Normal Is a Dirty Word: Why Workplaces Have To Change
by Mani Gilbert
The Covid-19 pandemic is far from over. Despite this, there are efforts across workplaces to return to some semblance of ‘normality’. What this normality looks like is a particularly interesting conundrum. Should office workers be returning to the office post-pandemic? Is hybrid working here to stay? What does this mean for workplace wellbeing? For many, this ambiguity is a source of anxiety, as normal was never very normal for them to begin with.
Flexibility and Freedom
The change in work habits over the last two years has allowed employees to discover a new work-life balance that led to flexible working hours, more time with the family, hours saved in commuting and daytime doctors’ appointments. But for Neurodivergent and Disabled folk, it has been much, much more than this.
Working from home has relieved the overwhelming social demands that the office requires of its users, allowing for the focus to be on high-quality work output rather than anxiety around how to successfully create positive, face to face relationships with those around us.
Even more than that it has shown that those jobs that ‘absolutely can’t be done from home’ really, actually can. For so long organisations’ dogma around in-office working has stifled the potential of so much talent. Lockdowns around the world have resulted in the job market finally being opened up to the disabled community. These are people who have previously been consistently forced to navigate work from a place of real, tangible obstruction.
New Opportunities for Diversity
Working from home means that a bad night of sleep due to chronic pain doesn’t require a day off, but instead might involve starting, and finishing, a bit later. It allows for employees to work in a calm and quiet environment without the multiple stimuli that the office has; the constant chatter as background noise can be impossible to tune out for some and the ongoing interruptions are detrimental when switching between tasks is something you find hard. The overwhelm is real.
There are, of course, benefits to moving back to the office; creating meaningful relationships, encouraging critical discourse can be more effective face to face, well-being can be checked with more ease, and it provides clearer separation between work and play. But we need to consider how the pros and cons balance themselves out and whether these benefit everyone. Inclusion doesn’t mean treating everybody the same; it means identifying how best to help individuals with individual needs realise their potential. Some people will always love the vibrancy of office life. For others, however, they are only ever going to be able to themselves in an environment that offers flexibility and control. Oftentimes this will be from their own home.
There are many questions to be answered by employers (and employees) as this new normal is sculpted. It’s not always going to be straightforward. But the best question to start with is whether you’re truly caring for the needs of everyone by forcing a return to the office, or is this an old habit dying hard? Meeting the diverse needs of all your employees means ensuring that true inclusion is at the heart of whatever decision you make; getting the balance right will mean keeping and attracting some of the best talent out there.
Mani is a Diversity & Inclusion consultant with a wealth of experience and knowledge in the special educational needs sector in schools. She has played an integral part in improving inclusive practice and gaining an in depth knowledge of specific learning difficulties and autism. Alongside this Mani has a close personal connection of living with Neurodivergence and living with someone who is autistic. Mani also identifies as queer and volunteers coordinating and supporting a charity run LGBTQ+ Community Space.