It’s time to take affirmative action toward true inclusion

While 2020 will go down in history as the year the global Covid-19 pandemic changed all of our lives, it will always have another significance for me as the year my business partner and I launched Untapped, our strategic communications and marketing consultancy with roots in disability and a fresh approach to inclusion. We set up our business to shine a spotlight on the lack of disability inclusion in society and to help organisations to understand and untap the value that true inclusion will bring to their business and wider society. Little did we know that within weeks of launching, we’d be entering the first full-scale lockdown – and here we are again!

This is an incredibly challenging period for so many reasons. But when it comes to inclusion, lockdown – in its own way – is helping to inspire action towards building a more inclusive society post-Covid.  It seems strange to be thankful to something that's causing so much anxiety and stress to so many - but lockdown has given everybody a common experience of losing freedom of choice. Suddenly everyone is experiencing the same imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction and access to workplaces and public spaces that many people living with disabilities experience day in day out, year-round. We’re all in the same storm.

There are positive signs that enlightened organisations are starting to shift their attitude towards disability inclusion as part of a broader intent around diversifying their workforce. In September 2020, the Open University Business Barometer shared the views of UK business leaders: "Over two thirds of (67%) senior leaders say that they are actively looking to hire candidates from more diverse backgrounds. Of those who anticipate diversity will impact their organisation in the next 12 months, a quarter (26%) say they will actively recruit candidates with disabilities."

However, an intent to hire people with disabilities doesn’t mean anything unless you take affirmative action and you have an inclusive workplace culture. A recent report from Accenture shows that in many organisations disabled employees feel less included than ever. Their research shows that before the pandemic, 23 per cent of employees with disabilities said they felt completely included at work, compared with 29 per cent of their colleagues. While everyone has felt their sense of belonging at work fall away, that gap has widened with just 16 per cent of employees with disabilities now saying they feel completely included (versus 25 per cent of their colleagues). 

In terms of a global picture, research conducted by The Valuable 500 has found that while 90 per cent of business leaders claim to be passionate about inclusion, only four per cent actively consider disability as part of their organisation’s inclusion agenda. So, while there have been some green shoots in terms of an understanding of barriers facing disabled people since lockdown began, there are huge amounts still to do. Business leaders making commitments around diversity and inclusion must ensure that their Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy demonstrates specific intent when it comes to disability inclusion. Without a concerted focus and continued affirmative action, disabled people are at risk of prolonged discrimination. The time to act is now.

If you’d like to talk to Untapped about how you can take affirmative action for disability inclusion, please get in touch!