Project Summary

Design a Neuro-inclusivity in the Workplace learning program for managers at Wilfrid Laurier University.  

About the Organization

Wilfrid Laurier University is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton and locations in Kitchener and the Northwest Territories.  Laurier excels at creating a thriving community where all members of our comprehensive university can reach their potential.  Across our campuses and locations, we foster a highly personalized, equitable, accessible, diverse and inclusive community so that all members can experience a powerful sense of belonging.  From this foundation, Laurier develops future-ready citizens who will transform where they live, work and continue to learn.  As an educational institution, we inspire lives of leadership and purpose in our student community.  As an employer, we seek, foster and value the same qualities of leadership and purpose among our employees. Our students and employees are at the heart of all we do; when they thrive, Laurier thrives.  We are proud of our employees, who lead by contributing to a thriving community and anticipate the needs of the future. Laurier employees are collaborative, inclusive, innovative and accountable.  We have a student population of approximately 20,000 and an employee base of 1220.

Details

Feedback from a recent employee engagement survey has uncovered a need for supporting Laurier’s people managers in leading neuro-divergent team members.  The Program Lead has done some early thinking and drafted an initial framework of how Laurier can best support managers in this area.  The challenge for the project team is to conduct a needs analysis and design the framework and supports for a program that focuses on embracing differences and unlocking the potential of neuro-diverse team members.

Early brainstorming on potential content areas for the program include:

• The meaning of Neurodiversity and the general landscape of neurodiverse persons in Canada
• Neurodiversity in the workplace – strengths of neurodiverse employees and discourse / challenges neurodiverse employees face, any specific to post-secondary / education 
• How neurodiversity applies to your role as a leader
• How current “best” practices can benefit neurotypical employees and/or disadvantage neurodivergent employees 
• Reflection / activity - how your own heuristics and/or biases contribute to non-inclusive leadership practices
• Modeling – Ways leaders (and teams) can model inclusive leadership to neurodiverse staff

As the Leadership Training Consultancy group selected by Wilfrid Laurier University, you are asked to submit the following recommendations as your deliverables:

• Training Needs Analysis (TNA) 
• Training Description and Training Objectives
• Training Lesson/Session Plan
• Implementation Plan
• Evaluation Approach