From late January until March 2020, we’ll be supporting the Disability Confident campaign. This is a time when many employers are planning for the new financial year and looking to recruit new talent. We want to use this opportunity to spread the word about Disability Confident to other businesses and share our experiences of how being an inclusive employer has helped our business and our people.
We’ll be encouraging colleagues to post on social media about their positive experiences of disability in the workplace. There are lots of ways you can be involved:
- Contact me with your story about overcoming a disability or health condition at work so it can be used as a case study.
- Tell the world how proud you are to work for a Disability Confident organisation using #IAmConfident (you can even take a selfie to go with it).
- Tweet your inspiring stories about disability in the workplace using #IAmConfident and give DDC OS a mention.
Remember to use the hashtag #IAmConfident to link up with other people celebrating what they’ve achieved.
The Disability Confident scheme has helped DDC OS to make the most of the talents disabled people can bring to our workplace. It does this by offering tools and techniques to support the recruitment and retention of disabled people.
This scheme is particularly important to me because I have worked hard to demonstrate the difference inclusion can make to people in our organisation. In 2018 I was awarded a Disability Confident Leader award. As I go around and talk to people, I regularly hear stories about the positive impact a job has had on an individual and the corresponding impact they have had on a team and across the wider business. So, the benefits go both ways.
Our organisation is built around getting the best person for the job and supporting them in their work, regardless of their circumstances.
So building our understanding and confidence about disability can only be a good thing.
Disability Confident is an important contributor towards the Government’s commitment to getting 1 million more, disabled people, into work by 2027.
Over 7 million people, 18% of working-age people in the UK, are disabled or have a long- term health condition. This means there is a large and widely untapped pool of people, with a huge range of skills, who can make a positive contribution to employers and the community. CIPD research, Attitudes to Employability and Talent, found that disabled people tended to be more innovative and focus on personal development more than the norm. These are things that can benefit us all.
