Disability as part of being human

Did you know that nearly one in six people globally are living with a disability? That’s more than one billion people, or about 16% of the global population, according to the World Health Organization. People with disabilities form the world’s largest minority, and anyone might join them one day — the ageing population, increase in global chronic diseases, environmental disasters and military conflicts are all causing this number to continue to grow.?

As we approach the International Day of People with Disabilities, we need to realise that this subject affects us all to some extent. Recognising that is the first step towards a culture of belonging and inclusion. So how can we ensure a better future for ourselves and our close ones? Whether it is in our private lives or the work environment we strive to improve, we can all help by taking action and being attuned to the experience of more than a billion people with disabilities.?

Not all disability is visible to us

This billion people aren’t a homogeneous group. Disabilities are not always visible and can be diverse, requiring individual approaches. Being disabled isn’t the only characteristic of people with disabilities who can be of various ethnic and religious backgrounds, be parents, children, friends, administrators, experts, writers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, students, professors, artists, athletes, co-workers, unemployed, uncles, aunts, etc.

This might be a workmate of yours who is trying to fit in while fighting pain to keep his back straight or a female colleague who can’t fully participate in meetings because of hearing difficulties, which she hasn’t reported to the management for fear of unconscious bias and a potential impact on her career.?

This might be one of your suppliers or customers whom you may lose because they can’t make it to the conference room for an important meeting. Or even if they get there, the conference room doesn’t have suitable facilities nearby.?

This might also be your seemingly energetic team leader with diabetes or severe depression, which you have overlooked and therefore couldn’t address the real needs affecting their work in your organisation.?

Or this might be someone who is visually impaired who didn’t get a job in your organisation because no one asked them what adaptations they needed to do their job and whether their sight prevented them from doing the job to the best of their ability.

Misconceptions, prejudices and structural inequalities can overshadow many traits, competencies and qualities that people with disabilities have. At the same time, when talking about diversity management, we tend to proudly list the various diversity dimensions, including disability. But what next?

Diversity without inclusion

Diversity has become a trendy slogan in the last decade, yet it isn’t always linked with inclusion. When preaching diversity management, many companies intentionally or unintentionally forget that diversity isn’t an end in itself. What matters is embracing diversity to create a sense of belonging, fair treatment, value and growth for both the organisation and the individual.?

Sadly, the overall picture shows companies paying too little systematic attention to the inclusion of disabled people in working life, thus unintentionally denying them not only income but also impacting their identity, self-perception, relationships, sense of meaning and belonging.

Labour market statistics and various reports suggest that employment, income and social engagement rates of people with disability remain low compared to people without disability.?

In Latvia, for example, in 2021, a mere 27% of adults with disabilities had a job, according to the data of the Ministry of Welfare. The European Disability Forum’s Human Rights report “Right to Work“, released in spring 2023, reveals that only 51.3% of active, working-age persons with disabilities in the EU are in paid employment. Although statistics in local and international reports tend to differ, depending on the data source and the applied methodology, we clearly see that while the employment rates of people with disability have slightly improved over the past decade, the disability gap in employment remains large.?

The role of companies

The role of companies isn’t restricted to employing a particular job seeker but applies to the organisation and HR management in a broader sense. This includes being aware that an employee's functional ability isn’t always an objective fact — it also depends on workplace requirements, adaptations and co-workers’ attitudes.?

Understanding functional ability as a relative characteristic favours inclusion because reduced functional ability in a certain area often doesn’t even affect performance in particular workplaces. In that case, reduced functional ability becomes a non-essential, external, visual characteristic. In other words, does it matter in which chair your colleague is doing his admin duties or setting up new IT services in — in an office chair or in a wheelchair?

To create an inclusive environment, organisations need to be supportive at all levels. But companies still have comparatively little specific knowledge in this area. What should recruitment strategies that are geared towards diversity management look like? How do those strategies work in practice with respect to diversity, inclusion and the HR management life cycle? Should the employer take responsibility for workers getting older and possibly becoming chronically ill to avoid losing their potential, experience, desire and chance to work? And how to address that?

As part of the UN sustainable development goals, the steadfast principle that no one should be left out also applies to people with disabilities. What we need to do now is turn our words into actions. Large global corporations have all the preconditions to demonstrate that inclusion and equity create a better society and that inclusive organisations benefit everyone.?

At PwC, we have embarked on this journey by introducing the Global Disability Inclusion Strategy, focused on tangible actions for our colleagues and the broader society we live in. Leadership engagement, building a culture of awareness and focusing on our talent and representation are crucial if we want to see positive change happen.?

Our Inclusion and Diversity Leaders and leadership teams are involved in the disability inclusion agenda through annual Action Plans to ensure concrete actions are undertaken to build a safe and welcoming environment. By involving our Human Resources and Infrastructure and Procurement stakeholders we improve accessibility, review our recruitment and onboarding processes and adjust office space to accommodate new joiners and employees with emerging disabilities alike. As a wide network of firms, we have a unique opportunity to learn from each other's best practices and gain new insights into what can bring sustained outcomes and strengthen the culture of inclusion.

When we give an opportunity for different social groups to express and develop their potential, we also gain a chance to expand our business and markets and take part in creating economic and social value.?

We all have our role to play, and it can start with small steps of learning and facing our own biases, having productive discussions, raising awareness, creating systems and behaviours that recognise all employees' circumstances and potential and implementing solutions that will put the words into action. When we recognise the human and business value of disability inclusion, we become better colleagues, citizens and leaders in our organisations.