INTHEBLACK June/July 2024 - Magazine - Page 46
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CAN NEURODIVERSE TALENT BOOST
YOUR WORKPLACE?
Andrew Eddy FCPA is the co-founder of Untapped Talent, a firm
that helps organisations to overcome skill shortages through inclusion
of neurodivergent individuals. In this episode, Eddy offers insight into
how nurturing a neuroinclusive workplace can benefit businesses.
DIVERSITY OF BRAIN WIRING
CURRENT NEURODIVERSE WORKFORCE
“The term ‘neurodivergence’ has grown to
encompass or group together a range of
consistent ways that some brains work
differently from others.
“It’s a way of thinking about variations
such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia
and others as variations from the typical
population, rather than as disabilities.”
“I believe that over 20 per cent of the general
population is neurodivergent and it’s likely this
is represented in each of your organisations.
“That might include individuals who
may not realise they are neurodivergent.
Some of those people may well be suffering
from the challenges of the workplace.
They may have sensory sensitivities, and
they may be struggling with the expectations
of social interaction in the workplace.
They may struggle with the way in which
methods of communication are expected
to happen. If we create the environment
where they can thrive, we can get some
extraordinary outcomes.”
ADDRESSING TALENT SHORTAGES
“The unemployment rate for autistic
individuals is over 30 per cent, which
is three times the rate of people with
a disability and six times the rate of those
without a disability.
“This is not a great situation to have,
particularly when we’ve got all the talent
shortages that we’re currently experiencing.”
INCLUSIVITY FOR
A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
“There is this idea of the competitive
advantage of having a diverse organisation,
having diversity of thinking and having
diversity of perspectives among your
employees and the impact that can have.
“Some of the more progressive organisations
have really gone into embrace diversity
of backgrounds, gender, ethnicity, culture, but
there are only some organisations that have
taken the step of recognising neurodiversity
as another rich source of different thinking.”
46 INTHEBLACK June/July 2024
NEURODIVERSITY IN THE
ACCOUNTING PROFESSION
“If we focus on the accounting industry,
some autistic or neurodivergent individuals
have some great strengths, and it’s not across
the board, but you’ll find these strengths from
different people. Things such as attention
to detail, ability to hyper-focus on tasks for
long periods, ability to identify patterns,
being systematic and logical, being abstract
thinkers and possessing this strong level
of honesty and loyalty.
“There are a lot of roles out there that
would benefit from these traits. It could be
these very roles that could appeal to this
untapped talent pool.”
ANDREW EDDY FCPA,
UNTAPPED TALENT
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