Establishing a neurodiverse workplace can be challenging but, it also comes with significant benefits. To nurture a truly diverse and inclusive work culture, organizations should also partake in addressing neurodiversity.
The recently-held Best Practices of the 100 Best Conference (BOB) hosted Sarada Vempati, Lead, Technology Infrastructure Wells Fargo India & Philippines, to share the organization’s neurodiversity inclusion journey.
“If we look at Indian context, the access to education and appropriate training as well as learning methodologies especially in young age for the neurodiverse spectrum is very scarce,” Sarada stated while discussing the reason behind the gap in the market demand and skill talent available in the space.
Wells Fargo found out that with suitable learning opportunities offered to neurodiverse talent, the organization can leverage skill sets in a tech-friendly environment. The organization also realized that with the appropriate domain and process training, neurodiverse candidates can excel at many tasks in the workplace. With these findings and insights in hand, it made business sense to invest in this untapped talent pool.
“Our first goal was to understand the best practices both internally within Wells Fargo as well as externally. From an internal standpoint, Wells Fargo Enterprise Neurodiversity Team started its journey in 2020 and was also able to absorb the 1st batch of neurodiverse employees. Externally, we did multiple industry connections on best practices. In this journey, it was key for us to collaborate with community partners and industry leaders while we stay engaged,” Sarada explained.
The cohort for intern, train, and hire model was devised thoughtfully along with Wells Fargo’s community partner. It was a 4 step planned process.
-Job Analysis– To identify the best-suited roles for the potential candidates.
-Sourcing & Training– A cohort of 15 candidates was sourced through the community partner with continued engagement by the Wells Fargo core team. A 14-weeks training curriculum was conducted in two parts – employability and life skills, and the second one included technology & back to basics. The modules were delivered by both internal and external facilitators.
-Super Week Internship– A week-long interaction with the managers and a presentation to the senior leadership.
Note: All the 15 candidates from the training batch were absorbed and selected for internships.
-Onboarding & Integration– Manager and peer sensitization sessions are in continuation. Assistive technology and accommodations that are critical for the success of this program are being implemented.
Moving forward, Wells Fargo envisions focusing on the holistic strategy to attract, develop and retain neurodiverse candidates. The goal is to build an external ecosystem of neurodiverse talent while enhancing the organization’s ‘employer of choice’ brand internally.
