Why Embracing Dyslexic Talent Makes Good Business Sense

 The talent shortage is at a 15-year high. And employers are struggling to recruit the right skills they need for the post-pandemic. Reports show that seven in 10 employers across the world are experiencing difficulty hiring - the highest it has been at any point since 2006. 

However, every dark cloud has a silver lining. And in this case, the silver lining has been the unprecedented talent represented by dyslexic people. Many employers are undervaluing a colossal pool of talent: people with dyslexia. 

Now and then, the narrative around dyslexia has been positioned as baggage to businesses. For decades, dyslexic people have been expected to just shrug it off and ‘ fit in’ - measured, benchmarked, and often ridiculed. 

But not anymore. Dyslexic thinking and aptitudes represent ‘in demand’ skills, with the opportunity to change the face of the workforce as we see. 

Dyslexia And Post-pandemic Workforce 

It’s been forecasted that by the year 2025, humans and machines will split the work 50:50. Even more, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the advances of automation and digitization. As a result, what has been heralded as the “job of the future” and “workplace of the future” have transitioned to a “post-pandemic workplace” - this is the emerging reality of today. 

A dyslexic workforce is more than equipped to shine and thrive in the post-pandemic workplace. Dyslexics bring unique talent including increased curiosity, increased awareness of their environment, visual thinking, being highly intuitive and insightful, experiencing thought as reality, and vivid imagination.  Businesses need to act now to include this dyslexic talent in their workforce today or are going to miss out dearly. 

The machines increasingly perform the tasks dyslexic minds struggle with, like reading, spelling, and memorizing. But, on the other hand, skills that are highly sought in today’s job market are precisely the skills dyslexic minds excel at. 

Such “soft” skills of the dyslexic intellect also include, time management, prioritization, adaptability, initiative-taking, analytical thinking, communications, and empathy. These skills are more highly prized by employers than ever before. In a post-pandemic world, these skills are the backbone of success. And these very skills are strongly associated with dyslexic thinking. 

Put simply, the workforce of the future needs dyslexic thinking. Dyslexic individuals should no longer be expected to ‘fit in’ but ‘stand out’ and leverage their strength. Businesses and educators alike should come forward and adapt their organizations and systems to embrace this shift, and this needs to happen fast, if we’re going to build the workforce of tomorrow. 

But dyslexic skills have been misread for a long, long time. This often starts at school. Struggles with things like memorizing, reading, and spelling severely undermine the self-belief of dyslexic students. And often, the abilities they excel in other departments are overlooked by educators, classmates, and themselves. 

And this ordeal continues into the world of work. Dyslexics, who have been held back in the classroom, could be less confident when embarking on a new career. They enter the world of work with inhibitions about telling anyone that they’re dyslexic in case their career progression will be hindered. 

Dyslexic Value To The Workforce 

As of today, many employers are still missing out on a lot because they aren’t in touch with the strengths people with dyslexia have to offer:

Made By Dyslexia’s 2018 report, Value Of Dyslexia, showed that:

• Dyslexic individuals have a range of natural strengths, making them hardwired to achieve the cut-throat need of today’s automated and digitized economy. 

• In the near future, enhanced tasks and innovative roles are going to be created which closely match the strength of dyslexia people. 

• Trending demand for competencies like leadership, social influence, innovation, analytical thinking, and creativity are strongly associated with typical dyslexic strengths. 

Businesses that take a strength-based approach will specialize on skills dyslexics often shine at - since all of these skills are crucial for the workplace. 

Top skills that businesses are looking for that correspond closely to the skill of people with dyslexia: 

• Communication: Conjuring and conveying coherent and engaging messages 

• Imagination: Crafting an original piece of work or giving a new spin to old ideas 

• Visualization: Interacting with physical ideas, space, sense, and new concepts 

• Exploration: Being curious and exploring ideas in an innovative and energetic way 

• Connection: Understanding self and others, capable of empathizing and influence 

• Reasoning: Evaluating possibilities, understanding patterns, and making decisions 

And not just that - resilience, adaptability, collaboration, teamwork, accountability, and discipline - these are all the skills dyslexic people possess that resonate with today’s workplace. 

Dyslexics And Changing Workspace Landscape 

But for employers to harness the essential skills that dyslexic thinkers can offer, they need to create a conducive environment where employees are accoladed for their strength, not penalized for their weakness. 

A culture in which dyslexic thinkers feel encouraged to ask for assistance where they need it will help the employer benefit more from their dyslexic thinking skills. 

Neurodiverse people sometimes need workplace accommodation - like headphones to avoid auditory overstimulation, to maximally leverage their capabilities. And in most cases, these accommodations are highly manageable, and the potential returns are greater by leaps and bounds. 

However, to realize the benefits, most companies will have to adjust their recruitment process and career development policies to reflect talent’s broader definition. 

A growing number of big companies have reevaluated their HR process to access neurodiverse talents including people with dyslexia - among them are Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft, Ford, EY, and Willis Towers Watson. Several others, like Deloitte, IBM, JPMorgan Chase, Dell Technologies, and Caterpillar, have founded startups or are underway. 

So, organizations struggling with skill shortages have to seize the opportunities dyslexic minds present before them before it’s snatched away. People with dyslexia have several of today’s in-demand skills in abundance, but far too often, recruiters and employers are overlooking them. 

How RIFFIT Can Help Lay Foundation For Future’s Workforce 

In the United States, more than 60% of fourth-graders aren’t proficient readers. But just one out of 10 dyslexic children qualify for individual education planning (IEP) and special education, which enables them to get assistance for their reading difficulties. 

The statistics are grim. They’re unfortunate but also entirely preventable. And RIFFIT’s here to do exactly that. 

RIFFIT is the brainchild of a group of out-of-the-box thinkers who are here to help dyslexic minds unleash their potential in ways never possible before. RIFFIT was founded on the principle of a strength-based approach. People who suffer from dyslexia are handcuffed by the lack of language processing pathways in the left hemisphere but are gifted with a superior right hemisphere. We have tirelessly worked for more than 2 years to create the world’s first real time text to song technology that re-routes reading materials through the right hemisphere and thus enable dyslexic students to comprehend the information presented rapidly.

How does RIFFIT work?

You simply have to input text (jpeg, word, pdf) into the RIFFIT app, choose your favorite genre and melody, and listen to the newly created songs in real-time. It works by strengthening the brain’s right hemisphere, which is more developed in dyslexic people. 

RIFFIT’s technology is based on decades of published research and the application of musical therapy, known to activate different parts of the brain whereby learning can be greatly enhanced.

RIFFIT’s here to help dyslexic minds bypass the roadblocks hindering their way in the process of unleashing their full potential.

Our App is completely free to use. Please download the App and try it out: https://www.riffitnow.com/product.