Firms must support employees through ‘massive toll’ of neurodivergent diagnoses – Kerchhoff
Being diagnosed as neurodivergent in adulthood can leave people processing their condition and in need of flexibility from their employer, while they determine the support they need.
Nathyn Kerchhoff, neuro-inclusive business consultant, said many people waited as long as five years for a diagnosis and businesses needed to consider how to make reasonable adjustments to support employees in the meantime.
This could be small cultural or environmental changes, such as allowing employees to bring headphones to work or not interrupting someone while they are “in the zone” working.
Kerchhoff said many firms were very policy-driven and often treated this “as law”, resulting in rigidity and doing things “the way they have always been done”, but there should be flexibility, and policy should only be the starting point.
He said people often overcomplicated neurodivergence and other hidden disabilities, but assistance was typically hindered by a lack of a safe space or hesitation to have conversations.
This could be a symptom of people being promoted into managerial roles without training, as companies placed targets over relationships, Kerchhoff said.
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Kerchhoff said it could be “simple” and resolved through communication and the relationship between employers and employees.
“I have a big belief that there is a difference between a leadership mindset and a management mindset. The leadership mindset is the variable we try to look towards and educate people on.
“A good leader will always look to put their people first while balancing the business’ needs, but not at the cost of people. They are prepared and have the knowledge to be able to have the right conversations at the right time,” Kerchhoff said.
The weight of a diagnosis
Getting a neurodivergent diagnosis as an adult can create feelings of imposter syndrome, Kerchhoff said, as people reflected on past behaviours and events through a different lens.
Kerchhoff was diagnosed with autism, ADHD and dyslexia as a child, which did not change much at the time. He was diagnosed again as an adult after joining financial services and realising he needed to adjust to a new way of working.
Being diagnosed can take a “massive toll, mentally and on your body”, Kerchhoff said. Although having a diagnosis could allow people to become more self-aware and introspective, this was hard as it came with the realisation that the world would not adapt and a lot of the change had to come from within.
He said neurodivergent people had a responsibility to communicate their needs to employers, acknowledging it was a “pretty scary conversation to have”, requiring learning about oneself and having a willingness to communicate.
Kerchhoff also went through a period of self-forgiveness, where he had to accept or resolve personal matters.
Kerchhoff said this was not easy for every company to accommodate, so the person with a diagnosis should also determine how much responsibility lies with a company and what could be offered through healthcare services.
A lot of “self-awareness” is needed with a diagnosis, Kerchhoff said, adding: “Some people think getting a diagnosis will automatically put a lightbulb on or change the world, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. Especially in the UK, it’s a very underfunded service. They have the money to medicate, but that’s about it; no talking therapy, no occupational therapy.”
“From an employer’s standpoint, we look at how we can work with companies like Bupa and Simplyhealth to bring private diagnosis to the forefront or offer it as part of a healthcare package,” Kerchhoff said.
Be ready to pivot
Kerchhoff started advocating for hidden disabilities and neurodiversity while working at Skipton Building Society but left to be more impactful without the constraints of an organisation and the day-to-day job.
While at Skipton Building Society, his work focused on neurodiversity, menopause, race and other matters under the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) umbrella.
He now works outside of financial services, including consulting companies such as Aldi and Asda.
Kerchhoff said the pace at which companies implemented policies to be inclusive to neurodivergent people came down to costs and the perceived return on investment, even though it usually required just time and communication: “it’s that internal training of managers, leadership” and a change of mindset, which took time to be done properly.
“There are cases where we get right up to the finish line with a company, then all of a sudden, the budget will change,” Kerchhoff said.
He said one example was a British company, where £600,000 earmarked for specific projects was disrupted by cyber hacking.
“That was everything from accessibility in stores through to head office. Everything got swallowed up as they did not have the right insurance in place, so they had to make payouts. They lost a couple of millions, and one of the areas that got hit was DEI, so we had to pivot, change and also roll back on what we could offer and how we could work with their team, while still keeping momentum,” he explained.
He said this could be frustrating; to him, it was as simple as “you look after your people and your people look after you”, but there were many external factors that impacted a business’ focus on DEI, such as geopolitics.
When Kerchhoff started consulting, most of his business was in America, but “that changed overnight when certain people came into power” and many DEI functions “fell away”. He thought about how to pivot his work to continue driving change, but not all firms are as agile, and it was not always the right time to act.
He said an agile mindset was needed to work in DEI because the environment could quickly shift.
