People with a physical impairment or a disability are all too familiar with the barriers they face on a daily basis. These are barriers that prevent them participating in the activities that able bodied people would take for granted. It can be the discriminatory or judgmental attitude of others, the bias that can exist in organisations or a lack of the right equipment creating hurdles that need not be there.
This year’s UK Disability History Month (UKDHM) wants to break down those barriers – and we couldn’t be more in agreement. As an organisation, Cordell Health has a vision to change the focus in the workplace from disability to ability.
We too want to change the conversation about disability to focus on the significant contribution disabled people can bring to the workplace. But to do this, people with impairments or disabilities need to see those barriers overturned and progress made towards more inclusive and supportive workplaces.
That’s why we’ve written this blog, to both support awareness for UKDHM and to help employers understand a little more about what enablement is and how to achieve it in the workplace.
What is enablement at work?
It’s about helping, or enabling, all employees to do their jobs – regardless of any impairment, illness, condition or any other disability. It’s about creating an environment where they don’t feel at a disadvantage or excluded – so that their opportunity to perform their roles is on as much of a level playing field as possible.
Impairment and/or disability
It’s worth exploring the differences in these terms. If you visit the UKDHM website you’ll find both used and there is an obvious link between the two.
Impairment is any loss of normal physical or mental abilities, e.g. an injury, a missing limb or diagnosed mental disorder. Impairments can be wide ranging and include conditions such as those affecting sight or hearing, those that fluctuate or recur such as rheumatoid arthritis, depression and epilepsy, progressive conditions such as motor neurone disease, muscular dystrophy and forms of dementia and organ specific impairments such as heart disease.
A disability is an inability, loss or restriction of an ability to perform an activity or task within the normal human range, e.g. being unable to walk, get dressed or bathe without help. It follows that a disabled person is a person with an impairment who experiences a disability.
Attitudes towards impairment and disability
The point being made by UKDHM is that impairment is a natural part of human existence – but this hasn’t stopped negative attitudes towards something that these people cannot do anything about. Those that grow up on the receiving end of negativity often find they internalise it. Disabled people want acceptance for who they are. The removal of barriers to participation in many of life’s activities is a way of changing attitudes towards impairment and disablement.
So, what can employers do?
Moving the focus from disability to ability is a worthy objective but it’s the successful application that really counts. The reality is that disabled people find it much harder to find work and experience barriers almost from the moment they apply. We believe that these barriers risk a wasted opportunity as disabled people make up one of the most committed and loyal workforces.
Employers have a major part to play in enabling their organisations. From the way disabled candidates engage with an organisation, experience the recruitment process and encounter the workplace, they set the tone for how a disabled person is likely to feel about working for an organisation. The success of this isn’t just down to processes and best practice in how disabled people are treated, it runs deeper into the type of culture that exists.
Here are some pointers for enabling a disability supportive workplace:
Recruitment: Disabled candidates can tell a lot about an organisation from what they see and experience during the recruitment process. Most candidates will arrive via a job posting or visit the careers site. Here is an opportunity to show people with disabilities in the workplace through your recruitment messaging. This will help disabled people feel that others like them are already enjoying a career within that organisation and remove any psychological barrier that they might not fit in. The recruitment process itself needs to be about assessing ability while making provision for any help that disabled people may need in attending interviews either online or in person. It’s about seeing past the label and interviewing the person.
Disability awareness training: While organisations and employees have come a long way in calling out cases of inequality due to sexism and racism, the same progress needs to be made with disability awareness. Line managers can play a huge role in helping here, but they themselves need to be aware of how to interview, and how to recognise any unconscious bias they may have in terms of perceived downsides to a candidate or employees’ performance as impacted by their disability. The more confident and aware they are – the more likely a more positive and inclusive attitude will be adopted by others.
Listen and adjust: Ask your employees to tell you what support they need to make their working life easier. Some may not want to come forward so line managers may need to start those conversations. No two employees are the same, and many will have different experiences of the challenges they face due to their disability. As a result, you may need to think about equipment, assisted technologies, quiet zones for people with neurodivergent conditions, time off to attend treatment – such as dialysis, and not forgetting enabling disabled employees to work as effectively and safely as they can from home. It’s all about enabling people’s abilities to overcome the challenges of their physical or mental disability.
Culture: By adopting a positive and inclusive culture, encouraging all employees to ‘be the best they can be’, and to ‘bring their true selves to work’, organisations will help everyone feel good about themselves (and not only those with disabilities) as well as improving levels of engagement and productivity. What’s more, customers with disabilities notice those organisations that support employees with disabilities. While profitability isn’t the objective here, enhanced financial performance is an added positive of an enabled organisation.
Understand your legal duties: The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. A person is deemed disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities. As well as making reasonable adjustments, an employer has a legal duty towards disabled people in recruitment and employment which applies to both applicants and existing employees. It’s a big topic and clearly we can’t go into detail within a blog other than to advise that employers need to know what the Act means for them as it contains their obligations in terms of enabling the workplace for people with disabilities.
Subscribers to the Cordell Health subscription service can download a 50 page guide ‘An Employer’s Duties towards Disabled Employees under The Equality Act 2010’. If you’d like to know more about this service, please get in touch.
Conclusion
People with long term health conditions may well have impairments that lead to disabilities, but it is their abilities that really matter to them. And they should equally matter to their employer. The disabled workforce is a hugely talented and under-utilised resource, but employers can only tap into this resource if their workplace and culture is enabled to attract and retain disabled employees. Only then will organisations be able to change the focus in the workplace from disability to ability.
Photo by Marcel Strauß on Unsplash
