Stress Management: Rethinking Employee Wellbeing Through a Neuroinclusive Lens

Stress Awareness Week is an annual reminder of the importance of stress management and wellbeing at work, yet the conversation often stays surface level. Organisations introduce wellbeing days, resilience workshops, gym discounts, or mindfulness sessions, all with the right intent. But many of these strategies only help employees cope with stress once it has already taken hold.

If we want to make meaningful progress, we need to look at stress differently. We need to recognise that much of the stress experienced at work is not the result of individual weakness, but of workplace design, culture, and expectations. For neurodivergent employees, stress is often intensified by systems that were never built with them in mind.

This year’s theme, Optimising employee wellbeing through strategic stress management, presents an opportunity for HR leaders to rethink the foundation of wellbeing at work. It invites organisations to move from reactive wellbeing solutions to proactive, inclusive, and preventative approaches that reduce stress at its root.

A wellbeing strategy that is not neuroinclusive will always fall short, because it fails to support at least 20% of the workforce. This week is the ideal moment to reflect on what truly works, who is being left behind, and how a neuroinclusive approach to wellbeing benefits everyone.

Why Traditional Stress Management Approaches Are No Longer Enough

Much of workplace stress is addressed at the individual level. Employees are encouraged to build resilience, practise mindfulness, rest more, or seek support. These can all be helpful tools, but they overlook a bigger truth:

You cannot yoga or meditate your way out of a structurally stressful workplace.

If the environment remains unchanged, the pressure continues. A few common examples include:

• Workloads that are consistently unsustainable
• Lack of clarity or frequently changing expectations
• Poor communication or leadership styles that create uncertainty
• Limited psychological safety
• Inaccessible tools, systems, or processes
• A culture of urgency, presenteeism, or constant availability
• Lack of control over how, when, or where work is done
• Repeated or sudden changes with little notice

For neurodivergent employees, these stressors are often experienced more acutely, because the workplace has not been designed with their needs in mind.

There is also a financial case for early stress prevention. Global research shows that for every 1 dollar invested in mental health and stress prevention, there is a 4 dollar return in improved health and productivity. A proactive approach is not only the ethical choice, but also the strategic and cost saving one.

To truly optimise employee wellbeing, HR must look beyond wellbeing perks and consider how the environment either protects wellbeing or erodes it.

Signs of Workplace Stress HR and Managers Should Look Out For

Early identification prevents crisis. Some of the most common signs include:

• Reduced concentration or drop in quality of work
• Increased working hours with lower productivity
• Withdrawal, irritability, or noticeable mood changes
• Rising sickness absence or lateness
• Visible overwhelm, anxiety, or emotional fatigue
• Avoidance of meetings, calls, or collaboration

For neurodivergent employees, signs may present differently. This might include increased masking, shutting down, heightened sensory distress, or difficulty with tasks that are usually manageable.

Stress Impacts Neurodivergent Employees Differently

Workplace stress is not experienced equally. Many neurodivergent adults describe work as mentally exhausting, not because of the job, but because of the continuous effort needed to cope in environments that do not meet their needs.

Common sources of stress for neurodivergent employees include:

• Sensory overload in busy or noisy workspaces
• Unclear communication or last minute changes without preparation
• Social expectations, unspoken rules, or office politics that are hard to interpret. 64% of neurodivergent employees said they struggled with handling office politics.
• Unstructured or ambiguous tasks
• Masking autistic or ADHD traits to fit in. 63% of employees mask at work, resulting in anxiety, stress, and fatigue.
• Lack of flexibility or autonomy
• Managers who want to help, but do not know how

When stress levels remain high for long periods, the risk of burnout increases significantly. By the time HR becomes aware, the individual often reaches a breaking point or resigns.

47% of autistic people fall into the severe anxiety category based on GAD diagnostic criteria.

A wellbeing strategy that does not consider these differences is incomplete. Neuroinclusion is not a separate initiative. It is a core part of strategic stress management.

What Neurodivergent Employees Are Telling Us

Recent findings from the City and Guilds Neurodiversity Index 2025 highlight the scale and seriousness of workplace stress for neurodivergent talent. Forty one percent of neurodivergent employees said workplace challenges affected them on most days, and over half reported needing to take time off work because of this.

The top challenges included:

• Emotional wellbeing
• Balancing work and life
• Time management
• Not feeling valued for the skills they bring

Employees also shared lived experiences that show how preventable much of this stress is. Examples included:

“Increased workloads with no warning.”
“I felt pushed out. My mental health has suffered. I dread the same treatment.”
“They refused me the opportunity to speak with HR before my first meltdown.”

The three most common themes behind these responses were:

• Burnout from excessive stress and fatigue
• Workplace conflict, often linked to managers not knowing how to support or communicate effectively
• Unmet mental health needs, with formal support only accessed once crisis point had been reached

This evidence reinforces a crucial point. Stress is not an individual issue. It is often a direct consequence of how workplaces are structured, how managers are equipped, and whether neuroinclusion is embedded into daily practice.

The Stress of Waiting for Diagnosis

Another overlooked contributor to workplace stress is the growing wait for assessment. Many adults are seeking diagnosis for autism, ADHD, dyslexia, or dyspraxia to better understand themselves and their needs. In the UK, waiting lists can stretch from two to seven years.

During this time, employees often:

• Feel unable to ask for adjustments without a formal diagnosis
• Mask their challenges to avoid judgement
• Worry about being perceived as difficult or underperforming
• Experience shame or self doubt due to lack of validation
• Face repeated burnout cycles while trying to cope alone

This creates prolonged and avoidable stress, made worse when organisations adopt the mindset of needing a formal diagnosis before offering support.

A neuroinclusive culture does not rely on labels. If an employee is struggling, support should be provided regardless of medical paperwork. Early adjustments protect wellbeing, performance, and retention.

The Missing Piece. Supporting Managers to Reduce Stress at Source

Stress Awareness Week often focuses purely on employees, but there is a crucial group often overlooked:

Managers.

Managers are expected to support wellbeing, manage performance, lead inclusively, and adapt to the needs of diverse teams. Yet most managers have never received training on neurodiversity or stress prevention. This leaves many feeling uncertain, anxious, and under pressure.

When a manager lacks the confidence or knowledge to support neurodivergent colleagues, the result is stress for both sides.

Managers may worry about:

• Saying the wrong thing
• Being unfair to others when providing adjustments
• Managing performance without causing harm
• Misinterpreting behaviour or communication
• Balancing individual needs with team expectations

Toxic behaviours such as blame culture or micro management intensify stress, particularly for neurodivergent employees who may already feel unsafe to speak up.

Empowering managers with the tools, awareness, and confidence to lead inclusively is one of the most effective ways to reduce stress at its core. When managers feel supported, they are better able to support their teams.

What Strategic, Neuroinclusive Stress Management Looks Like

To build a workplace that protects wellbeing, HR must prioritise preventative, structural, and inclusive solutions. This includes:

1. Clear and Consistent Communication

Provide clarity on priorities, deadlines, expectations, and upcoming changes. Predictable work reduces anxiety.

2. Workload Design that is Human, Not Exhausting

Question whether workloads and timelines are realistic. Prevention is a leadership responsibility.

3. Normalising Adjustments for Everyone

Adjustments are not special treatment. Flexible communication, sensory considerations, written follow ups, and quiet hours benefit all.

4. Building Connection and Peer Support

Peer networks, support circles, and internal communities reduce isolation, share coping strategies, and create belonging.

5. Daily Wellbeing Practices as an Added Support Layer

While structural changes are essential, encouraging breaks, movement, and time to reset during the working day helps employees regulate stress in the moment.

6. Training Managers in Neuroinclusive Leadership

Managers are the front line of wellbeing. Equip them to recognise stress early, offer support, and lead inclusively.

7. Psychological Safety as a Core Wellbeing Outcome

People should feel safe to be honest when struggling. Culture determines whether stress is addressed early or reaches crisis point.

A Neuroinclusive Approach Benefits Everyone

Neuroinclusion is often seen as a niche initiative, aimed at supporting autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, or otherwise neurodivergent employees. In reality, the benefits reach far beyond.

When we design workplaces with neurodivergent people in mind, we make them better for all.

Clearer communication.
More predictability.
Healthier workloads.
Greater flexibility.
Stronger human leadership.

This is the foundation of meaningful stress prevention.

Ask yourself: Are we helping employees cope with stress, or are we preventing it from happening in the first place?

If the goal is true wellbeing and sustainable stress management for all employees, resilience cannot be the only answer. The workplace itself must support the human beings within it.

A neuroinclusive approach to stress management is fair, responsible, and aligned with what employees expect from modern employers. It starts with building a culture that enables employees to be able to ask for the support they need, feel like they can talk about their struggles or challenges without being stereotyped and having the infrastructure in place to allow teams and departments to effectively manage and prevent that stress from happening. It is also a strategic business decision that protects retention, performance, and culture.

This week, the most valuable action you can take is to start the conversation with managers and leadership about redesigning work to prevent stress, rather than helping people recover from it.