The mining industry is constantly alternating between the certainty of the known and the promise of the new. The world is moving fast. Companies barely have a chance to grasp and act upon pressing concerns before further change is upon them.
Yet the unseen issues that are waiting to become material in the very near future might have a bigger impact on organisations. Knowing how to recognise and integrate these imperatives is a crucial leadership skill of today.
To foster new ways of thinking and enable organisations to better deal with the growing complexities that they face requires leaders with an expanded awareness and view of the world.
Creating hiring and inclusivity programmes that embrace neurodiverse individuals is one way that leaders could better accommodate, not only that group, but the full spectrum of human talent within their businesses.
For example, Asperger’s syndrome is a neurodiversity condition that is characterised by high intellectual capabilities and low social skills, as deemed by neurotypical individuals.
Dr Tony Attwood, a psychologist focused on Asperger’s syndrome is of the opinion that: “We need people with Asperger’s syndrome to bring a new perspective on the problems of tomorrow.”
Moreover, this transformation could expand the culture of organisations, allowing them to respond to the complexities they face and create a culture of care and innovation.
The importance of inclusive leadership
Teams work best in environments where their talents are welcomed, and their dedication appreciated and rewarded.
At the CIM Health and Safety conference held in Toronto in October 2024, Mark highlighted an occasion where two of his team members were key to an organisation’s conversations around creating a new paradigm in sustainability in mining.
Both individuals were undoubtedly operating at a very high level of cognitive capability, and they described change in ways that most people struggled to process. However, as the team debated the observations and concepts, unpacking them in a way that most people could understand helped everyone to realise and internalise the possibilities.
It requires both patience and acceptance to discuss and debate potentially transformative ideas in a ‘safe space’. But, when given a little time and space, the game-changing ideas that neurodiverse individuals can envision but sometimes struggle to communicate, can become clear.
Exploring ideas in a way that allows those who process information and connected concepts in different ways to participate fully is key to this.
Elliot Jaques’ work explains the different levels of work and how people operating at high levels of cognitive capability conceptualise and relate to ideas. This can provide a basis to help leaders understand why many people struggle to process the ideas of those that think differently to most people.
Working under the ‘bell curve of neurodiversity distribution’
Approximately 20% of the general population falls into the neurodiverse category, meaning that many organisations are already employing significant neurodiverse talent.
Yet a recent UK-based survey found that 50% of managers would not knowingly hire neurodiverse talent. This demonstrates not only a lack of awareness as to what neurodiversity is, but is also a sign that managers do not know their organisations as well as they think.
As Paul Mayne of the University of Western Ontario explains in this article, “Historically, companies have asked employees to ‘trim away’ their irregularities; it’s easier to fit people together if they are all perfect rectangles”.
Avoiding social interaction, acting impulsively, struggling to comprehend text or becoming irritated by noise or light, are traits that are often associated with neurodiversity. But at times, we all exhibit these behaviours.
Most of the bias and stigma related to the hiring of neurodiverse candidates is focused on these traits. However, by excluding the neurodiverse talent pool from their searches, organisations are also excluding individuals who are creative, loyal, honest, direct, innovative, focused and detailed.
These traits are often overlooked due to the ‘negativity bias’; people tend to notice and be influenced more strongly by ‘negative’ traits, allowing a single ‘negative’ to overshadow numerous ‘positive’ ones.
To navigate this, many neurodivergent employees use masking strategies to blend in and hide traits that they think might be perceived as negatives. This induces additional stress, while at the same time prevents others from seeing their true strengths.
The expectation to conform is not only affecting neurodivergent individuals. Due to expectations to fit ‘within the box’, many neurotypical talents are not able to show their full potential either.
Miners are missing out on talent
Research by Princeton psychologists, Janine Willis and Alexander Todorov, has revealed that “…it takes is a tenth of a second to form an impression of a stranger from their face, and that longer exposures don’t significantly alter those impressions…”
When combined with the pressure of conventional hiring processes, the stigma of being neurodiverse and, in some cases, the inability to maintain eye contact or sit still during a lengthy, interrogation-like interview can render an individual’s talents invisible.
“…the only reason I started a company back in 1995 …was because there were only a few internet companies, and I couldn’t get a job at any of them…” Elon Musk
Recognising this, some software developers and banks introduced neurodivergent/ autism hiring programmes more than a decade ago – SAP in 2013, and JP Morgan and Microsoft in 2015.
These companies saw the benefits that qualities, such as enhanced creativity and innovative thinking often exhibited by neurodivergent people, could bring to their organisations. And, with the right hiring, onboarding and mentoring programs, they have created environments that compensate for varying social skills and removed barriers to the integration of neurodiverse candidates.
As detailed in this 2021 article in Quartz: “…employees hired through the [JP Morgan Chase’s] neurodiversity programs into certain tech roles are 90% to 140% more productive than employees who had been there five or 10 years; that the new hires clear all the work in their queue with zero errors; that on the business side, they’re doing the work of two people.”
Conventional hiring processes that filter out well qualified neurodiverse candidates further narrow the shrinking pool of talent to which mining companies have access today. The industry still needs to recognise and leverage the strengths of neurodiverse talent, whether they’re new hires or existing employees.
People are not constant, immutable entities. We all live and work under the ‘bell curve of neurodiversity distribution’ and display a wide range of human traits. This means that by better accommodating neurodiverse individuals, organisations will create a culture of care and innovation that will benefit all.
Mining’s future is more digital and neurodiverse
The increasing introduction of digital technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI) into the mining industry will bring many benefits, from safety to productivity.
Demand for digital skills and competencies is also increasing, and many neurodiverse talents have proven their capability to perform at a high level in other digitally led industries when provided with the right support.
The adoption of new technologies and the inclusion of neurodiverse talent will provide an opportunity to shake off the image of mining as an industry that is traditional, even obsolete. Additionally, it will create a safer workspace that can accommodate and nurture a broader range of talents, helping everyone to perform to their full potential.
Embracing the unique perspectives and, in some cases, exceptional cognitive abilities that neurodiverse individuals can bring could help organisations to unlock new solutions.
And when leaders step outside of the neurotypical comfort zone to the expanded neurodiverse space, they might find themselves able to see solutions that are beyond the limitations of the current framework.
Ultimately, leadership is about creating the time and space to enable ideas that can transform organisations to come to the fore, and that time is now.
About the authors
Nermina Harambasic co-leads the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) Diversity Inclusion Advisory Committee’s (DIAC) “Neurodiversity in Mining” programme with Nathan Stubina. The intent of this initiative is to enhance the workplace for neurodivergent individuals and promote their hiring. The team warmly invites mining leaders to join. Contact Nermina via LinkedIn for more details.
Mark Cutifani is a mining engineer with over +46 years of experience. He is the current Chair of Vale Base Metals and a Non-Executive Director of Total Energies, as well as the former CEO of companies including Anglo American and Anglo Gold Ashanti.
