Inclusivity in the workplace: What senior leaders should consider

Sadly, when taking an honest look at their teams, many employers will recognise a lack of diversity. Most will see no disabled employees at all. 

7.5 million people of working age in the UK are disabled or have a long-term health  condition.  That  is  1  in  5  of  us.  Despite  this, just  half  of  disabled people  are  employed,  compared  to  81%  non-disabled  people.  With  little change  in  this  figure  in  the  last  decade,  it  is  clear  that  we  need  to  think innovatively  to  reimagine work  in  a  way  that  will  enable  us  to  react  to  a changed and changing workforce. For many people who are disabled or have a  long  term health  condition,  entering  the  labour market  is a daunting and disempowering  process.  Disabled  people  frequently  encounter significant barriers when taking their first steps into a fulfilling career.

The high rate of economic inactivity of disabled people also demonstrates the key challenges they face. Between April and June 2017, 3.3 million disabled people of working age were economically inactive; 44.4% compared to a rate of 16.1% for nondisabled people.

Most leaders will look to their recruitment practices to address this. With good reason: 

• 30% of disabled adults who applied for a job in the past fiveyears said they felt like the employer hadn’t taken them seriously as a candidate because they were disabled 
• 17%of disabled adults who have applied for a job in the past five years say that the employer had withdrawn their job offer as a result of theirdisability
• Disabled people need to apply for 60% more  jobs  than  non-disabled  jobseekers before  they  are  successful  in finding work

However, we need to adopt an equally thoughtful approach to retention, alongside recruitment, if we are to make a positive impact on inclusion. It is all to common for disabled employees to be subjected to exclusionary, even discriminatory behaviour, and exit their roles accordingly. If you haven't addressed these issues in your workplace, it would be irresponsible leadership to spearhead a recruitment drive to attract more disabled applicants, only to set them up for failure once in role.

WECIL provide a range of services to support organisations in all sectors to be totally inclusive of disabled people in their employment practice. Our  services  include  accredited  Disability  Equality  Training,  Access  Audits, and  specialist  support  to  assist  employers  to  achieve  best  practice  in  their management  of  disabled  staff, implement reasonable adjustments and draw down Access  to  Work funding. We  are  approved  under  the  Government’s Disability  Confident scheme to as a provider of support to organisations to achieve Level 3 Disability Confident Leader status and validate their assessment. Our most enlightened clients work with WECIL to support disabled employees within role, to ensure that they aren't only retained in role but supported to thrive and progress. This doesn't only ensure equality of opportunity, but makes the best use of the talent an employer has at their disposal - which is much more profitable than a tribunal!

A recent report by Scope found that 48% of disabled people have worried about sharing information about their impairment or condition with their employer. They  also  found  that  some  disabled  people  who  had  positive experiences said this helped them get the support they needed. 

An inclusive culture is one in which everyone feels able to be themselves, where no one feels they have to adapt or hide aspects of themselves. It is a culture that celebrates difference as what contributes to diversity of thought and gives an organisation its cutting edge. Senior leaders are key to setting the tone for this.

Here's to an inclusive decade ahead!