FUTURE TALENT November - January 2019/2020 | Page 16

F
FRONT OF HOUSE
NURTURING
THE
SUPERPOWERS
OF YOUR PEOPLE
The success of a unique IT
consultancy demonstrates the
value of neurodiversity and how
enabling individuals to thrive can help
employers get the best out of their
whole workforce.
| Sarah Wild
16 // Future Talent
E
mbracing difference is
not simply a matter of
altruism, as business is
beginning to learn.
Diversity of thought, ideas and ways
of working “helps people to grow and
learn, tackles under-utilisation of skills
by enabling people to reach their full
potential, improves decision making,
boosts engagement and innovation,
and enables business to better meet
the needs of a diverse customer
base,” according to the CIPD.
Or as 16-year-old environmental
activist Greta Thunberg puts it: “Given
the right circumstances, being
different is a superpower” – a
competitive edge that any modern
organisation should want to tap into.
Diagnosed with Asperger’s
syndrome, Thunberg explains that
her autism makes her view the world
in stark terms. “It makes me see
things from outside the box,” she told
journalist Nick Robinson, when
interviewed on Radio 4’s Today
programme. “I don’t easily fall for lies,
I can see through things. If I would’ve
been like everyone else, I wouldn’t
have started this school strike,
for instance.”
However, neurodiversity is a
poorly understood element of
diversity and one from which many
organisations shy away. Despite the
unique skills and qualities people with
conditions such as autism, dyslexia