2-Jul-19 | News

How do companies remove barriers to their workplace?

Why hire people with disabilities specifically those with SpLD? Well, why not?

Well, why not? Research shows people with learning disabilities perform as well as their counterparts, have less sick days and stay with a company on average 3 times longer. So if it makes business sense, and there is an amazing talent pool — as 94% are not in work — what’s stopping companies from tapping into this market of undervalued and underemployed people?

Employ ability

Firstly, a crucial influence is a company’s attitude to disability. The majority of workforces are already neurodiverse — neurodiversity being the different ways people think, process information, learn and behave. Our neurological differences can and should be as recognised and respected as any other inherent variance in human beings — however, most people haven’t shared this kind of personal information to their employers yet. This is probably due to not feeling that they are in a safe enough culture to do so, or because they don’t see the benefit of doing so.

An interesting read on this topic of ‘declaration’ and ‘disclosure’ of disability in the workplace is Secrets and Big News by Kate Nash OBE. Based on a two-year research project, the book details the reasons why people find it hard to share information and offers ideas for both employers and employees alike.

Click here to read the full article