“People are really aware of neurodiversity right now, and there’s a lot more literature and information about this,” Florencia Kratsman, NCIDQ, LEED AP, interior practice leader at FXCollaborative, a U.S. architecture firm, tells Fortune. “Companies want to stay on top of that to attract their employees and make sure they are coming back.” Thank you Emma Burleigh for including our perspective in this important piece exploring the neurodiverse-friendly office. #HR #workplace #design #neurodivergent #employees
Reporter at Fortune covering leadership, workers' rights, company practices, success, and business
I recently visited an office in lower Manhattan that looks like most others at first glance. But upon taking a closer look, it's so different. Understood.org's office is designed with neurodivergent and differently-abled employees in mind—there are different lighting, temperatures, noise levels, and furniture textures around workspace. Around every corner are assisted listening systems for those with hearing conditions, and room names are written in braille outside the doors. The non-profit providing resources to people and families who are differently-abled is a stellar example of a new trend going on in corporate America: workplaces built with neurodivergent workers in mind. “People are really aware of neurodiversity right now, and there’s a lot more literature and information about this,” says Florencia Kratsman, interior practice leader at FXCollaborative. “Companies want to stay on top of that to attract their employees and make sure they are coming back.” Design and workspace experts I spoke with for Fortune say this office trend coincides with America's changing workforce, and battle for top professionals. Leadership is now tasked with helping them best succeed, and accommodations commonly revolve around potential sensory issues. “You have this extremely wide spectrum of individuals, and they want to exist in WeWork spaces,” says Ebbie Wisecarver chief design officer at WeWork. “We’re rethinking: what’s the palette in that room? What are the materials in that room? What’s the seating?” she adds. “Because [with] an individual that might be highly sensitive, you want to be able to make sure there’s a refuge for them.” Read more on what features are changing in the office to better fit neurodivergent employees, and take a tour of Understood's office, below. #HR #workplace #neurodivergent #employees #Fortune https://lnkd.in/es_88z6Q