Companies are missing out on a huge pool of talent. We want to change that

Over the summer we had a raft of special events designed to help us find out more about improving our Inclusion when it comes to hiring people with disabilities. Here are just some of the highlights.

Inclusion makes business sense. Toby Burton took the time to come and speak to me recently. Toby started his career at Unilever and is now the CFO + COO of Fastmarkets. He's also Chair of Royal Association for Deaf people and a passionate advocate for improving inclusion in the workplace. We discussed the need for senior role models to promote disability inclusion. I believe we all have a responsibility to change opportunities for the better for people with disabilities. In 2018, we set ourselves two global commitments to achieve by 2025: 

1. To be the number one employer of choice for people with disabilities
2. To increase the number of employees with disabilities to 5% of our total workforce.

It isn’t just the right thing to do, we believe that creating equality of opportunity will unlock a huge pool of talent. Thanks to Toby and his BSL interpreter, Hannah Ede, for spending time with me! 

It's true we have set ourselves ambitious targets. But you know what I always say – dream so big it scares you! Reaching our commitments means taking on a lot of challenges. But they are challenges we are relishing. It means transforming the way we recruit and train our people. It means adapting both the way we work and our workplaces. It means making changes to ensure we can support people to reach their full potential. And the truth is, there has never been a better time for companies to to hire talented people with disabilities, thanks to advances in technology.

There is some incredible technology out there. Much of it freely available. For example, advances in tech for visually impaired people means they are perhaps even more capable and efficient than the fully sighted in processing digital information.

Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Chief Accessibility Officer at Microsoft came to speak to us. She explained that disability inclusion needs a top- down and bottom-up approach. Jenny as CAO also shared Microsoft’s approach to Disability Inclusion – the processes, learning, awareness and adjustments built within the workplace to ensure MS is truly inclusive

Good design enables and empowers people and bad design disables. That's the lesson I learned from Adi Latif, Accessibility and Usability Consultant at AbilityNet. Adi advises companies on how to best design an inclusive product or service that can be used by all. And why wouldn't you do that? Not only will you increase market share by providing disabled people equal access, you'll almost certainly make a better product or service in the process. In fact, Adi's lessons reminded me of an article I shared a while back "The untold story of the vegetable peeler that changed the world" This story about the creation of a truly iconic product that was designed for EVERYONE, is a testament to having a vision and a purpose – and a passion for more human, inclusive design.

Disability is not a niche concern. The World Health Organization estimates that there are ONE BILLION PEOPLE in the world currently living with a disability. That’s about 15% of the global population, or 1 in 7 of us. That means everyone is likely to experience disability or have a family member who does at some point in their life. Let's be part of building a better world for everyone – the solutions are there for the taking.

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And finally, here are some photos of me attempting to tie shoelaces with just one hand – a challenge set by the South Africa Diversity and Inclusion team, who wanted me to experience the challenges that people with disability can face. 

If you want to know more about making your company more inclusive, I urge you to download this guide: https://gsdrc.org/topic-guides/disability-inclusion/