{"id":18228,"date":"2021-05-14T16:00:14","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T15:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=18228"},"modified":"2023-01-16T14:55:58","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T14:55:58","slug":"neurodiversity-and-mental-health-at-work-ringcentrals-employees-share-their-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/neurodiversity-and-mental-health-at-work-ringcentrals-employees-share-their-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Neurodiversity and mental health at work: RingCentral\u2019s employees share their stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story is part of a series recognising Mental Health Awareness Month and how RingCentral supports its employees\u2019 mental health and well-being.
\n<\/i>
\nAround\u00a0one in seven people are neurodiverse<\/a>, which means that their brains organize and process information differently than most of their counterparts. Neurodiversity presents itself in those with conditions like ADHD, dyslexia, social anxiety, and autism, among others.<\/p>\n

These conditions can create challenges at work if employers aren\u2019t understanding of their colleagues\u2019 unique needs. People with ADHD, for example, are 30% more likely to have issues with employment regularly and are \u201c60% more likely to be fired from a job,\u201d\u00a0according to the Attention Deficit Disorder Association.<\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

This story is part of a series about the way RingCentral supports its employees\u2019 mental health. While not everyone who is neurodiverse experiences mental health challenges like anxiety or depression, neurodiverse people\u2019s mental health can be challenged if their employers don\u2019t create a supportive and inclusive work environment.<\/p>\n

Neurodiverse employees often stray from standard processes, which can sometimes cause confusion in the workplace, but out-of-the-box thinking has also proven to be\u00a0a competitive advantage for neurodiverse individuals<\/a>.\u00a0For example,\u00a0autistic people can be incredibly successful in certain professions\u00a0and are often more productive than their neurotypical colleagues.<\/p>\n

Businesses thrive when they make their workplace inclusive of neurodiverse people and support these employees\u2019 well-being and mental health at work.\u00a0RingCentral<\/a>\u00a0is making its workplace more inclusive of neurodiverse individuals and experiencing excellent results.<\/p>\n

How Becky thrives with ADHD at work<\/b>
\n<\/b><\/h2>\n

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition that often manifests as an inability to concentrate, and it affects around\u00a04.4% of adults between the ages of 18 and 44<\/a>, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.<\/p>\n

Becky Hensley, the senior community and social media manager at RingCentral, has learned to manage her ADHD at work by communicating her unique needs to her colleagues.<\/p>\n

Throughout her life, Becky struggled with things like organization and following through with tasks. She wasn\u2019t an excellent student in school, she was perpetually messy, and she felt like her mind was often chasing squirrels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always had challenges, but I didn\u2019t have words to put to it,\u201d Becky describes. \u201cI ascribed it to not being good at some things. I saw it as a personality flaw and not something I could control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later on, Becky decided to see a therapist. The therapist tested her for ADHD, and she checked all of the boxes. That was how Becky first learned, at the age of 45, that she had been living with ADHD her entire life. The realization was eye-opening.<\/p>\n

Once she saw that her problems stemmed from her neurodiversity and not from some significant character flaw, she was able to ask for the support she needed from her colleagues and to take care of her mental health at work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that often what makes sense to me in a corporate environment is not how other people operate. I\u2019ve had to pause and think about how to make things work for me in an environment with a lot of other stakeholders,\u201d Becky says. \u201cFor a while, it was a source of anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n

How RingCentral supports Becky<\/b><\/b><\/b><\/h2>\n

At RingCentral, Becky\u2019s colleagues were able to adapt to her unique style of working. They learned that Becky likes to make lots of lists. She often sends her colleagues notes with reminders about what they have to talk about next, even if she doesn\u2019t need them to respond right away. Her desk is covered with pieces of paper with notes and reminders. But her colleagues have learned to respect her processes and not judge her for what may look messy from the outside.<\/p>\n

All of these small rituals allow Becky to stay on track and successfully complete her work. And while Becky is aware that her working style might seem chaotic to other people, she appreciates that her colleagues have accepted her unique way of doing things.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s empowering to know that there\u2019s nothing wrong with you, and you can do things in a way that isn\u2019t the norm,\u201d Becky says. \u201cI\u2019m happy to work with people who acknowledge that not everyone has the same work process and that we have to appreciate those who aren\u2019t neurotypical.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy to work with people who acknowledge that not everyone has the same work process and that we have to appreciate those who aren\u2019t neurotypical. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, Becky helped launch a support group at work called SaaSy Women, for women who work in the software industry and want to discuss personal issues and support each other\u2019s mental health at work. The group uses RingCentral\u2019s own communication tools to stay in touch with colleagues working remotely or who are located in different offices.<\/p>\n

Becky discussed her diagnosis with the group, and she found that her colleagues were incredibly supportive, even those she doesn\u2019t work with directly.<\/p>\n

Over the past year, Becky has been promoted, and she now leads a team. Because RingCentral supported her neurodiversity, she experiences less anxiety, and her ADHD hasn\u2019t held her back from progressing in her career.<\/p>\n

Jedd\u2019s full spectrum: autistic and thriving at work<\/b><\/h2>\n

Autistic people often experience\u00a0hypersensitivity to external stimuli<\/a>\u00a0like lights and noise. Other common symptoms include difficulty picking up on social cues or reliance on rituals and repetition.<\/p>\n

Jedd Ong, who is leading diversity initiatives at RingCentral, was diagnosed as autistic as a teenager. Over the years, they often found themselves in situations where they needed to advocate for their needs at work.<\/p>\n

Gender-diverse people \u2013 or those who don\u2019t identify with the sex they were assigned at birth \u2013 are up to six times as likely to be autistic as their cisgender counterparts, according to\u00a0a study published last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jedd has sensory processing difficulties, which means that their brain doesn\u2019t process information the same way as other people. Bright lights bother them, and they get overstimulated more easily. That can make it challenging to work in a bright and busy office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe light that other people find normal, for me, can be really glaring,\u201d Jedd explains.<\/p>\n

At RingCentral, Jedd found a workplace where their employer allowed them to adapt their working style to their needs. Sometimes, that means changing the physical environment to feel more comfortable. Other times, it means giving them the freedom to follow a passion intensely when they become hyper-focused on something.<\/p>\n

Jedd works remotely to feel more comfortable working in a dark room without bothering colleagues who might need more light. If Jedd needs to take a personal day because they\u2019re overwhelmed, the company accommodates that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf my physical body is overwhelmed, I cannot concentrate,\u201d Jedd describes. \u201cSo, I tell my colleagues that my body needs a break.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jedd also discovered their colleagues at RingCentral are understanding of the ways autism makes them different, especially when it comes to social interactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell my managers that I really don\u2019t have that social part of my brain sometimes,\u201d Jedd said. \u201cI forget about inferences. I ask them to spell things out for me and not say things in a diplomatic way.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are lots of people who have been diagnosed as autistic. Some people have ADHD, dyslexia, and even bipolar disorder. We get to discuss the things we share in common, the ways we really differ, and the different ways our brains\u2026 <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/blockquote>\n

How RingCentral supports Jedd<\/b><\/h2>\n

Like Becky, Jedd has found the support groups within RingCentral to be helpful for bolstering their mental health at work.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the space to discuss these topics is so important. I love that we have these groups, like our neurodiversity and mental wellness group,\u201d Jedd describes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are lots of people who have been diagnosed as autistic. Some people have ADHD, dyslexia, and even bipolar disorder. We get to discuss the things we share in common, the ways we really differ, and the different ways our brains manifest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the company\u2019s leaders are also living with ADHD or dyslexia. Their participation in these support groups has normalized neurodiversity and mental health at work and made people at RingCentral feel more comfortable discussing their differences openly.<\/p>\n

Respecting differences improves your workforce and promotes mental health at work<\/b>
\n<\/b><\/h2>\n

Bringing neurodiverse individuals into your company can be a boon to your business because it ensures you\u2019re not missing an opportunity to hire someone just because they work differently. There are plenty of highly talented people who are also neurodiverse, and the more diverse your team is,\u00a0the more agile<\/a>\u00a0your company.<\/p>\n

By accommodating people with a unique working style, RingCentral found that its employees are happier, more successful, and more engaged because their company supports them.<\/p>\n

In their role at RingCentral, Jedd ensures that the company hires and retains a diverse workforce. That means making sure that neurodiverse people are treated equally and get promoted at the same rate as their neurotypical colleagues.<\/p>\n

Visit RingCentral\u2019s\u00a0career page<\/a> to learn more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story is part of a series recognising Mental Health Awareness Month and how RingCentral supports its employees\u2019 mental health and well-being. Around\u00a0one in seven people are neurodiverse, which means … Read more “Neurodiversity and mental health at work: RingCentral\u2019s employees share their stories”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":18229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNeurodiversity and mental health at work: RingCentral\u2019s employees share their stories | RingCentral UK Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This story is part of a series recognising Mental Health Awareness Month and how RingCentral supports its employees\u2019 mental health and well-being.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"RingCentral Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Neurodiversity and mental health at work: RingCentral\u2019s employees share their stories | RingCentral UK Blog","description":"This story is part of a series recognising Mental Health Awareness Month and how RingCentral supports its employees\u2019 mental health and well-being.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"twitter_misc":{"Written by":"RingCentral Team","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":":\/gb\/en\/blog\/neurodiversity-and-mental-health-at-work-ringcentrals-employees-share-their-stories\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/neurodiversity-and-mental-health-at-work-ringcentrals-employees-share-their-stories\/"},"author":{"name":"RingCentral Team","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cc4f043d2b478862a8622c28b0ebd08c"},"headline":"Neurodiversity and mental health at work: RingCentral\u2019s employees share their stories","datePublished":"2021-05-14T15:00:14+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-16T14:55:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/neurodiversity-and-mental-health-at-work-ringcentrals-employees-share-their-stories\/"},"wordCount":1524,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["UC - Collaboration"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":[":\/gb\/en\/blog\/neurodiversity-and-mental-health-at-work-ringcentrals-employees-share-their-stories\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/neurodiversity-and-mental-health-at-work-ringcentrals-employees-share-their-stories\/","url":":\/gb\/en\/blog\/neurodiversity-and-mental-health-at-work-ringcentrals-employees-share-their-stories\/","name":"Neurodiversity and mental health at work: RingCentral\u2019s employees share their stories | RingCentral UK Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-05-14T15:00:14+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-16T14:55:58+00:00","description":"This story is part of a series recognising Mental Health Awareness Month and how RingCentral supports its employees\u2019 mental health and well-being.","breadcrumb":{"@id":":\/gb\/en\/blog\/neurodiversity-and-mental-health-at-work-ringcentrals-employees-share-their-stories\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":[":\/gb\/en\/blog\/neurodiversity-and-mental-health-at-work-ringcentrals-employees-share-their-stories\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":":\/gb\/en\/blog\/neurodiversity-and-mental-health-at-work-ringcentrals-employees-share-their-stories\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"RingCentral Blog","item":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UC - Collaboration"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#website","url":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/","name":"RingCentral UK Blog","description":"RingCentral News and Tips","publisher":{"@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#organization","name":"RingCentral UK","url":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ringcentral-logo.png","contentUrl":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ringcentral-logo.png","width":1921,"height":416,"caption":"RingCentral UK"},"image":{"@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cc4f043d2b478862a8622c28b0ebd08c","name":"RingCentral Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/rcbloguk.wpengine.com\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/rc-profile-photo\/images\/default-avatar.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/rcbloguk.wpengine.com\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/rc-profile-photo\/images\/default-avatar.png","caption":"RingCentral Team"},"url":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/author\/ringcentral-team\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18228"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/244"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}