Make your workplace more accessible and watch it become more productive

Originally published at The Guardian in partnership with the OpenUniversity

Employers may be missing out on a skilled workforce by not addressing accessibility, and this extends from the workplace to the company website

When people think about workplace diversity they may believe it simply comes down to employing women, BAME or LGBTQ+ candidates. But businesses nurturing a fully diverse workplace could benefit from considering employees from a variety of socioeconomic and educational backgrounds, as well as those with a range of abilities. Recent research shows that diverse companies are more productive, with one 2018 study from the Boston Consulting Group suggesting they generate as much as 19% more revenue.

According to the Equality Act 2010, disability is defined as “a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities”. There are 7.6 million people of working age with disabilities in the UK, of whom more than 50% are employed. Employers are potentially missing out on qualified candidates by failing to reach jobseekers with different abilities, and those applicants are facing barriers to opportunities.

So how do you attract the best candidates from a range of backgrounds, while also ensuring that a diverse range of workplace accessibility requirements can be met?

Designing your workspace with accessibility in mind Beyond the legal requirements, there are many ways that you can accommodate employees with disabilities. Work with your staff to address their needs, whether this is providing a height-adjustable desk to accommodate a wheelchair, investing in software that is tailored to a range of abilities, or providing specialised mentoring. Employers must make “reasonable adjustments” to avoid staff with disabilities from being put at a disadvantage compared with non-disabled workers as a legal requirement. Accessibility shouldn’t be the responsibility of one person – it should be a part of the culture of your business.

Be proactive in hiring diverse talent The Open University has the highest number of students with disabilities of any higher education institute in the UK. It offers digital career fairs through OU Online TalentConnect, a platform that encourages students who might otherwise find it difficult or impossible to attend a face-to-face event. “Nearly 6,000 students attended the online careers fairs we held last year,” Ellen Cocking, head of the OU’s Careers and Employability Services, says, “and we are seeing more and more interest from employers in our digital answer to campus engagement.” You could also work with disability specialists such as Remploy to ensure that your job postings are reaching a wide audience.

Offer workplace training Organisations such as Remploy offer comprehensive training on a range of disabilities, ensuring that your workforce understands the complexities of accessibility issues. It’s also worth offering unconscious bias training to your staff – the more aware your workforce is, the more empathetic and understanding they are. It’s worth remembering that not all disability is visible, nor is it the duty of the person with different abilities to educate others about what disability looks like for them. By making your staff more aware of their biases, you have the potential to change behavioural patterns and habits in the workplace.

Is your website accessible? If you want to attract exceptional candidates, make sure that your job application portal is accessible to people with a range of abilities. If your website is difficult to navigate for some, it creates a barrier between your business and potential employees. Make sure that both your job application portal, and your business website have a range of accessibility options – such as screen magnifiers, speech recognition, colour and brightness adjustments, and image descriptions. This is essential for ensuring your business communicates to everyone, and also signals to site visitors with accessibility needs that your business cultivates a culture of inclusivity.

Offer flexible and/or remote work Many people with disabilities are let down by infrastructure, meaning that even if your workplace is the most accessible place on Earth, staff with mobility impairments may not be able to get there. When putting together a job description, consider whether the role could be performed remotely. For many people with disabilities, the flexibility of alternative hours, or the ability to work from home is a game changer.

Become a Disability Confident employer Disability Confident is a government programme that offers guidance and support to both employers and jobseekers, and signing up to it signals to jobseekers with a range of abilities that your business supports and encourages an environment of inclusion for workers with disabilities. It also aids in removing barriers to entry, which many people with disabilities or long-term health problems frequently experience.

Empower your business. It’s easy and free to tap into the diverse talents of OU students and alumni through the OU’s OpportunityHub