Neurodiversity case study: Scottish Water and Genius Within

Using a specialist consultant helped Scottish Water progress their neuroinclusion journey faster and has increased programme participants' understanding and confidence. As part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week, we speak with some of those who have experienced and benefitted from the training first-hand.

Awareness of neurodiversity within society is increasing, with stigmas giving way to greater levels of understanding. Many employers are looking at what changes they can make both in and to their workplaces to help staff with neurodivergent conditions thrive at work.

Scottish Water is one organisation that is actively exploring what it can do and has already started the transformation into a more inclusive working environment. In particular, the Scientific Services function has recognised, through the diversity data they already gather, that fostering an inclusive environment is more crucial than ever, so they want to encourage every individual to recognise their role in promoting inclusion.

The water supplier has partnered with Genius Within, a neurodiversity-led business that is using coaching and training to inform and educate people about different neurocognitive experiences and how to accommodate them.

The collaboration was made possible after Scottish Water successfully applied for grant funding from the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Inclusion and Diversity Fund in 2022.

“Neurodiversity was an area that Scottish Water was focusing on but then an opportunity came up to apply for the RSC I&D Fund,” explained Rachael Roberts, Team Manager – Inorganics.

“Elise Cartmell, our Chief Scientist at the time, thought it would be a great way to get a specific project running in the chemistry team, so she applied for the fund and we were successful and it was really to help look at building a workplace environment that supports those with neurodivergent differences at work.

“There was quite a lot going on in Scottish Water before that, but this gave us an opportunity – particularly for the chemistry teams – to get something specific, something geared for us.

“I really got a lot out of them,” said Cameron Jackson, who is an Organics Team Leader that participated in the sessions with Genius Within. “The reason I personally got involved in the project is that I have a six-year-old daughter who's on the neurodivergent pathway – I've learned an awful, awful lot about it in six years and I'm still learning from her.

“I wanted to get involved for two reasons. One is that I genuinely care a lot about inclusion and think it's something that's very important, but I also want to try and be involved in something that makes the world a better place for my daughter.

“What I found really therapeutic about the group and what I've really enjoyed about it is discovering that lots of people are in similar circumstances to myself. It was nice to learn from other people and hear what they think about things.”

The group nature of the sessions brought together individuals that might not typically work alongside each other on a daily basis. It also gave those with neurodivergent conditions a chance to open up about their experiences in a safe space.

“It was really useful to hear about things that challenge our team members and learn about effective ways to communicate with them,” added Cameron. “That's something I've taken away and thought a lot about.

“For example, are emails or face-to-face the best way to communicate with someone?  What type of environment do people need to work at the highest level? Are noise or other senses a factor for them? There isn't just one answer that fits all; it was really eye-opening.

“A bit that really resonates with me from the initial presentation was a little slideshow. In the first slide, there were three people of different heights watching a game of football over a fence. In it, the medium person stood on a medium-sized box and a little person stood on the big box, while the tall person could just see over the fence anyway.

“In the second slide, there was no fence at all so everyone could just see. I had always thought that inclusion was about giving everyone their own box to stand on. However, I learned that this isn't the most productive way to make our working environment inclusive. This approach can also single people out and create challenges for them. Sometimes it's easier to knock down the fence.”

Possible changes highlighted by the workshops come in different sizes, starting with using different lighting or identifying what the best way to communicate with colleagues, while other changes have a more collective benefit.

“Overall, we're still working through the changes and that leads us on to the next part of the project, which is honing in on one of those areas so we're focusing on documentation, which fits with the reading aspect of the spiky profile,” said David Jolley, Laboratories Manager at Scottish Water.

“The documentation within our area is just huge and it's not an easy thing for anyone to be trained on but I think overall there has been a change in terms of how we're approaching it; there's more of a conversation over how we make it a bit more accessible.

“Some of our recent work is looking at different ways of presenting information, for example, through symbols and more visual means, things that we didn't always consider before.”

Alexandra Little, who is an Inorganics Team Leader (Metals), added: “We’re looking at our documentation now because it is very wordy, and also how we approach training and the changes that we can make so that it will be easier – we’re thinking about, does it need to be more visual and take into account different styles to make it as inclusive as possible.”

Another consequence of the project with Genius Within has been that it has changed how leaders communicate with their staff.

Rather than relying on assumptions, the conversations held during the initial sessions and held separately as part of business as usual have helped them identify ways of improving the work methods in the office and the labs.

And those who volunteered believe these benefits could have positive long-term ramifications.

When asked if the project has changed the way they look at work, Cameron said, “I think for me definitely it has – it’s made me think very differently about how I approach any type of interaction, communication or delivery of work with people, and I think that will stick forever. It's a beneficial project that I really got a lot of insight from so I'm looking forward to the next steps and starting the work on some big things.”

“Now, because I've actually asked the question directly in the one-to-one, I'm aware of the situation and what things can be challenging, and we can do things that make things easier. For example, some people have mentioned they struggle with their schedule changing, as a result I now plan a rota two week in advance so that they know what they're coming into and it’s less stressful.

“Scientists are more open and comfortable discussing any obstacles they find in their daily tasks so that support and changes to how we do things can be made. It's going to make a big difference and be beneficial for everybody.”

Scottish Water staff had the desire to make changes that would make their workplace more inclusive, and thanks also to RSC funding, they have already done so.

The team said there is still work to be done, but the input of external experts has given them an invaluable new perspective on how best to reconfigure their systems at work to suit everyone.

David added: “I think we've got an overall ambition at Scottish Water to support our people, and as part of that, we've got wellbeing groups and employee engagement groups in the science areas of the company, so there are things that we’re already focusing in small areas of neurodiversity.

“This partnership just boosted us and meant we were able to do something a bit more tangible because it's such a big area.

“When people try to do it on top of their day jobs with no support, it never really gets to where you want to go so this kind of opportunity to bring in specialist coaching and advice was great because we are able to do it a bit faster and with the right kind of support.”

Rachel added of the funding: “I think it has helped a lot because it meant we could bring in an external company who specialise in neurodivergence. We've obviously got gaps ourselves, which is why we wanted some support. Now we'll get the help and advice we need to move forward.”

Scottish Water has since successfully applied for a second grant from the I&D Fund to continue their neuroinclusive work by collaboratively developing inclusive training techniques for individuals within their analytical chemistry departments. This aims to promote awareness and support for neurodivergent colleagues and support neuroinclusion for all so everyone can learn and work at their best.

• To learn more about neurodiversity and access tools that can help your workplace become more inclusive, visit the RSC’s Neurodiversity in the Chemical Sciences webpage.
• The Inclusion and Diversity Fund will next be open for applications from 24 March to 5 May.