Insights in brief

• Explore the challenges and benefits of being a highly sensitive person at work
• Discover how Vera learned coping strategies and turned it into one of her greatest strengths as a consultant
• Learn how we encourage neurodivergent employees to thrive at Zühlke, and what more can be done

Everyone has a sensitive side. In Jenn Granneman’s book 'Sensitive: The Hidden Power of the Highly Sensitive Person in a Loud, Fast, Too-Much World', she writes about the power of heightened physical and emotional sensitivity that nearly 1 in 3 people are genetically predisposed to possess. 

'They tune in to subtle details and make connections that others miss. They tend to be bighearted, creative, and wired to go deep, yet society tells them to hide the very sensitivity that makes them this way. These are the world’s highly sensitive people,' she writes.

Vera Herzmann, Organisational Transformation Consultant at Zühlke, is among that group.

While there are challenges with being highly sensitive in the workplace, Vera believes it’s also her greatest strength. Here, she talks about how Zühlke has helped create an environment where she can be herself, and what more could be done to embrace diversity in our working lives.

Neurosensitivity, high sensitivity or, to use the scientific term, sensory-processing sensitivity, is attributable to around 15-30% of the population. People who are highly sensitive register more data points in their environment than neurotypical people, thanks to higher activity of the mirror neurons in their brain.

This means they tend to have enhanced empathy skills, because their brains are processing more data on average. 

For Vera, this shows up by being finely attuned to subtle shifts or changes in people and their behaviour. 'I hear it immediately,' she says. 'If someone isn’t feeling good, just by the audio. For some people it can mean being highly sensitive to certain textures, but for me, it means I can read the social fabric.' 

Vera says she is much more likely to notice subtle signs someone has had a bad day, for example, or changes in the world around them. While this might seem like Spiderman-levels of intuition, it also has its drawbacks.

There’s still some stigma around being seen as highly sensitive. It’s often associated with weakness or associated with being too emotional, or simply a feminine trait (despite the fact that equal numbers of men and women are highly sensitive).

Despite its challenges, Vera points out that overall, it’s a strength.

Leaders who can work with different people, viewpoints and personalities, and motivate people are hot commodities. But what can workplaces do to foster the right environment for these people to thrive?

Around five years ago Vera realised that what was normal for her was maybe not normal for other people. It’s an easy mistake to make that highly sensitive people are also introverts. But 30% are extroverts – and Vera is one of them.

Despite this, she noticed that she often needed more downtime or breaks after socially intense periods. She was still processing long after meetings and found herself consciously managing her own energy.

'It’s important for everyone,' she says. 'But especially for people with a different neurological setting.'

She often felt misunderstood in her consultant role when she was quick to point out the elephant in the room, or read between the lines where others would gloss over them.

She’s since learned coping strategies for how best to use and harness her sensitivity at work, and it’s also helped her to work in an environment like Zühlke where autonomy and flexibility are encouraged.

Whether it’s breathing exercises or putting in place boundaries for certain social contexts, Vera has found ways to work around it and use it to her strengths. 

Vera is very passionate and positive about being a highly sensitive person (she even has a podcast about it!). Part of that openness comes from the fact that she can bring her authentic self to work.

So how has Zühlke embraced what makes Vera different? 

She explains that even opening up a safe space for people to have these conversations is a really important step. Creating an Employee Resource Group and holding events focused around neurodiversity is a part of this. Zühlke also encourages its people to work on their own projects in their spare time, such as Vera’s podcast.

'People are super interested,' she says. 'It makes me proud because it feels that Zühlke is also at the forefront with these topics. We're a global transformation partner, with engineering and innovation in our DNA, and we’re having these conversations.'

It’s also been extremely important to have flexibility baked into the workplace, whether people identify as neurodivergent or not. 'It’s already our company culture,' Vera explains. 'So it’s set up to be inclusive. You don’t have to announce that you need different accommodations.'

Along with private office spaces to get deep thinking done, flexible working hours are also hugely helpful so people can manage their own time.

While opening up about what makes us different is really important, there’s still a way to go for everyone to feel empowered and encouraged, no matter how their brain works.

'I think it would be a superpower if we could talk openly about the neurological setting of the workforce,' Vera says. 

She recognises that people with unique skills offer a different perspective and problem-solving ability for client projects. It’s a major strength that is potentially under-exploited.

'I’d love to pitch neurodiverse teams for highly complex projects. It’s a competitive advantage.
There’s still a way to get there, though, and encouraging people to share is just the beginning. 

'It’s not just about people opening up,' Vera underlines, 'but it’s also about how others receive them. Awareness is not a one-way street.'

Although facilitating this isn’t easy, conversations like these make a great starting point.