Neuroinclusivity in the Bays

You’ve got a tech who can diagnose a drivability issue faster than anyone on your crew,

But he shuts down the minute a morning huddle drags on. Or the advisor who crushes customer calls - warm, confident, closing sales all day - but can’t seem to keep track of a dozen sticky notes without something slipping through the cracks.

Sound familiar? You’ve seen this before in your bays. Maybe you’ve even written it off as attitude or not paying attention.

Here’s the thing:

Most of us carry something. I do. Stan, one of the best old-school owners I knew, kept his head down because he never felt comfortable speaking up. Zach, one of the most talented painters I worked with, battled fast living that nearly knocked him off track.

Our industry is full of people like that - highly skilled, wildly talented, but not always equipped with the tools to manage their own wiring, stress, or energy.

That’s not laziness, and it’s not lack of care. It’s neurodiversity. Different brains process information, stress, and structure in different ways. And when we don’t understand that, we lose patience. We lose good people. Sometimes we even lose customers.

But when we do understand it - when we make a few small shifts to support those differences - everyone wins. The tech, the advisor, the customer, and the shop.

This isn’t about coddling. It’s about smart leadership. The more inclusive your shop is, the more productive your team becomes, the easier it is to attract top talent, and the longer your best people stick around.

This post is your starter toolkit to make your shop more neuroinclusive - which really means more profitable, more attractive to hires, and a better place to work.

So where do we start?

Neuroinclusivity isn’t about rewriting your whole playbook. It’s about small, practical shifts that make your shop a place where different kinds of brains can thrive. Think of it as tightening a bolt that’s been loose for a while - a little adjustment that keeps the whole engine running smoother.

Let’s start with one of the biggest game-changers: building your shop around strengths instead of forcing everyone to be a generalist.

Strengths-Based Roles

Here’s the truth: not everyone on your team should be a generalist. Some of your best people will always spike in one area and struggle in another. And that’s not a weakness - it’s a strength you can build around.

Think about your diagnostic techs. They might not want to talk to customers, and that’s fine. Their brain is wired to chase down patterns, test variables, and solve puzzles most of us don’t have the patience for. Let them live in that zone of genius.

Now compare that to a service advisor who thrives on people. They can calm down an upset customer, juggle three phone calls, and still make each one feel heard. But hand them a complicated estimate without a checklist, and they’ll drop details. That doesn’t make them a bad advisor - it means they need the right systems to support their style.

The mistake too many shops make is trying to force everyone into the same mold. That creates burnout, frustration, and turnover. Instead, build teams where strengths complement each other. Pair your detail-driven techs with your big-picture thinkers. Put your people-persons where they shine.

When you stop trying to sand off those edges and instead lean into what each person does best, the whole shop performs better. Jobs flow smoother. Customers feel taken care of. And your employees stick around longer because they’re not being asked to constantly fight against their own wiring.

Clear Communication Standards

If there’s one place shops lose time, money, and patience, it’s in miscommunication. A tech thinks you said one thing, you thought you were crystal clear, and suddenly a simple brake job comes back as a redo. That’s hours you’ll never get back.

Here’s the fix: 

Stop saying ASAP. Stop with the vague timelines. Say exactly what you mean.  Please have this wrapped by 3 PM today is clear. Get to it when you can is not.

And don’t rely only on verbal.

Back up every conversation with something written;

job tickets, whiteboards, texts, whatever works in your shop. Some brains don’t process spoken instructions well the first time. Writing it down takes five seconds and saves five hours later.

When you build a culture where expectations are specific and written, you cut down on mistakes, comebacks, and stress. Everyone knows what’s expected and when.

And here’s the kicker - this isn’t just for neurodiverse employees. Clarity helps everybody. When your whole crew is aligned, the shop runs smoother, customers get their cars back faster, and your profits don’t leak out the bottom.

Boundaries and Structure

Chaos is part of shop life, but too much of it burns people out fast. For neurodivergent employees, constant interruptions and noise can feel like trying to fix a car while someone keeps swapping your tools mid-job. It’s frustrating, exhausting, and unnecessary.

That is where boundaries and structure come in. Set aside blocks of time for deep work - those hours when techs can focus without being pulled into three other things. Protect those blocks. If someone absolutely has to interrupt, make it clear it better be urgent.

Give your team a simple way to signal when they are in heads-down mode. A magnet on the toolbox, headphones, even a ballcap turned backward - something that says I am locked in, please hold your questions.

Structure is not about being rigid. It is about giving people the space to do their best work. When you put boundaries in place, productivity goes up, mistakes go down, and your crew feels respected instead of scattered. And when employees feel respected, they stick around.

Rupture and Repair in Shop Conflicts

Shops run on people, and people are going to clash. Misunderstandings happen. Words get taken the wrong way. Stress makes tempers short. The mistake is treating every blow-up like a personal failure instead of a normal part of working with humans.

The fix is learning to repair quickly. Instead of blame, use check-ins. A simple "What did you hear me say?" is a lot more effective than "Why didn’t you do it?". It clears up miscommunication without putting someone on the defensive.

And here is another truth:  blunt communication is not the same as rude communication. Some of your best techs are direct. They are not trying to be abrasive - they are trying to be clear. Reframe bluntness as efficiency, and coach the team to hear it that way.

Conflict is not the enemy. Unrepaired conflict is. When you normalize quick check-ins and fast repairs, trust builds instead of breaking. That means fewer grudges, smoother teamwork, and a stronger shop culture.

Accommodations That Help Everyone

Some adjustments are so simple they make life easier for everyone, not just neurodivergent employees. These are not HR gimmicks - they are common-sense practices that boost performance across the board.

Flexible start times:  Not every tech runs on the same clock. Some are sharper later in the morning. Staggering start times can smooth out workflow and keep energy steady in the bays.

Written job tickets and checklists: Verbal instructions get lost. Back them up in writing. It helps the tech who processes better visually and protects the advisor from forgetting key details.

Break options that work in a shop:

Not every business has a fancy quiet room. But giving your people a chance to step outside, sit in their car, or throw on headphones for a few minutes can reset the brain and reduce overload.

These are not special favors. They are smart adjustments that cut mistakes, reduce stress, and show your crew you are paying attention to how they actually work best. When employees feel supported, the shop gets more loyalty and fewer walkouts.

Building Psychological Safety in the Bays

If your people are afraid to speak up, you are already losing. Shops thrive when the crew feels safe to share ideas, admit mistakes, and ask for help. Without that, you get silence - and silence in a shop costs money.

The first step is you, the owner, going first. Share your own learning curves. Tell the story of the time you botched a repair or made a call that backfired. When leaders admit mistakes, employees realize it is safe to do the same.

The second step is normalizing different styles. Use your morning huddles to remind the team that there are many ways to get to the same result. One tech may talk through every step, another may keep his head down and just get it done. Different styles - same goal.

Psychological safety is not about being soft. It is about building a crew that trusts each other enough to work through problems instead of hiding them. That trust is what keeps good employees from walking out the door.

Inclusive Meetings

Most shop meetings drag on too long and only serve the loudest voices in the room. If you want everyone engaged - especially employees who process differently - you need structure and options.

Keep meetings short and focused. Ten minutes in the morning is better than an hour once a week. Stick to the agenda and respect everyone’s time.

Make space for every voice.

Go round-robin for updates so the quiet ones do not get drowned out. Or allow anonymous input on paper or text for those who communicate better in writing.

If your shop does virtual check-ins, drop the camera rule. For some, being on camera adds unnecessary stress and distraction. Let them show up in the way they focus best.

Meetings should move the work forward, not waste energy. When you make them structured and inclusive, you get more buy-in, better ideas, and fewer glazed-over stares at the floor.

Measure Results, Not Time

Too many shops still reward face time instead of outcomes. A tech can hang around all day without moving the needle - while another finishes jobs faster and with fewer comebacks. Which one actually brings value to the shop?

Start tracking what matters. 

Job completion quality. Comeback rates. Customer satisfaction. These are the real markers of performance. Presenteeism - being there just to be there - does not pay the bills.

This shift also matters for neurodivergent employees. Some may work in bursts of high focus followed by breaks to reset. If the work is done right and on time, the rhythm should not matter.

When you measure results, you build a culture where productivity and quality get recognized - not just who clocks the most hours. That creates fairness, boosts morale, and keeps your best people engaged.

Support Pre- and Post-Diagnosis

Not everyone on your team knows they are neurodivergent. Some may just think they are scatterbrained, hard to focus, or wired differently than the rest of the crew. Others might be fresh from a diagnosis and still figuring out what that means for them.

As an owner, you do not need to play doctor.

What you can do is create a culture where support is available no matter where someone is on that journey.

Offer mentorship or peer support inside the shop. Pair a new hire with a seasoned tech who can walk them through not just the work, but the unspoken rhythms of your business. Share resources when you find good ones. Sometimes even knowing there are tools out there makes all the difference.

The key is this: employees do not need a label to deserve support. If they are skilled and willing to learn, your job is to give them the environment to succeed. When you do that, they stay longer, work stronger, and bring more to your shop than you may have thought possible.

Shop Talk

Running a shop today is harder than it has ever been. The work is complex. The hiring pool is thin. And the truth is - the people you want to keep are not always the easiest to manage. But they are worth it.

Neuroinclusivity is not about labels. It is about leadership. It is about making smart, simple adjustments so your people can give you their best without burning out. And when they do - your shop wins. Fewer mistakes. More loyalty. A crew that actually wants to stick around.

This blog is just the starting line. 

If you are curious how these ideas could play out in your shop, I would love to talk it through with you. Head to our website and schedule a 20-minute Shop Talk call with me. No fluff, no pressure - just real conversation about what is working in your bays and where you want to go next.

Because at the end of the day, this is not only about retention or profit - it is about building shops people are proud to work in and owners are proud to lead.