Managing Neurodiversity

[anotherexhaustedpigeon]

We have a new employee on a probation period who has disclosed to me, as the manager, that they have a neurodiversity diagnosis (ND) Their probation ends in a few weeks and other team members (who don't know, and who I cannot tell about the ND) are coming to me saying they don't think the new employee is a good fit and therefore should not pass probation. Legally, this is not permissible to terminate the employee I think but just wondered if anyone had any advice or experience in this field?

You can terminate her contract as long as it’s not because of her disability. Can she do the job well? In what ways isn’t she a good fit? She’s being paid to do a job - not to be liked. Be careful about conflating the two.

Thanks for replying @AgentProvocateur! So the 'not being a good fit' with the team is due to the disability - they don't engage with small talk and the team like to chat. The work quality is fine, however.

I cannot believe anyone would even consider getting rid of an employee who is doing their job correctly because they won't involve themselves in small talk with the team, disability or no disability.

If the employee is not performing then you need to look at whether they meet the criteria for disability. In any case consider what reasonable adjustments, if any, can be made to help them meet the job requirements. You may need to look at involving specialists who can advise.

If the employee is performing then you need to drill down into why they are not a good fit. Ask for specific examples and establish if it is specific tasks or just not joining in with the office banter etc. If it’s the latter, then how relevant is it to delivering outputs?

The others can use this as an opportunity to be professional and understand that not everyone is the same. Office and workplace environments are hard enough for ND staff and they need more support.

If the work quality is fine, then you have no grounds to fail her probation. Engaging in small talk with her colleagues presumably isn't in the job description. And lack of small talk may not be due to her being neurodiverse - she might just think it inane, or she may be wary of chatting instead of working during her probation period.

I've been in this from the other side recently - might help you to know how this panned out. I'm recently diagnosed as autistic, and was doing a final clinical placement with a team where I really really did not fit socially. My placement supervisor came to me with that level of concern and I discussed it with university, and went back to her with the line of discussion that, while service users had a right to a particular level of professional service which I was providing; at the same time I had the right to be accepted for who I was among the team and if that was just as a bit of an introvert or slightly annoying to others - then they had to accept that as a reasonable adjustment for my condition.

It's one of the few times in my life I've had the strength to stand up for myself to that level and the placement supervisor had independently come to the same conclusion after the discussion.

It could well be that they do just need a bit more time to become confident in the team and start to open up and chat as well, or they could be like me when, if they get focused (takes a while but when they do I go into utter tunnel vision), they just don't register what's going on around them.

Cross post.
As they are performing you would potentially be discriminating (only an ET can determine if the ND is a disability) if you do not pass their probation.

Anyone who mentions ‘not a good fit’ should be challenged to explain, with specific examples. Respond with everyone is different and that’s what makes life interesting. X is good at their job, not joining in with chat about xyz is no reason to dismiss her.

Personally I would be delivering training to your whole team on disability discrimination and include examples of different types of disability (physical and mental). Make sure you use examples of non-visible disabilities and conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculous (?) , autism etc. and potential reasonable adjustments.

As someone in leadership myself and someone neurodivergent, I would take an opportunity to teach the team about different communication styles and personality types. There a few different versions that include colours, the meyers-briggs etc. much as there is debate as to whether they are useful, I would suggest in this context they are, introverts v extroverts, people who direct communicators vs those who need time to explore in a conversation. That way you aren't discussing neurominorities and singling out.

I would also suggest adding some wider DEI in which can eventually bring in neurodivergency but as a wider longer teaching piece which means it isn't obvious.

If the employee is doing the work well, then this would be a good opportunity to talk with the rest of the staff about inclusion, bullying and accepting people as they are and not excluding people because they are not chatty or don't like small talk. It would be a shame if people who are good at the work and who maybe bring a different perspective are excluded or pushed out because of bullying (which is actually what this could become if not nipped in the bud)

they don't engage with small talk and the team like to chat. The work quality is fine, however.

Goodness me. If the work quality is fine then they pass their probation, no question. And you don't need to do anything. If they're doing a good job their colleagues need to respect them for that and not be offended by them not wanting to socialise. Maybe it's the others who need some guidance in being accepting of people who happen not to be the same as them.

As others have said... This is a problem with your team and not the employee in question

Thank you everyone for your informative and helpful responses! It's exactly in line with my view, that the team complaining are the problem and not the employee. I have specifically requested that the team undertake DEI and that they learn to be more accepting and tolerant, but I was starting to wonder if I was losing it slightly.

Hi. I don't know if this question is private but could you tell us more about how they handle the situation? I'm ND too and struggling a lot in workplaces where small talk is involved. I don't normally bond well with coworkers and sometimes managers had to stand for me. It's nice to see managers caring about diversity :)

@FormerAupair you might be better starting your own thread.

My advice would be to talk to your manager and explain how you are impacted, everyone is different but knowing what works for you really helps. For example do you find 1:2:1 conversations easier than group chat, do you get overwhelmed if you have to much interaction and need quiet time/wear headphones to decompress etc. this helps a manager help you.

Pure discrimination. Be very careful.

Hi @FormerAupair thanks for your message! I'm pleased to say we kept the employee on and management have agreed to shut down any bitchy comments about them not engaging with small talk. We have also upped our diversity awareness training and support. As far as the employee is concerned I have explained to them that whilst their colleagues would love to get to know them better, it's not obligatory in any way and that they are fully supported. I'm not sure if that helps you, but if you are getting anything less than this then you're within your rights to raise it and ask for better support

Nice update!