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The Importance of Disability Awareness Training
By
Daniel Williams |
November 19, 2018
Over
seven million people of working age in the UK have a disability, and employment
opportunities for this huge cohort are still woefully inadequate.
For
many people with disabilities however, finding employment that matches their
skills and experience is often not the end of discriminatory employment
practice, but the beginning.
Disability
discrimination
Many people with disabilities report feeling marginalised within
the workplace not only by managerial assumptions about their competencies, but
also by the attitudes and behaviour of more immediate colleagues. They report
uncomfortable working relationships and an unwillingness on the part of many of
their peers to engage with them as equals, resulting for many in extreme workplace
isolation.
Disability discrimination in the workplace is not generally
malicious or premeditated. It is often the result of unconscious bias, a lack
of information and education, and a fear of doing or saying the wrong thing for
fear of causing offence, which often ironically causes far greater offence. For example, ‘walk this way’? ‘Did you see
that’? ‘Did you hear that’? ‘I’m going mad’!
Benefits of
inclusion
Disability awareness training is a great opportunity for your
business/organisation to take the lead when it comes to these issues, and to
ensure your organisation is as harmonious, collaborative and non-discriminatory
as possible. This not only benefits employees/customers with disabilities, but has
impacts that are felt at every level of your company or organisation.
Research increasingly demonstrates that when employees respect and
share the values of an enlightened employer, job satisfaction and productivity
increase, as does employee retention, whilst absenteeism decreases dramatically.
Similarly, open and honest communication within a business and between
colleagues is consistently shown to be one of the principal routes to increased
productivity.
It is also evident that having confident and well trained staff
that have undergone disability awareness training puts customers with
disabilities at ease, making them more likely to return and spend money within
the organisation. Research shows that
people with disabilities have a spending power of 212 million, so why would you
not want to retain these customers?
Diversity
dividends
There are also many proven key benefits to retaining a diverse
workforce - including people with disabilities - by ensuring they are valued
and respected. Employees from minority groups, and particularly those with
disabilities, are massively underrepresented in the workforce, and their
uniquely valuable perspectives often provide access to consumer markets that
are often overlooked or poorly addressed.
Ultimately, becoming a disability confident workplace works in the
self-interest of every organisation, whilst making your company a more
enlightened place to work, and helping to change attitudes and behaviours for
the better on a macro level. As more companies adopt these progressive
policies, they slowly become the norm, radiating out through supply networks
and business partnerships to the wider community.
Disability confidence
in action
Practically, what does a
disability confident workplace look like? In essence, it is about creating a
supportive, positive and inclusive environment for all workers. In a disability
confident workplace employees are informed about disability issues and are
confident that their interactions with disabled colleagues will not cause
offence, and as a result staff with disabilities feel respected, included and
treated with equality.
Learning awareness
How exactly is this confidence
and harmony achieved? Disability awareness training works by challenging
attitudes amongst both those with and without a disability, increasing
understanding of disability issues. Courses encourage employees to discuss
their preconceptions of disability and their fears of interacting with people
with disabilities.
Courses also provide a
wealth of information on a range of disabilities, including acquired
disabilities, hearing and visual impairments, learning disabilities and issues
surrounding mental health. Often role play is also used to encourage people
without disabilities to place themselves in the position of someone with a
disability, and to encourage an empathy and understanding of the experiences
many people with disabilities face.
All of these strategies –
education, information and empathy – are about closing the experience gap
between those employees without disabilities and those with disabilities; in
the same process, it is about removing barriers and embedding best practice so
that everyone feels comfortable and empowered to be themselves within the
workplace, to flourish and to achieve their full potential. Because when your
team are achieving their full potential, so is your business.