A disability-inclusive workplace benefits both all employees and the bottom line
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Disability:IN, a Virginia-based expert on best practices and benchmarking for disability inclusion in corporations, has announced plans to launch its highly regarded Disability Equality Index internationally.
The index measures a company’s disability metrics and maturity through survey data across key categories, including culture and leadership, company-wide access, hiring practices, community engagement and supplier diversity. Regular members of the 2023 index, which has 485 participants, include Amazon, Google, The Walt Disney Company, Unilever and UPS.
Starting this year, the Disability Equality Index will aim to benchmark the disability inclusion efforts of multinational companies operating in seven new countries: Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, the Philippines and the UK. This is the culmination of a two-year pilot scheme which involved 98 companies from 66 countries.
In a media release, Russell Shaffer, executive vice president of strategy and programs at Disability:IN, said: “After analysing the results from the nearly 100 companies that participated in our global pilot program, it became clear that there was a real need for a benchmarking tool that could be adapted to different cultural contexts.”
He added: “The Disability Equality Index will play a vital role in empowering businesses to drive positive change in the countries in which they operate. By tracking progress over time, setting priorities and measuring performance against others, companies can drive continuous improvement in their disability inclusion efforts.”
Importantly, this new tool is customizable to take into account the cultural, social and legal differences that exist in different countries, particularly regarding prevailing practices and attitudes towards disability.
These range from the existence of legally mandated employment quotas in some regions to the prevalence of outdated societal attitudes towards disability (whereas others view disability solely through the prism of pity and charitable donations). Sadly, in some parts of the world in 2024, disability can still be associated with divine punishment.
From the perspective of both multinational leaders and employees, disability inclusion policies across different regions also need to be harmonized as much as possible. After all, poor practices in one international office can seriously undermine the overall global strategy and make leadership appear dishonest and inconsistent.
On the positive side, as Jill Houghton, president and CEO of Disability:IN, explains, there’s a lot to gain.
“People with disabilities represent a vast source of talent and make up more than one billion consumers worldwide. This reality means that disability inclusion is a powerful tool to create lasting value for business and society at large.”
“Whether businesses want to hire and retain the best talent, diversify their supply chains, improve digital accessibility, innovate their products and services or meet shareholder expectations, they use the Disability Equality Index to identify concrete actions they can take to gain a competitive edge in the global marketplace.”
Similarly, by elevating disability inclusion from a purely local effort to a lofty command on the global agenda, one can reasonably hope that this positive type of globalization will be part of the rising tide that floats all boats, especially if regional disparities can be tolerated.