Competence or Consequence?

Written By Alec Capurso for the GANCC

What makes someone competent in the workplace? Is it based on how smart or skilled they are? How good are they at their job? Should that be the basis of how people measure how competent a coworker is? In my opinion, that’s a biased and misused system of preference. Neurodivergent workers are not incompetent, we merely process information and our surroundings at their own pace. Allow me to explain. . .

            Many people on the spectrum have likes and dislikes that we devote our time and effort toward. This extends to how we proceed with tasks assigned at our jobs and how we wish to complete them. Some or us prefer to work in calm, organized spaces where you have the ability to work as fast or slow as possible like at a library or a warehouse. Others actually enjoy the rush of the fast-paced jobs such as food delivery and mail service. So, it’s not a matter of how clever we are at a job, but how we adapt to the current workplace. If it doesn’t fit into our perceptions and interests, then employers can be sure that we won’t take it seriously.

            There are many aspects that create an ideal working space, such as productivity, teamwork and success. But, one of the important aspects is that of accommodation, where the workplace must be open to workers who have varying thought-processes. I’m not saying employers are not trying to be accommodating, but they have a limited view of how to accommodate us. If employers expect us to be knowledgeable of everything in the position we’re given, it doesn’t give us room to adjust. The best way for us to learn is to grow into our new position. Let me elaborate on that. . .

            Let’s say that a new employee who is neurodiverse gets a position as a janitor at a Chick-Fil-A. They begin their new job learning the ropes and improving their rhythm along with it. After mopping floors and cleaning bathrooms for a while, they may want to get a higher paying position. So, the worker gets bumped up to either a cashier or a take-out window worker. Now, they must adapt to their new position just like they had to adapt to being a janitor. How long or how short it takes for them to master it depends entirely on how their brain processes the new skills and if they truly want the position. They may be horrible at first or adapt quickly, but it all depends on how they learn to expand their skill set to complete it.

            But, if employers judge them based on lack of competence alone from the beginning of the new positions, a major consequence could happen to the worker. If employers deny the worker the ability to grow with their position, and instead they “nip it in the bud” so to speak, the employee may be fired. Employers don’t want a potential problem to become a serious one, but employers sometimes don’t give us room to improve and just toss us out without much consideration.

“Problems can become solutions if given the chance to become something more - instead of denying it the right to evolve.”

            And it won’t just hurt these us professionally, but emotionally too. How would you feel if someone fired you based on how incompetent you are from the start of a new position? People of neurodiversity are very sensitive. Being fired would make us believe that we actually are incompetent. No matter how harshly or delicately employers put it, telling us we’re not smart enough is bound to bring our self-confidence to a new low. We may never attempt to apply to another job again! So, don’t deny us the chance to become more than ideal employees just by taking a pre-judgement of competence at the start.

            Competence isn’t something that is a requirement at the start of a job, rather a job is something that is learned. So, expecting perfection without any sort of guidance is going to end with consequences. If employers and workers - we might actually be shocked at how “competent” we all can be if given the space and time needed to achieve it. So I implore all you employers, don’t turn us away just by what you see in front of you. Show us what we can gain in the workplace and we can show you our best work possible. And please never call us incompetent!