Rimjhim Srivastava’s Post

💡 Did you know that an estimated 1 in 7 people is neurodivergent? Chances are, today you work alongside someone who is neurodivergent. The brains of neurodivergent people work differently than others. But ‘different’ does not mean ‘less.’ Different ways of thinking, working, learning, and communicating lead to different perspectives, ideas, opinions, and experiences. It enriches us all. ⚠ And yet, there are lots of stereotypes and misconceptions about the neurodivergent people at work. And shockingly 85% of those people are unemployed, despite having the skillset and desire to work. As we celebrate the Neurodiversity Week at Zoetis, our Differently-abled / Neurodiversity Alliance (DNA) colleague group hosted a listening session yesterday. We have all been moved by the vulnerable stories of our neurodivergent colleagues. While I left the meeting with a huge inspiration from their stories and the progress, we have been able to make together, there is so much more that we can all do. Starting from the way we do the interviews (avoid open questions), onboard (clear expectations and instructions) and work together (each specific goal defined step by step; ask and do not judge). “Take a moment to reflect, and to commit to one small thing you can do for someone else.” was the simple but powerful ask from one of our neurodivergent colleagues to all of us. I am personally committed to championing neurodiversity, and I am proud to be part of the efforts at my workplace to promote awareness and acceptance. This is one the most rewarding experiences in my career. Let us embrace our differences. Including those we cannot see on the outside. How does your organization support and empower neurodivergence in the workplace? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. #zoetisproud #autismawareness #autismacceptance #diversityequityinclusion

DEI or MEI? There’s an ongoing discussion about which is better: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) or Merit, Excellence, and Intelligence (MEI). The argument is that MEI hires based on a person’s past proven skills, while DEI favors someone because of their background. Here’s where I stand: DEI is about access and making sure the playing field is level. MEI is about great work. They’re not mutually exclusive — they complement each other and conflating them is a disservice to equity and excellence. If you only let a certain kind of person through the door, then it’s not a fair assessment of talent. You won’t be able to see everyone’s great work. The best talent doesn’t always come from an Ivy League or Silicon Valley. At the end of the day, we should practice MEI and DEI together so the best talent from anywhere can walk through our doors. I talked to Digiday’s WorkLife about my stance: https://lnkd.in/eY37-gDV #equity #culture #dei

IT HAS BEEN ONE OF THE HARDEST WEEKS! The type of week that they assign you to execute a protocol that is not yours and you're having a hard time understanding what you are supposed to do. The type of week that once you complete said protocol, they assign you 3 documents to create involving equipment design but their due date is... well... yesterday. All in all, I could not have survived the week without: • My mentor's sarcastic comments • My colleague's "NO! FO! KK!!!" written in work chat a few times (I'm Puerto Rican after all 🤭) • A colleague's birthday celebration • My colleague always laughing and saying "How are you? everything is how it should be: difficult and great!" 😆 • Upper management's open-door policy • And one of my work friends having the guts to apply to her dream Master's program so that she can get the dream job she always aspired for. After a very intense discussion over what process step has a Quality Assurance lock and what doesn't, I packed my things to leave the site. As I looked at what was an exhausting day, I placed my earphones on, put "Bitter Sweet Symphony" on, and said: "Let's Make This an Experience!" And I walked as if I was in a movie... in slow motion... ...to my car. 🤣 ...which was only 0.3 miles away. Life will always throw challenges at you, and sometimes it might feel like you are drowning in a sea of paperwork, but it is up to you to change your perspective on what's going on and thrive in challenging times. And... if by any chance you get pulled into the madness, which happens... You can always "Make it an Experience" and enjoy the 5-minute walk to your car.🤪 #growthmindset #STEMwomen #motivation #feelgoodfriday —----- ♻️Repost this so more people can see it! 💡Helping STEM women with work-conflict resolution. 🤙DM “HELP” To Hop On The Work-Conflict Resolution Hotline™

Fireside Chat – Beyond the Spectrum: Addressing the How to…S of Neurodiversity in Action As we wrap up Neurodiversity Month, we came together to foster a deeper understanding into neurodiversity in the workplace. We explored tangible strategies and heard expert opinions on creating inclusive spaces that respect and enhance the contributions of neurodiverse employees. We had two wonderful quest speakers, Natalia Lyckowski and Melanie Green, along with our moderator Michelle Watson that lead us through this engaging conversation. A few callouts from this discussion: • Melanie – How can leaders lead: focus on understanding each person's unique needs. For example: What is their communication styles (face to face, email, etc.).  • Natalia – For diversity, you have to work on the environment. It must be a healthy environment that promotes equality, safety, psychological safety, etc. An analogy would be, “If you wanted to plant and grow tomatoes, you wouldn’t just put the seeds in any location. You would need the right environment for those tomatoes to flourish”. • Michelle - Fear and misunderstanding can create barriers to understanding neurodiversity. #concentrix #diversityequityinclusionandbelonging #webhelp #neurodiveristymonth Hanae Chino Kunal S. Charu Ahluwalia Michelle Watson Natalia Lyckowski Melanie Green Jo McCormick Jason Korthuis Donna Trumble Paula Fonseca Shweta Uppal Jennifer Hager Nancy Peterson Angie Brummer Kerry-Anne Fermin-Minnie Angeliki Dionysopoulou Jose Zacheriahs Lychee Vistro Sonica Aron (She/Her/Hers) Diane Hanson Francesca Cioccari Catherine Clayton Bruce Thompson Michelle Lynch Tony Van Sant Carolyn Murray Tammy White Daniel Hortelius Chandan Bhatia Jowee Ann Victoria Concentrix Webhelp MarchingSheep

The first time I was interrupted in a workplace meeting, I immediately thought I should just shut up. I doubted anything I was going to say would be useful. So, I held back my thoughts and ideas. I felt frustrated and devalued as if my voice and contributions were not respected or considered important. I did not have the confidence I do now to interrupt the interrupter and say, "I'd love to finish my thought" and continue with "As I was saying,.....". I didn't understand the dynamics of unconscious bias then. And that women were interrupted 33% more often than men during meetings. Or that women experienced more intrusive interruptions, which are often intended to change the subject or dominate the conversation. Men, on the other hand, experienced more supportive interruptions meant to agree with or add to their points. When women are interrupted, they are perceived as less competent and less authoritative. Jingjin Liu and I want to change this. We are crafting masterclasses to help women learn, apply, and practice how to have their ideas heard and taken seriously. We aim to send the elevator down so others can rise. Join the waitlist here and share the link with your network so they can ELEVATE too - https://lnkd.in/gA-Bxerr

Neuroinclusion doesn't need to be complex. But people often don't know where to start. Or what to say. We promise, it's so much easier to start on your neuroinclusion journey than you think! Join Jess Meredith as she speaks to Céline Crawford about how to create a supportive environment for neurodiverse employees. Lots of awesome tips; think quick wins and long term strategies. And a chance to get your questions answered. Head here to get secure your spot 👇 https://lnkd.in/ed_g7tDn Image description: Invite to the webinar. Title - how to create a supportive environment for neurodiverse employees. 25th June 1pm UK time. The invite has pictures of the speakers - Jess and Celine. #Neurodiversity #InclusiveHR #InclusionAndDiversity

Me and my 200+ female founder friends...no biggie! I'm so excited to be joining 200+ inspiring female founders for the 4th Female Founders Rise Personal Branding Challenge on LinkedIn which starts tomorrow and was created by the amazing Emmie Faust. 🌟 I've heard great things about the challenge and have already experienced just how inspiring and supportive the FFR community is. 💖 This personal branding challenge is about attracting the right clients, identifying their pain points, sharing how I can help, and ultimately gaining their respect and trust so they want to work with me. After quitting my job (best thing I ever did!) I struggled to find another full time marketing job due to my age (shouldn't be a thing but clearly is), so I stuck two fingers up to recruiters and set up Klarity Marketing (2.0) to help mission driven product based businesses build their brands. In the year since I set it up, I've been part of some fantastic networks, have found some amazing better-for-you products and have worked with some truly inspiring founders. Really looking forward to supporting more founders. And thank you all for your support. 🙏 #FFR #personalbranding #femalefounders #community #support #growthmarketing (...very pleased my teeth look as white as my mug! 🤣)

As we celebrate Neurodiversity Awareness Month, we raise awareness of how important it is to share information and resources about neurodiversity. In this interview (https://lnkd.in/gkrevrry) with Christie Lindor, founder of Tessi Consulting and a lecturer at Bentley University, and Hailey Mensik from WorkLife, they point out the importance of meeting the staff’s neurodiverse needs for productivity in the organization.  There are companies like Remote and SlooMoo that accommodate their neurodiverse staff by providing visual instructions and guidebooks, meeting agendas to attendees 24 hours in advance, and a lot more. Organizations with more inclusive cultures are twice as likely to meet or exceed financial targets, three times as likely to be high performers, six times more likely to be innovative and agile, and eight times more likely to achieve better business outcomes, according to a report from Deloitte.  Christie also shared that more students of hers are getting comfortable sharing their conditions and asking for arrangements to accommodate them (like private exam spaces or lecture videos, etc.), and these accommodations enable the students to be at their best.  Christie believes that more work is needed in the business world to improve inclusivity for neurodiverse professionals. Being able to create and foster that sense of inclusion creates a habit. We all must work together to create a more inclusive environment. #NeurodiversityAwarenessMonth #ShareNeurodiversity #TessiConsulting #WorkLife #NeurodiverseNeeds #InclusiveCulture #HighPerformers #InclusivityInBusiness #CreateInclusiveHabits 

🌟 Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time with leaders and organizations discussing the concept of Psychological Safety. At its core, it's about feeling that we can be our authentic selves at work. Imagine how insanely productive, engaged, inspired, innovative, and GREAT we’d all be if we truly could be ourselves. 🌈✨ Given that it’s Pride Month 🏳️🌈, there's no one better to talk about this topic than the incredible Jackiee W., a Board Member of OUTbio San Diego. Jackiee works tirelessly to empower LGBTQIA+ professionals in the life sciences through networking, education, and advocacy. 💪🔬📚 The statistics she shares are startling (trust me, you have to listen) and she offers valuable tips on how companies, leaders, and individuals can create workplaces where everyone can thrive. 🏢🌟 And I’ll be transparent. This is not a 5-minute chat. We completely got carried away—it's 12 minutes! But please, watch, listen, learn, and grow. 🌱👂 Happy Pride Month! 🎉🏳️🌈 #psychologicalsafety #authentic #pridemonth

🚀 Tip of the day: Amplify diverse voices! 🔊 Share posts, articles, and stories from underrepresented communities to broaden perspectives. Check out the latest from Uplifting Impact's LinkedIn newsletter, Uplifting Conversations, https://bit.ly/3SwyFFP #AmplifyDiversity #DEITipWednesday