Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for HRCornell Certificate Program

It's estimated that approximately one in six people in the United States are now considered to be neurodivergent. Yet nearly 40% of neurodivergent adults are unemployed or underemployed compared to their age peers. Promisingly, in recent years, companies in technology and other industries have come to recognize neurodiverse individuals as a valuable workforce resource, and they have responded by actively recruiting this largely untapped talent pool.

This course provides an overview of emerging Neurodiversity at Work employment programs and outlines the implications for HR policies and practices. Course topics include background information about autism and neurodiversity; models of effective recruitment, screening, and onboarding; supervisor training and support; best practices for career progression, advancement, and retention; and strategies for building a broad array of internal and external support systems.

In recognition of the strong association between employee engagement and performance, many companies have used or considered using engagement surveys. However, many of these efforts are off-the-shelf engagement surveys that are not fully leveraged or tailored to an organization's specific wants and needs or tied into performance management. The purpose of this course is to help managers understand the difference between an average, generic engagement effort and one that has the potential to really drive superior organizational performance. Students will explore the importance of aligning engagement with the organization's strategic goals, review data collection and analysis considerations, and will analyze methods of using engagement data to drive organizational change at the line manager and broader organizational levels.

In this course, you will examine how organizations that are recognized as leaders in this field integrate practices that heighten employee engagement, and find ways to adapt those best practices for your own use. Cornell University Professor Lisa Nishii offers a research-based learning experience that can position leaders to more effectively better navigate the popular (but often misunderstood) area of employee engagement.

Coaching, as both an industry and an employee development tool, is growing in prominence and importance. Responsibility for coaching is increasingly falling to HR professionals, who can be called upon to coach employees directly, train managers to be better coaches, build coaching capability within the organization, and identify external coaching resources.

In this course, you will begin practicing skills and behaviors exhibited by effective coaches. The course situates coaching within the broader context of employee development, enabling you to analyze workplace situations and diagnose when coaching is an appropriate developmental tool. You'll gain insight into how both institutional awareness and self-awareness are needed to foster and support successful coaching efforts.