportunities and resources in relation to the color of someone’s skin and their gender identity. But inclusive leaders learn to work with the particular differences showing up in the individuals with whom they work. We are learning that neurodivergent colleagues have a lot to offer, and they bring to us — if we are neurotypical leaders — a whole new way to grow and serve as allies.
And for leaders and managers as well as individual contributors who are neurodivergent themselves? We all need you to teach and mentor us, because your points of view and lived experiences are golden. We need you to lead us with courage and confidence.
LinkedIn is so much more than an online CV directory. Find out how your charity can make the most of it
LinkedIn has changed. It’s (arguably) the oldest social media platform in the world and if you haven’t visited it for a while, you might imagine that it is still the collection of online CVs, happy new job announcements, and occasional rants that it used to be.
Historically, LinkedIn’s problem has been that lots of people have an account, but they hardly ever use it. With few active users, having a company page for your charity may have seemed low priority.
But Microsoft snapped up LinkedIn in 2016 and has been investing in the platform’s growth ever since. These days LinkedIn boasts around 740 million users with 198 million active in Europe. The most active age bracket in the UK is 25–34 year olds.
Charities can use LinkedIn to influence or support workplaces, be a voice in relevant conversations, grow a community of professionals, reach and engage with staff and volunteers, and support staff with learning and development.
Influence or support workplaces
Most LinkedIn users go onto the platform to post about and engage with work-related issues. It is an opportunity for charities to influence workers and workplaces.
For example, mental health charities can use LinkedIn to talk about mental health at work. This is a great post from the Mental Health Foundation. It uses a poll to learn from the audience and start a conversation about looking after your mental health while working from home. Polls are a great way to boost reach and engagement on the platform.
Grow a community of professionals
LinkedIn users are more likely to be professionals with higher levels of education and income. Set up a company page to help with corporate partnerships, major donor fundraising, and influencing work as well as brand awareness.
Twitter is also a hub for professional social networking, but as many begin to view the constant ‘pile ons’ and negative behaviour as hostile, LinkedIn is seen as a viable alternative.
Best posting times will vary according to when your audience is most likely to be online, but as a rule, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the best days. Weekends are very quiet!
As with any social media platform, posting consistently is important. Engaging content such as polls and conversation starters can be very effective.
Text-based posts also perform well. After the first 235 characters of a text post users are given the option to ‘see more’. Using a ‘hook’ in your first line will really encourage scrollers to engage by expanding the post.
LinkedIn posts can also include articles, documents, or job ads – all hosted within the platform.
Going Live
Video (including live content) continues to play an important role in social media marketing. You have to apply for permission to use the LinkedIn Live function on your company page.
Your charity’s page must have more than 150 followers and you must be producing original content regularly to be eligible.
Engage with staff and volunteers
The most effective LinkedIn strategy will also involve your staff and volunteers. If staff or volunteers have selected your charity as their place of work, they will be listed on your company page under ‘people’.
You can also actively recruit for staff via LinkedIn – having a great company page might be the thing that persuades the most talented charity professionals to apply.
LinkedIn now allows you to engage with staff posts as the company page so that you can react to, comment on, or share employee content.
Chatting with staff in this way supports your employer brand and when your team feel appreciated, they are more likely to want to share your page’s content.
Content has become more varied as the platform continues to go through what has been dubbed ‘Facebookisation’. We are beginning to understand the importance of bringing our whole selves to work and LinkedIn provides an avenue for expression and appreciation of that.
Transparency about who runs and works for charities could also play a big role in building public trust.
Staff development
LinkedIn merged with mammoth online learning platform, Lynda.com, in 2017 to form LinkedIn learning. It offers more than 16,000 courses and already has around 700 million users.
The course listings take ratings into account, helping to save staff time trying to find the best courses. There is also an option to create personalised learning content for your charity.
Individuals can purchase an individual course or get access to all courses for around $20 per month (£15 approx.).
Supporting charities and non-profits
There is specific support for the third sector via LinkedIn’s non-profits programme. The programme includes free live events, discounted or free products and they are working on creating a non-profit ads programme.
The Dementia Strategy 2022-2026: Stage two consultation is now live and will run until the Friday 17th June 2022. This is the second stage of consultation on the strategy refresh, seeking further views on the proposed commitments to deliver against the agreed nine priorities. In this consultation the questions ask whether or not you agree that the proposed commitments are the right ones, and if there is anything else you would like to see included.
Please do consider whether you are able to host focus groups for your networks, local communities or with colleagues to inform the consultation. We would love to hear about your local discussions and would appreciate your providing any insight back to us by the 17th June for collation with the wider feedback.
Essex County Council will hold its second social value festival on 18 – 21 July, aimed at organisations of any size, including charities, social and community enterprises across all sectors wishing to know more about social value. All the sessions will run online and are free of charge. View the full SV Fest 22 programme and book here.
This year, SV Fest includes a fringe event for public sector anchor institutions only (such as local authorities, NHS Trusts, universities, voluntary organizations) in partnership with Essex Anchor Network, an opportunity to share early ideas and practical steps on social value for climate and place. The Public Sector Knowledge-Sharing event takes place on 18 July 14:15 – 16:30. To book, please email the team at Social.value@essex.gov.uk with ‘DAY 1 PUBLIC SECTOR’ in the subject line to book.
It would be great if you could join us, and please do feel free to share this invitation far and wide to any partners, organisation or colleagues that you feel may be interested, especially in your own supply chain and community partners.
Poor mental health and poor wellbeing have an impact on every part of society, and every part of society has a role to play in supporting positive mental health and wellbeing.
We need to take a radical new, truly cross-society approach to promoting wellbeing, preventing mental health conditions emerging, intervening earlier, improving treatment, supporting people with mental health conditions to live well and preventing suicide.
We need your support and ideas to develop a comprehensive plan that will help set and achieve our vision for mental health in a decade’s time.
Are you a Third Sector or Small Organisation that delivers support to unemployed and economically inactive local residents within the South East LEP area to help them progress into paid employment or further education? Then your organisation could be eligible to apply for the ESF Community Grants. Target Groups Participants targeted must be 16+, not in receipt of any type of income and not in any type of training or courses:
Participants over 50 years of age
Participants with Mental Health, Disabilities and/or Learning Difficulties (LLDD)
Homeless Ex-offenders LGBTQ+
Participants from an ethnic minority (BAME)
Participants who are women Parents/mothers Carers Migrants and refugees Groups with low labour market participation
Delivery Area The South East LEP participants must also be specifically from any of the following Local Authorities listed below:
Essex
Southend
Thurrock
Kent Medway
East Sussex
Please visit our website and contact us if you are interested and need further clarifications. Website: www.londonlc.org.uk/community-grants/south-east-lep/ Phone: 0208 774 4040 Mobile: 0795 458 9942 Email: community.grants@londonlc.org.uk
On 20th May, the opportunity went live to bid for up to £79,120 (per area) to set up and run Community Supermarkets in Tendring and Basildon, as part of the Essex County Council (ECC) Levelling Up programme.
Research has shown us that Community Supermarkets work best when there is a partnership between the District or Borough Council, Voluntary and Community Sector partners and the local community. ECC is keen to receive strong, collaborative proposals from organisations, that reflect a local understanding of the communities and the opportunities that exist in Tendring and Basildon.
Working with national experts Feeding Britain, Essex County Council has been investigating the Community Supermarket concept which forms the bridge between the crisis support of Food Banks and the affordable supermarkets. Nationally, Community supermarkets provide a much needed pressure valve on the fluctuating finances of individuals and families by offering a saving of between 50% and 60% on the same fresh produce, groceries and household items brought elsewhere. As well as a broad range of fresh, frozen and chilled items, groceries and household essentials, Community Supermarkets can become an important local asset, meeting point and base for other community activities.
Want to find out more?
ECC are holding local information sessions for anybody interested in finding out more about this opportunity and who are interested in submitting a proposal by the closing date of 20th June 2022
Monday 13th June – BASILDON – The Place Leisure Centre, Pitsea, SS13 3DU (6pm – 8pm)
Self-employed contract, renewal subject to annual review.
Home-based, working with schools and host farms within:
– 1x Essex, North London, East London and parts of Hertfordshire*
*Please note: we are also recruiting for Food Discovery Coordinator for Essex and these roles can be combined.
Have you always loved engaging children with the world around them or with the food they eat and where it came from? Do you think you could use your passion and skills to bring others such as teachers and farmers along with you on a journey to inspire children with the fewest opportunities to explore the world around them?
We are looking for someone with this passion and these skills to promote, organise and deliver Farm Discovery visits for schools in areas of high disadvantage. The role will also involve providing our Farm in a Box programme. You will have responsibility for identifying and recruiting suitable host farms and schools for these visits and activities, as well as building and maintaining these relationships over time. We would love it if you had experience of leading cooking and nutrition sessions for children too.
We are looking for someone who….
..inspires confidence …
Who can take a group of children and their accompanying adults safely into a new and unfamiliar space and open the door to irresistible learning experiences. Who can inspire children to recognise, touch and taste fresh ingredients and cook simple, delicious meals with them.
…is a skilled communicator and networker…
Who can engage and inspire teachers to want to bring their class on a farm visit. You need to make them feel safe, see clearly where these visits can offer value, listen to their needs and priorities, and get them excited about what you can do together.
Who can engage farmers and other food providers to work with you to help create these irresistible learning experiences. They need to feel both excited to work with you and clear about what this will entail.
…can become an expert guide…
You need to be someone who can walk into a farm or countryside space and bring it alive for those with limited opportunities to explore the world around them. This will involve working with a farmer to help them tell their story in a way which will excite and engage. You will also need to be able to understand and manage the risks that outdoor and farm spaces bring.
…will be a great team member…
We know that we are greater than the sum of our parts. We are an organisation full of possibilities and we are looking for someone who wants to work and contribute to that kind of environment.
Applications are open to community and voluntary groups to apply for funding to support women’s reproductive health & wellbeing in the workplace.
The fund aims to support women experiencing:
➡️ miscarriage & pregnancy loss
➡️ fertility issues
➡️ menstrual health and gynaecological conditions
➡️ the menopause
The fund will also ensure employers feel well equipped to support women in managing their health within the workplace and help break down taboos through open conversation, so that they can remain in or return to the workplace throughout their careers.
We are a grant making foundation giving grants to small and medium sized local organisations in the UK
with a demonstrable track record of success working to address local issues in communities of extreme urban deprivation and deprived rural districts.
Who & What We Fund
Trusthouse gives grants for running costs to charities and not-for-profit organisations in accordance with criteria that are regularly reviewed and decided by the Trustees.