Empowering people with disabilities through diversity and inclusion

Companies today understand that diversity, equity, and inclusion help build an autonomous workforce to drive innovation and improve productivity while proactively achieving sustainability goals. The concept of diversity and inclusion is not only about hiring people from all walks of life but creating an environment where they are valued and appreciated for their unique identities. A recent World Economic Forum report showed that companies leading in diversity, inclusion and impartiality perform better with a 25 per cent to 36 per cent increase in their profitability, have greater employee retention rates than their peers and exhibit a 20 per cent higher rate of innovation.

Read | Why disability inclusion is good business

As companies ramp up their efforts to employ a diverse workforce and form an inclusive culture, it is imperative to focus on people with disabilities (PwDs) and provide equal opportunities that would harness their true potential.

Initiatives for PwDs – steppingstones for success

Globally, the dialogue on diversity and inclusion has been gaining momentum. Today, leaders across industries are taking active measures to rethink their people strategies that can generate a sense of belongingness among differently abled colleagues. For instance, e-commerce company Flipkart, through its logistics division Ekart, has rolled out an inclusive workplace programme. The eDAB or Ekartians with Different Abilities programme provides job opportunities to thousands of PwDs in varied roles across Flipkart’s supply chain—sorters, pickers, packers, and delivery executives.

Various hotel chains and cafes today hire speech impaired differently abled, as part of their hiring policy. Café Coffee Day, in one such example, hired speech-impaired differently-abled to brew coffee behind the counter. They are referred to as ‘Silent Brewmasters’. With their heightened sense of smell and vision, they ensure the most visually appealing presentations of coffee.

The PwD inclusion programme is focused on embracing abilities. The focus is more on the abilities of a person rather than their disability. PwD inclusion is based on four pillars: a) providing accessible infrastructure, IT systems and reasonable accommodation, b) having a non-discriminatory recruitment process, training and HR policies, c) conducting sensitisation workshops and d) promoting inclusion in society through industry and customer connect.

Inclusivity leads to innovation

Diversity and inclusion are gradually moving beyond the ambit of social responsibility. Companies now recognise that supporting differently-abled employees with the requisite infrastructure and assistive technology enhances credibility as well as drives innovation. An inclusive organisational culture increases value, lifts productivity, and offers opportunities to a diverse set of people. This results in a new ecosystem that enables fresh ideas and encourages a progressive approach to roadblocks.

Mental health and emotional wellness have garnered the must-needed attention, especially, in the past few years. Organisations are consciously introducing work policies that reinforce employee wellness. According to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, adults with disabilities report experiencing frequent mental distress almost five times as often as adults without disabilities. Thus, mental well-being is key to continuous innovation and the collective success of an organisation.

Future of disability inclusion

There are no two ways that a diverse workforce will boost the growth of an organisation. Leaders and HR professionals will continue to reinvent their strategies to hire and retain valuable talent. An organisation, where employees feel satisfied, looked after and appreciated, will have higher chances of achieving its desired outcomes while contributing to nation-building.

Companies will have to rethink their hiring strategies and recruit through an inclusion lens. They must introduce flexible policies that enable adequate work-life balance and allow remote working. While this benefits all employees, it assumes great importance for people with disabilities as it can leverage an untapped talent pool of people, who are physically challenged, to the mainstream workforce.

The current business environment is rapidly evolving and dominated by hyper-competitiveness. People’s talent combined with technological advances will give companies the edge over peers and help them stay relevant. An open mind to hiring a diverse workforce will aid in bridging the talent gap. Organisations can also roll out skilling and training programmes to mould hired talent as per their needs.

New-age technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), automation, edge computing, Internet-of-Things (IoT) and more will not only help companies improve efficiency, reduce workload, and derive accurate results but will support diversity, inclusion, and equality. With the foundation of technology, companies will be better equipped to strengthen their policies for people with disabilities and guide them to ‘get the future they want’.

(The author is the Chief Marketing Officer & Chairperson, Diversity – India, Capgemini)