Bringing your whole self to work at Skanska

Created by VERCIDA for Skanska

 

Peter Payne had kept quiet about his neurodiversity in the workplace, but sending an email changed his life and put him on a positive path with Skanska’s Ability Network.

 

 

I am a long-term employee at Skanska – I joined in 1988 as a pile test engineer and since then, I have progressed to become an operational data specialist, while gaining a range of academic qualifications along the way. Now, I have a Masters Degree in Technology Management and I am a Chartered Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology. My daughter says there are more letters after my name than are in my name! 

For most of my career, I hid my neurodiversity. I am dyslexic. When I was 11, I had some testing, but I was not properly diagnosed at the time. School was tough, but I was very lucky to have an excellent English teacher who insisted that I was always to be in his class, as he recognised that I needed extra attention. 

 

Dyslexia can be very misunderstood and it manifests itself differently in different people. For me, I absorb books – I’ll easily read a couple of textbooks and a novel most weeks – but I use accessibility tools when I am working on documents, especially for making sure my spelling and grammar are correct. I tend to learn to spell words by memory, so I have a very good memory as a result. And I often talk too much in meetings, which can come across as me trying to dominate the meeting, but it is about just wanting to be heard and overcoming the anxiety that comes with that situation.

It was a change of computer screen wallpaper that led me to be more open at work about my neurodiversity. We got into work and everyone’s screens had a new wallpaper with colours that meant I just couldn’t see what I was doing, I couldn’t see the icons and everything just seemed to disappear. My face was in my hands in despair – it really triggered me, so I sent a long email about the major reaction I had to this change. I sent it to some very senior people.

But because of that email, positive changes started to happen, not just for me but for the whole workplace. People who were struggling with the new wallpaper were consulted and a new background was developed that was suitable for all.

Then I was asked to be the Chair of the Ability Network by two very senior people in the business. The first meeting was lovely. There was no formal structure, we just bounced ideas off each other, going backwards and forwards. By the end, we had a list of things we wanted to achieve, and it was my job to give this some focus, to work out what we needed to do to, and how we were going to do it. 

We’ve spent a big chunk of time reviewing company policies and procedures, making sure we’re inclusive. One of the most powerful things that made me confident to be open about my own neurodiversity was to hear someone say that when we hide part of ourselves in the workplace, you are not really 100% at work and you cannot be your true self. 

One of the big changes has been to change the name of the network. It was the Disability and Carers Network, but we wanted to move away from some of the negative connotations that come with the word “disability” and focus on what we can do and how having a diverse workforce is a great thing for any company. So, that’s why our network is now called Ability. 

People with dyslexia frequently think in 3D and think very visually, so we are great at finding solutions when a building is being planned, for example. And in a crisis, a person with ADHD can be just the person you need when they are in hyper-focus mode and will find the best way towards a solution.

One of the things I want to focus on with the network is the issue of micro discrimination, of those incidents that might seem insignificant, but can be very harmful to the people on the receiving end. We have a contract with the charity Scope and I’m very excited about working more closely with them going forward.

 

Skanska has been such a supportive employer to me over the past 35 years, and even more so when I felt able to be my true self at work. Last year, one of our daughters passed away at the age of 39 – it was quite unexpected, she died of an undiagnosed skin cancer just 10 days after her wedding – and Skanska was excellent. There was no obligation to return to work in a set timeframe, I was able to take all the time I needed. This demonstrates what a great company Skanska is to work for – it is so inclusive and the networks help everyone to be the best versions of themselves.

 

Find out more about working at Skanska

Explore current vacancies at Skanska