Victorian public sector employers must provide safe and respectful workplaces free from discrimination.
When neurodivergent employees don’t feel safe being themselves, they may mask behaviours that would come naturally to them.
Masking is when a person tries to withhold or hide behaviours — consciously or not — that are part of their neurodivergence.
They may do this to feel accepted, fit in and avoid negative responses from others.
Masking takes a lot of mental and sometimes physical effort. For example, a neurodivergent employee may:
Masking is draining and can be detrimental to a neurodivergent person’s mental health.
When an employee feels accepted for who they are, they’re less likely to feel the need to mask.
If we make the workplace safe, neurodivergent employees will feel they have more of a choice to be open about who they are.
"The big thing that really holds me back from disclosing in the workplace is I'm really afraid of having my competence underestimated; that because I'm neurodivergent, my manager, employer or even colleagues, will make assumptions about how capable I am or what kind of tasks I'd be good at. They might think 'oh well she's autistic so we won't give her any tasks around working with people' but I actually think I'm very good with people in the workplace! To feel safe to disclose I'd need to feel like it was a safe environment where I can be sure my competence won't be assumed." – Neurodivergent employee
Starting in a new role or workplace can be hard. This is why you should provide a supportive environment for an employee from the start.
The quicker an employee can settle into their role, the quicker they can provide their expertise to the organisation.
A good induction supports new employees to understand:
Predictability is important for many neurodivergent people. To help a new employee know what to expect, provide information about the workplace.
If relevant, send employees any:
If they need to send anything back to you, include information on how to do this and the due date.
It can be helpful for dyslexic employees if any forms or documents are in a format that allows text-to-speech. Or think if you can send a short video explaining the forms.
Before the first day, plan and tell new employees:
You may also want to tell them:
It can also be helpful to check that key processes and documents (for example, the intranet) have text-to-speech functions.
“I recently moved to a temporary new office and was very anxious about the unwritten rules such as entering and exiting the building, where to set up, how to get there etc. Our Executive Director sent out detailed information about how to access the building, step by step on obtaining a security pass and information about booking meeting rooms. The branch was also given a copy of the floor plans of the floors we had access to – this was very reassuring and a great inclusive practice! It meant I could plan ahead about where I could sit which would avoid high traffic areas and lots of social activity and smells. The new environment was challenging enough but I felt less anxious with a plan for what to do when I got to the office.” – Neurodivergent employee
Before a new employee starts, consider asking:
Asking questions like these can help new employees feel safe to approach you when they have questions.
The manager should:
If you’re aware the employee is neurodivergent, never introduce them as ‘our new neurodivergent employee’ or similar. It’s up to the new employee to decide on what they want to share.
Never share the employee's neurodivergent identity with anyone without the employee’s explicit permission.
Role clarity is a key issue for neurodivergent employees.
Check if the employee feels their main responsibilities have been made clear to them and if they have any questions about these.
Even if you feel that you’ve been clear in providing information about the role, check in with your employee again to ensure this.
In addition to this, a manager should:
As a new employee settles in, it can be helpful to assign a ‘buddy’ to whom they can ask questions.
This will help the new starter become comfortable in the organisation.
Also work out a secondary person for when their buddy isn’t available.
In their first week, the manager or buddy should check in with the new employee to:
Doing this in their first week will help the employee to understand their role, your expectations and how the organisation works.
You’ll also learn more about them and their working style.
The manager should set up a weekly check-in with the new employee in the first month. This will help them know if they’re doing well and will help make sure you know what they need.
This meeting lets both people discuss role progress, expectations and how their role fits into the organisation’s structure and strategy.
Ensure your new employee is clear about how to work out which tasks are priorities and talk to them about their performance.
You could ask questions like:
Feedback is important for neurodivergent employees so they know where they’re doing well and if they need to make any adjustments. When you give feedback, ensure it’s sincere, specific and framed constructively.
If they need help on how to improve, frame this as a problem-solving task for both of you, such as ‘what are the barriers?’ and ‘what can we do to remove those?’.
During this time, check in with your employee about sensory aspects of the work environment. For example, you could ask how the lighting is or if there is anything in the environment that makes them uncomfortable.
These types of discussions can lead to problem-solving and help you build trust. This may mean that if future issues arise, the employee will feel comfortable raising them with you.
Many adjustments have no or a low cost and are easy to make but have a big impact on job satisfaction.
"I asked if it was possible to reduce the level of light in my office. I didn't want to impact my office colleague by having a dark office, but found it hard to concentrate with the fluorescent lights turned on. The maintenance team were able to turn off a switch inside the lighting panel on my side of the office, so when the lights were on, they weren't as bright on my side of the office. This meant my colleague and I both had levels of lighting that worked for us. They also switched the bulbs for the office to yellow/warmer instead of white/cooler lighting, which we both preferred." – Neurodivergent employee
Some roles involve a lot of communication with or from many stakeholders across various sources.
It can be helpful to: