Fantastically skilled and creative individuals don’t all come out of a corporate cookie-cutter production line.
We have incredibly talented people who have different needs, and work from different places. And flexibility means we don’t lose those brilliant people from the team.
For example, we have people who might have caring responsibilities. Or people who have mobility restrictions, or specific accommodation requirements that mean working from home is essential.
By creating a flexible and adaptable culture you can make your organisation an attractive place to work for everyone.
Being adaptive for neurodiversity within your team also improves your chances of getting a diverse range of ideas, making your teams more creative and your business more innovative.
Flexibility for everyone
By creating an environment that offers flexibility to everyone, you can build a business that stays agile, can face unexpected challenges head-on and gives itself and everyone working for it the very best chance of success.
Recent research by the CIPD found that around 1.1 million workers in the UK changed their job since January 2024 because of a lack of flexibility from their employer.
People want to work somewhere that is flexible enough to adapt to their needs and help them thrive.
If you want to make your organisation a great place to work for as many people as possible, you can:
- Create flexibility rather than a one-size fits all approach. Some people might thrive in an office; others will thrive at home. Adapt your rules to suit individual needs.
- Communicate in different ways to reach more people. When it comes to training and communication, offer a variety of audio, visual and text-based formats. We all process information in different ways, and this ensures that everyone gets the chance to thrive in their roles.
- Provide continuous feedback. We all want to know that our efforts are appreciated, not just in our annual reviews. It helps people stay motivated, and can be especially important to people with ADHD, for example.
- Focus on outcomes. Focus can be fickle. One day we’re flying through our to-do list and doing great work, the next it’s like trying to nail jelly to the wall. I’ve found it best to focus on whether the work is getting done, and if it’s to a high standard. That’s much more important to me than monitoring people’s hours.
As leaders, of course we want to set everyone up for success. I’ve found that the best way to do this is by doing what I can to create an inclusive, flexible culture that is able to adapt to fit a broad range of our employees’ needs.
By taking the time to help our team members thrive, we’re giving the business the best chance of continued success.
