From compliance to competitive edge: Leanne Maskell underlines why ADHD awareness matters in FMCG leadership
As an FMCG CEO, you may understandably be exhausted by the noise around ADHD. Awareness has skyrocketed since the pandemic, with a 400 percent increase in the number of adults seeking a diagnosis.
However, this is far from a fast moving ‘trend’. It raises complex questions around workplace culture and compliance, that no checkbox or product can solve.
Crucially, neurodivergence isn’t the ‘problem’ – it’s the environment. For example, Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, credited his ADHD and Dyslexia with the flat-pack model that disrupted global retail.
In contrast, Morrisons learned the hard way that legal duties don’t work on a ‘pick and mix’ basis, after unsuccessfully arguing in the employment tribunal that a cafe assistant’s ADHD was not a disability.
“The difference between potential and problem is never the person – it’s the workplace around them.”
Retailers already know how overwhelming FMCG environments can be. Tesco and Morrisons run ‘quiet hours’ with reduced lighting and noise, and offer Sensory Support Boxes for neurodivergent shoppers.
Personally, although I try to avoid in-store shopping wherever possible, I have an unavoidable monthly trip to Tesco to pick up my ADHD medication. This ‘simple’ 30-minute experience repeatedly causes me immense stress – so what does that mean for neurodivergent employees spending eight hours per day in such environments?
What makes this trip bearable isn’t a sensory box, but the employees who greet me by name. Last month, I almost experienced a panic attack after accidentally smashing a candle lid whilst waiting for my medication. Instead of being told off, I was reassured – and went on to buy the candle without a lid, which is burning alongside me right now as a pumpkin-scented reminder of their kindness.
Products can’t replace your greatest asset – people. Support them effectively, and you make life easier for neurodivergent customers like me without even trying.
This should be simple, but employment tribunal cases relating to disability discrimination have risen by a third in a year, suggesting otherwise. I believe this is due to a general fear of vulnerability by senior leadership, who may understandably prefer to outsource such sensitive topics to ‘experts’ or Employee Assistance Programmes (despite only a 10% uptake in the retail sector).
In doing so, they often miss the (free!) expertise right in front of them – their employees. Daring to think differently presents not an obstacle, but an opportunity.
Being guided by your employees, instead of your customers, will filter out naturally. To unlock the estimated £274 billion combined spending power of disabled people and their families in the UK, support the ones within your workforce. Here’s how to begin:
- Start the conversation
Consistently high turnout at neurodiversity training events always surprises employers, but you don’t need to be neurodivergent to care. Creating a space for these conversations to emerge with psychological safety is key.
- Lead the conversation
With one in seven people neurodiverse, your workforce is already affected. Stigma means that people won’t disclose unless they see leaders model openness. Authentic and vulnerable sharing of your own challenges signals that it’s safe to ask for help.
- Listen – and respond
Awareness without action achieves nothing. Instead of external spending, enable employees to share ideas – and take them seriously. Nestlé demonstrated this ‘intrapreneurship’ by inviting employees to generate and implement ideas, saving millions of pounds whilst reshaping culture from within.
The last word is this: if you care about the bottom line, start with your staff. Slow down enough to facilitate messy, human conversations – and you’ll see results that won’t expire.
Leanne Maskell is the founder of ADHD Works
