- Video Insight
Using Technology to Support Neurodiversity in the Workplace
- 2 mins
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Peta Williamson (ESF Business Solutions)
You know, framing up technology as your friend, as assistance, as a benefit, as a tool, as a weapon, right, as a weapon to combat this technical age, if you frame it the right way, it’s kind of like a marketing exercise, right? Hey, you have to use a tablet at work, oh God, that didn’t go down well. Hey, we’re giving tablets to everybody so you can do this other stuff, and you can get access to all these things, and here you can do this for yourself and that for yourself, and by the way, you can do your work on it. Oh, okay, well hang on, that was all about me, and then I’ve got to do the work thing. I’m not having it jammed down my throat or forced into my hand.
And here’s some technology, I hope you can catch it. Oh yeah, by the way, we’re going to get grumpy at you when you don’t know how to do the thing. Oh, but we didn’t train you to do it.
Key Points
- Frame technology as a friend, not a burden. Positioning tools as weapons to combat the demands of a technical age, or as personal assistants, dramatically changes how employees receive them.
- Messaging is a marketing exercise. Telling staff "you have to use a tablet" landed badly; reframing it as "here's something that helps you" was far more effective.
- Lead with personal benefit, then work benefit. When employees first see value for themselves ("you can do this for yourself"), they are more open to also using the tool for work tasks.