International Day of People with Disabilities: How to Support Disability Inclusion at Work
December 9, 2022In honor of International Day of People with Disabilities, myGwork recently held a panel to discuss the importance of workplace disability inclusion, and the impact of spreading awareness and increasing visibility for people with disabilities.
Sponsored by Enterprise, the panel featured a range of guest speakers from various companies, discussing what the day means to them and their lived experiences as people with disabilities in the modern working environment.
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When asked what they believe business companies can do to increase awareness and improve conditions for people with disabilities, particularly hidden disabilities, the panelists provided a range of unique answers directly from their experience.
“It’s all about engaging with people who are comfortable coming forward with it,” said Sales Coordinator at Enterprise, Ashley Halstead. “Enterprise are trying to get me involved with their employee engagement strategy, allowing me to put my points across, and then that goes into creating policy across the business to be a lot more inclusive.”
Emily Brady, Business Partner Specialist at Morningstar, mentioned the value of partnering with external businesses, and the allyship that can demonstrate. “If you don’t have the resources or knowledge, partner with external partners who have that expertise,” she said. “Morningstar partnered with the Business Disability Forum to help us, because we don’t know it all, we’re very much at the start of this journey. But if we want to do it, we have to do it right. That commitment and accountability has to be there.”
Other panelists discussed the importance of companies actively changing policies to suit their employees and support them. “Conducting surveys and encouraging team members to declare their disabilities so that the organizations can change policies to support them,” discussed Madhavi Reddy, Senior Director at S&P Global. “Organizations also need to start taking part in disability focus group sessions and events and educating employees. We have sensitization training at S&P Global because we don’t want people with disabilities to be treated differently. There should be more of this at all levels.”
Displays of practical allyship are a general indicator of support for the community too, especially regarding misconceptions surrounding disability. “It’s about how you choose to combat misinterpretations,” offered Jonathan Andrews, Associate Solicitor, Entertainment and Media at Reed Smith LLP UK. “I’m pleased to see that improvements have been made since I started in my career, although there is still a long way to go.”
Although it was noted by many that there’s still a long journey ahead for disability inclusion, the panelists were happy to see that progress was still being achieved in some areas. “From a business point of view, signing commitments and being a part of external organizations is extremely important,” noted Jessica Franklin, Diversity and Inclusion Advisor at Clyde & Co. “Just generally making sure that we’re sharing best practice as much as we can, and being disability confident committed. These are fairly basic things, but we are at the very beginning of this journey.”
Every panelist provided a unique perspective of identifying as disabled in the workplace. With each company doing their bit to show progress and inclusivity, it’s clear that improvements are being made. However, workplace discrimination and limitations are still a major factor in the struggles people with disabilities have. To understand more from this perspective, watch the full International Day of People with Disabilities panel discussion here.
Check out some related myGwork articles here below:
How to Create an Inclusive Workplace for People With Disabilities
Meet & Greet Jonathan Andrews: Raising Awareness for Disability As A Lawyer
Ashley Halstead on the Challenges He Faces as a Person With Disabilities
Tips for Dealing with Discrimination at Work
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