Why businesses need to make disability inclusion a higher priority

“The Paralympic Games have a proven track record for changing society’s perception of people with an impairment..." 

— Sir Philip Craven (London 2012 Paralympics)

One way would be for senior decision makers to seek expert guidance on how to create a culture at work where disabled workers feel accepted, engaged, valued and can thrive in their careers. Creating a safe environment both physically and psychologically, coaching non-disabled employees on being inclusive, and ensuring that disabled employees contribute their ideas, are some of the ways towards achieving this goal. Furthermore, conscious inclusion workshops may push people into engaging more with inclusive behaviors.

Most importantly, managers need help in developing disability policies framework. Here comes the Disability Confident scheme. But it is not ambitious enough at present and asks too little of organisations which sign up as members. The current form of the scheme does not require members to have disabled people on their payroll at levels one or two of its three levels nor to report on what proportion of people they employ who have disabilities or what pay gap exists between them.

On their part, most organisations appear content with the certificate of membership rather than genuine action. As of July 2020 there were 20k scheme members but only 344 had progressed to level 3 (Disability Confident Leader) by employing disabled people and going through independently verified reporting (most that had were public sector or non-profit organisations).

The government has promised to strengthen its Disability Confident programme. On the other hand, managers should not wait until after a long consultation process ends. Instead they should actively make efforts such as making sure that an employer’s place is favorable or equal for all persons with disabilities working there among other things.

Joining the initiative but exceeding Disability Confident guidelines will also be beneficial. Don’t just ‘consider’ the five Disability Confident commitments at level one for example; instead do more about it. Engage in multiple activities from a list of nine “actions” which will “make a difference” for disabled people as much as you can possibly do so at levels two and three.

It is an effective strategy to appoint a disability champion. In their role as a disability champion, there is someone who is senior enough to be able to pull together any efforts made in the area of disability-friendly initiatives.

Sir Philip Craven, then President of the IPC, said with pride before the London 2012 Paralympics that “the Paralympic Games have a proven track record for changing society’s perception of people with an impairment”. Therefore, it is high time that government and organisations ensured that change in perception extended to supporting disabled persons’ participation in work.