Creating and Fostering a Workplace Culture To Drive Disability Inclusion
Webinar
Description
Despite anti-discrimination legislations and disability awareness campaigns, people with disabilities continue to report system barriers and stigma in their pursuit for meaningful employment. There is a growing attention to organizational culture and its impact on employment for persons with disabilities as the attention on inclusion and human rights mounts. Research has shown that ad hoc inclusion efforts and policies are less effective in changing the experience of people with disabilities in the workplace without creating and fostering a disability inclusion culture, one that understands the business case of hiring people with disabilities, the social responsibilities, as well as the importance of having a healthy and safe work environment. Workplace parties must transform theories, principles, and good intentions to measurable strategies and best practices to drive culture change. This webinar will discuss frameworks and concepts such as accessibility excellence and accountability beyond legal compliance.
Transcript
Innovation lab webinar series. Uh we have a really
exciting talk for today. Uh before that I'll
just introduce. My name is Dan Samosh. I'm with
Employment Relation Studies at Queens University.
I'm also a part of the IDEA team. Uh these are our
IDEA webinars, and for today and going forward we
have captions available and we also have French
interpretation available too. So, if you have any
questions uh or if this isn't working for you,
the captions or the interpretation, please let
us know. Uh we have the Q&A function as well
as the chat function and we'll do our best
to make everything work. Uh also be aware,
if you know maybe you know someone who wanted to
be here but they couldn't be, we will record uh
this webinar and future webinars and post them
online on the IDEA website. So check out the
webinars there. There are already some online
now too. And we also share the slides for the
webinars if those should be helpful for you. For
today's webinar, our format is one hour in total,
uh with a talk at the beginning from our speakers
and then lots of time at the end for questions
from you. So when you do have questions,
that can happen during the talk or after,
please just use the Q&A function, uh and we will
repeat the questions back to the speakers as we go
along. We also have feedback mechanisms too. So at
the end of the webinar, um please you know respond
to our survey on how we've done, if you have any
feedback on accessibility, content, or otherwise,
uh and that's all kind of the housekeeping
stuff from me. From there I'll just welcome
Kim Jeffreys and Francis Fung who are going to be
talking about uh creating and fostering workplace
culture uh around disability inclusion today which
I'm really excited for, so yeah please go ahead.
Thank you for joining us. So, today we're going
to talk about why ad hoc inclusion efforts and
policies alone are insufficient in transforming
the workplace experience for people with
disabilities, and why it's essential to cultivate
and nurture a culture of disability inclusion.
So we're, Francis and I, are going to
highlight key concepts for workplaces
to consider in their disability inclusion
journey, and we're also going to discuss
strategies and intentional efforts that can
foster a disability inclusive workplace culture.
So, in terms of our agenda, Francis will share
why workplace culture change is essential for
disability inclusion. Um and then I'm going to
detail why the social model of disability is
at the center of disability inclusion,
how accessibility, universal design,
and destigmatized accommodation can work in
harmony to drive disability inclusion, and then
I'll share some best practice tools to advance
workplace disability inclusion before turning
it back to Francis. And Francis will address
sustainability and accountability, measuring,
monitoring, uh and evaluating change, and, as Dan,
said we'll have some time at the end for questions
and answers. Uh so just before we begin, I
would like to thank Dr Tompa, Dr Gerwurtz,
and Logan Wong for the research they provided, and
also Alec Farquhar and Amy Swenson-Tiano uh for
their review and feedback on this presentation.
Uh and with that I will turn it over to Francis.
Okay great. Thanks Kim. I hope you can hear me.
Um so we're gonna start with just talking a little
bit about what disability inclusion is about, and
I believe that um most of us are probably quite
familiar with the concept of disability inclusion,
the term. Um but applying the principles of
disability inclusion in employment settings is
a bit different. Um what I'd like to point out
is um some principles about disability inclusion.
So if you look at the Canada Disability Inclusion
Action Plan um there are three uh guiding
principles: "nothing without us," a human rights
based approach, and intersectionality. Regarding
"nothing without us," in my experience employers,
do think about respect and treating people fairly,
but they may not think as much about creating and
fostering a workplace that is welcoming and
empowering so people would want to be involved
and contribute. Ideally, employers and leaders
need to find ways to proactively involve people
with disabilities in developing/implementing
policies, programs, and services, and this
would also help the workplace to be accessible
so people with disabilities can participate.
We're going to hear from Kim a little bit more
about accessibility later on. Um we also need
to keep in mind that some people may prefer to be
uh actively participating, um while some may just
want to be kept informed and offer choices.
In terms of human rights, in my experience
many employers think about this from more
of a legal perspective. If the human rights
based approach is not well understood, it can
become employers obligations versus employees
employment rights and the focus can shift away
from inclusion. Sometimes legal compliance can
be seen as what is the least that I need to do
to fulfill my legal obligations, and that can
really create some significant barriers to a
truly inclusive workplace. In fact, there are
some really interesting research out there that
looks at employment support systems in countries
that rely heavily on that legal obligation. Um in
some places where the quota model is kind of the
center, um the states mandate companies that they
need to hire a certain percentage of people with
disabilities when their total number of employees
exceed a certain threshold for example. Um and in
those model there are fines for non-compliance and
the fines are reinvested in social programs which
are good, and there are data being collected
um so that people can understand a little bit
about where the struck was made to hire people
with disabilities. But these research shows
that the model, it's a quota model, may lead to
success in increasing entry to employment but
there's very little interest in what happens
after. With respects to intersectionality,
well intersectionality and diversity are not the
same thing. Intersectional- um intersectionality
describe how different elements of a person's
identity can be discriminated against. Examples
of this in employment settings are not limited to
just the lower rates of hiring, but also include
wage inequality, lack of professional development
and career advancement opportunities, and in some
cases even harassment and abuse. Also, having a
diverse workforce doesn't mean intersectionality
is well addressed. Diversity and inclusion are
also not the same. There are businesses out there
that appreciate diversity and have benefited from
foreign workers and the diverse talents that they
bring, but the employees don't feel included.
In fact, researchers indicate that disability
inclusion can be absent in diversity plans.
In the United States, only 40% of corporate
diversity plans include disability, and only
42% of Fortune 100 companies include disability
in their diversity statement. Increasing numbers
of people disabilities being hired is not enough
for disability inclusion. People needs to feel
supported, uh included, and engaged at work.
Job security and retention, as well as career
development and promotion opportunities are
very crucial. There are lots of research out there
that indicate that these factors lead to employee
engagement, and there are actually powerful
indicators of how long someone can stay in a job,
regardless of job performance, which often is
what employers and leaders are fixed stated on.
Okay. So, now we know about these principles but
how do we get employees thinking about them and
then shift the workplace culture if needed. Well
we need to talk about the benefits. Employers
are running businesses and they are naturally
profit driven and we know that when working with
employers the charity model doesn't really work.
Um can you still hear me? I think my headphone
just went off. Yes we do. Good yeah. Okay sorry,
I just heard a beep. Um yeah so employer are
running businesses and they're naturally profit
driven and we know that when're working with them
the charity model doesn't really work, because it
compromises the rights of people with disabilities
and portrays people with disabilities as being
reliant on others and not able to do things for
themselves. And this causes employers doubt in
whether people with disabilities can do things
uh for themselves and can they, can they do the
jobs in the competitive work settings. So we know
we have to build a business case, and obviously
there's research that support this. We need to
demonstrate that there are benefits not only for
hiring people with disabilities, but also benefits
for creating a disability-inclusive workplace
where workers with or without disabilities can
strive and be successful. There are some company
recognized benefits that are talked about quite
a bit. You know um access to a bigger pool of
applicants, improved reputation, lower turnover,
and higher attendance, and there's an enhanced
sense of corporate and social responsibility
as well. But to me, some of the lesser known
benefits can really help change the conversation
and help maybe move the needle a bit. For example,
disability inclusion has elements similar to those
of a healthy and safe workplace which is linked
to higher employee engagement and productivity and
there's a lot of recent research on the topics
of employee wellness and psychological safety.
Persons with disabilities have a positive effect
on work, on co-workers as well and inclusion
contributes to loyalty because showing empathy
and appreciation helps. And there's research
on loyalty being more challenging to find
in the younger generations of workers now.
Okay, so we know about the benefits but we still
need to be able to articulate to employers and
leaders what an organization culture is and how
to facilitate change if need be. If you look
at the research, most scholars would agree that
organizational culture is multi-dimensional and
multi-level construct. It's not just one
thing that you can work on it is values,
beliefs, assumptions, and sometimes an informal
system of control within an organization as well.
Paying attention to what the culture is like in an
organization can help understand the behaviors of
the people within, and people who believe in what
they do are generally more engaged. Unspoken norms
can become routine over time as well. One of the
challenges about uh talking about work workplace
culture is that sometimes there's an expressed
commitment to hire people with disability um
for an organization. It might even be a part
of the mission statement and the philosophy
of that organization, but sometimes this goal
is not consistent with the actual norms of the
organization where the physical environment for
example remained intolerant and inaccessible um
to people with disabilities. So in other
words, there can be really a disconnect
between what the culture of the organization
is supposed to be and how it actually is.
So, so why now, why are we talking about
culture change and and why is that shift so
important for disability inclusion? Well to
me it's all because of the existing systems
and habits. We talked a little bit about
human rights earlier and when human rights
are thought about in relation to disability
people tend to think about non-discrimination,
entitlement, and duty to accommodate. These are
all very important, but they're more about legal
compliance and disability inclusion goes beyond
these. A system is designed in ways that people
with disabilities typically need to make a request
for accommodation, and the process is burdensome.
It relies on the individual knowing what they
want and then they have to prove why they need
it. Sometimes they have to go through quite
a bit of paperwork um and approvals as well,
and that creates a big barrier because when it's
too much work, employees with disabilities would
just choose to make do. And in some of the
more serious cases, people with disability
are left to um to make a complaint on their own,
and then they have to prove their rights have been
denied. In the recruitment context historically,
it is about fitting people in. Employers generally
ask questions like "can this person with
disability meet the job demands?", "can this
person keep up with the rest of the employees
in a similar position?", and the focus is on
the person's inability, sometimes ability, to do
something and often is in comparison to others.
But the questions that I would encourage to ask
are: "what role can we assign this individual to
get the best out of them?" and "how can we support
this individual to excel at work?" and "how can we
collaborate to meet our common goals?" And there
shouldn't be any different between people with or
without disabilities. Aside from fitting people
in, there's also emphasis on matching skill sets
to the job requirements and this is especially
the case in a return to work context following
a personal injury or illness when there's concern
about regarding um about residual earning capacity
and alternative suitable occupations. The reality
is that injured workers are often stigmatized,
even if they have the transferable skills and
have gone through retraining. So it is important
to recognize that uh matching individuals to
workplace culture, including the potential source
of support and conflict, is just as important as
matching talents to job demands. Another reason
why why we have to look at cultural shift is the
fact that Canada is diverse, and our society um
our societal culture evolves as well. Immigrants
and their children is projected to make up 50% of
the population by 2041, and the society's view
regarding disabilities and identities can be
impacted by the language, religion, social class,
and the tradition and custom of different people,
and all these would affect how we interact with
each other. So, when creating and fostering a
workplace culture, we need to understand
diversity and intersectionality, and it is
a journey. The bottom line is that changing
policies and procedures alone in recruitment
practices won't really accomplish disability
inclusion because disability inclusion needs to
consider dignity, autonomy, opportunities
for full participation, and recognizing
disabilities as part of human diversity and
humanity. It involves changing mindsets,
perspectives, attitudes, which is why disability
inclusion need to start with a cultural shift.
Now I do realize that people are busy
in businesses and there's not a lot of
time for people to sit around and talk about
culture change. But the good news is not every
organization needs a culture overhaul. It's more
about identifying the goals and working towards
them. And there's lots of research about this, and
I'm not going to go over all of these in details
that you'll see um on this slide, but I do want
to point out integration. Integration is important
because it's about celebrating differences and
incorporating different perspectives into the work
task completion that may be required at work. It
is more effective than a culture where individual
performance and entrepreneurships valued,
which are quite typical in Western countries.
We certainly want to change that them versus
us type of mentality, but we also need to be
very thoughtful about this. There's research that
shows that organization that strive to unite um
their diverse members under a common identity of
belonging, like a collectivist type of approach
that values togetherness, can actually reduce
creativity and innovation. More importantly,
no people with disabilities are alike. There
are cases where employers may be guilty
of generalizing disability, and expecting people
with disabilities for uh for example maybe more
organized because they have so much that they
need to navigate through uh with a disability
already. This may be true to some extent
but the reality is that disability exists
across a very vast sp- uh spectrum of possible
physical, sensory, and intellectual impairments,
and one person with disability just doesn't
speak for all people with disabilities either.
Okay. Um um Kim is going to talk a little
bit more about ableism and normalizing and
the de- uh destigmatization and as was tokenism
later on as well. So I'm going to just jump to
preparedness. Um this is about the perception of
feeling prepared. Um I've came across research
where um there was a study that was done on
quite a number of HR and hiring professionals
um in 2021, and the research indicates
that the perception of feeling prepared,
um it's more important than some of the
other important factors such as actually
having disability policies and procedures and
uh health and illness management programs.
And and the other things that is interesting
from the study is that leaders may feel that
preparing people with disabilities and promoting
disability inclusion is important, but they may
not actually value strongly about taking real
actions um to hire people with disabilities.
Okay so I'm going to pass it on to Kim now to
talk more about the strategies in creating and
fostering a disability inclusive workplace
culture and share with you some insights.
So building on the disability inclusion insights
shared by Francis, I'm going to talk a little
bit about how employers can effectively advance
workplace disability inclusion by transforming its
benefits and goals into actionable and practical
strategies. So this approach not only fosters an
inclusive culture, but also ensures that the
workplace is accessible and supportive for all
employees. There are approximately six or seven
theoretical models that offer frameworks for
understanding disability, so very quickly they
have intuitive names for the models. There's the
Medical Model uh there's the- which focuses on
impairment, the Human Rights model which focuses
on rights, uh the Economic Model focuses on costs
and often frames disability as a financial burden,
uh Functional Solution Model focuses on
um subject matter expert accommodations,
there's the Charity Model people with disabilities
need our help, the Cultural Affiliation Model that
takes pride and identity, the Social Model that
focuses on addressing barriers, and a model that
combines several approaches called Biopsychosocial
Model. Each model has its strengths and weaknesses
and elements from various models are sometimes
combined which are typically reflected in an
organization's accommodation approach. Adopting
a specific model can directly influence how
disability inclusion is understood and advanced
in the workplace. So at March of Dimes Canada,
we've embraced the Social Model of disability
because it aligns with what we're hearing from
our communities, and we believe that it most
effectively advances disability inclusion. The
model emphasizes the role of societal barriers,
so physical, attitudinal, technological, systems,
communications, etc. in disabling people and I'm
going to briefly share some of its main features.
So unlike the Medical Model which centers on
diagnosing or treating an individual, the Social
Model affirms that people with disabilities
are not inherently disadvantaged, but are
made so by society's failure to address diverse
abilities and advocates for systemic change.
It normalizes disability as part
of human diversity, shifting how
disability is viewed in our culture. With its
proactive approach to eliminating barriers,
it can reduce discrimination claims. And programs
and services that are designed based on the social
model will prioritize accessibility which can
lead to innovations that benefit everyone,
not just those with disabilities. And with respect
to to employment practices, barrier elimination is
addressed through a range of policies, practices,
and benefits such as flexible work, adap- adaptive
technologies, accessible workplaces- workspaces,
uh benefits that address a range of abilities,
and a revolutionary accommodation process.
So while the model's been vital in shifting
perspectives away from seeing disability as
a personal or medical condition, um it should
be noted that it can downplay disabilities that
fluctuate in severity uh or the physical realities
of living with conditions such as uh cerebral
palsy, which can entail bodily limitations even
in fully accessible environments, um and the model
doesn't eliminate individual accommodations. But
regardless of its limitations, it does offer
a transformative framework that can empower
organizations to redefine their approach to
disability inclusion. Next slide please Francis.
So, universal design, accessibility, and
accommodation are embedded in Canadian
disability equity legislation, are practical
manifestations of the Social Model of disability,
and they collectively operate to create
environments that are inclusive and
supportive. Accessibility lays the groundwork by
addressing barriers. Universal design enhances
this by embedding inclusive principles into the
design process, and accommodation strives to
enable access tailored to individual needs
where universal design or accessibility
measures fall short. So while accommodation
complement accessibility and universal design,
it is associated with considerable stigma. Uh and
Francis did touch upon this in his presentation.
The accommodation process typically places
responsibility on the individual to ask for help,
uh which I believe is contrary to our culture
of independence and self-reliance. Uh and when
aligned with the Human Rights uh or Medical
Model of disability, it can require an onerous
process that can lack consistent understanding
and expertise, and application to remedy and
bury. But considering that failure to accommodate
is the most often cited ground, to the tune of
approximately 50%, uh in federal and provincial
human rights claims, prioritizing accommodation
is essential for fostering disability
inclusion. Without minimizing or dismissing
the legal obligations uh the stigma around
accommodation, in my experience, is related to
how it's administered, especially as noted earlier
when it's aligned to the Medical, Human Rights,
or Charity Models of disability. But what if uh
our workplace cultures normalized accommodation,
embedding and offering it versus making employees
ask for it, by committed knowledgeable leaders at
every stage of the employee life cycle as a
standard practice rather than an exception.
Although far from ideal, the destigmatization of
workplace mental health offers valuable insights
that can be directly applied to the broader effort
of normalizing workplace disability accommodation.
Both mental health and disability inclusion
share similar barriers such as stigma, lack
of awareness, and resistance to both requesting
and providing support. Next slide please Francis.
It's worth reviewing efforts that have generally
proven successful at destigmatizing mental health
at work, and consider their application to
disability accommodation. So I'm going to go
over these nine components um and just compare the
mental health and accommodation destigmatization.
So with respect to uh dialogue and normalizing
the conversation, the growing awareness of mental
health challenges and the integration of mental
health days, therapy benefits, and well-being
check-ins help to normalize mental health is
everyday work life. Discussions are encouraged
to promote the idea that it's okay to seek
help and support. So, similarly by normalizing
conversations around disability inclusion,
organizations can shift the perspective from
viewing accommodations as special treatment to
recognizing them as routine and an essential part
of making workplaces equitable. Robust dialogue
about accessibility, universal design, and
proactive accommodations contribute to a culture
where support is expected rather than exceptional.
In terms of training, um training leaders to
recognize signs of me- mental illness and respond
empathetically helps create a supportive culture.
Managers are taught how to confidently engage in
discussions and deescalate fear, and make mental
health part of routine conversations. And I'm
not suggesting that lead leaders diagnose or treat
but they can certainly be trained to offer support
and facilitate confidential referrals to subject
matter experts. Uh leaders can also be trained to
recognize diverse needs related to disabilities,
both visible and invisible, equipping them with
the tools to initiate proactive conversations
about accommodations can reduce fears and
foster belonging. So just as trained managers now
inquire about well-being, they can with training
confidently canvas accommodation needs. Related to
training, mental health destigmatization efforts
focus on dismantling stereotypes such as the
assumption that people with mental health
illnesses cannot be productive or successful. Now
the emphasis on abilities and contributions rather
than limitations, so dismantling stereotypes about
disabilities is critical. Often the assumption
is that employ employees with disabilities
require costly or burdensome accommodations
or that they're less capable. So by reframing
disability through the lens of skill, value,
and inclusion and alignment to the Social
Model, workplaces can foster a culture that
focuses on capabilities rather than deficits.
Uh with respect to confidentiality and trust,
employers are more- employees are are more
likely to disclose mental health issues if
they have trust that their concerns will be
handled confidentially and without judgment.
Mental health destigmatization emphasizes creating
safe spaces for disclosure. The same approach can
be applied to disability accommodation,
ensuring that accommodation requests are
treated with confidentiality and respect can
make employees feel safe to disclose needs
without fear of negative consequences, and trust
is a key factor as employees may need assurance
that when asking for accommod- that asking for
accommodation won't impact their job security or
career growth. Uh destigmatizing mental health has
led to more flexible policies, and flexibility is
equally critical for disability accommodations.
Uh promoting personalized solutions signals that
accommodation are not one size fits all, which can
help normalize their integration into workplace
practices. Um the stigmatizing- destigmatization
campaigns provide information on mental health,
reducing myth- myths, and offering resources um
promoting messages such as accommodations are a
fundamental right that supports everyone's success
in the workplace can be applied to disability
accommodation campaigns and regular campaigns that
explain what accommodations are, why they matter,
and how employees can address them help demystify
the process. Including success stories of
employees who have benefited from accommodations
can reduce stigma and empower employees to request
the support they need without feeling embarrassed.
Uh disability focused- can serve as advocates
for disability inclusion. So employees who are
part of these groups can share their experiences
with accommodation, increasing understanding,
and these groups can also lead awareness
campaigns. Uh in terms of preventive approaches,
organizations can take a proactive approach with
adjustable workstations, accessible technology
platforms, and flexible work options being
standard rather than reactive accommodations.
And finally mental health accommodations such
as flexible hours or wellness days have
become a routine part of workplace culture,
no longer viewed as exceptional. So by promoting,
integrating, and canvasing accommodation related
to every direct and indirect workplace activity,
uh disability accommodations can also become
routine. So I just want to wrap up by noting that
organizations can borrow from ongoing strategies
used to destigmatize workplace mental health, to
normalize disability accommodation. Both efforts
require a cultural shift towards inclusivity
and the recognition that all employees de-
deserve support, respect, and equitable access to
opportunities. Okay, next slide please Francis.
So um given given the expertise in this group,
I'm not going to detail all of the usual best
practices, um but I do want to focus on uh a
couple. So in terms of um disability inclusive
purpose, vision, and mission, research has
shown that organizations uh with a purpose,
vision, and mission that includes disability
inclusion tend to be more successful in
implementing inclusive practices. Um and then
the other piece I would like to focus on is
uh disability awareness training. So uh while
education alone cannot drive systemic change,
education provides a foundation for understanding
the complexities of disabilities, ableism, bias,
stereotypes, the model of disability, and best
practices for inclusion. And in addition to
equipping employees and leaders with the tools
and knowledge to create accessible environments,
it can support expectations to advance a culture
where disability inclusion is seen as everyone's
responsibility, not just managements and not just
uh human resources' responsibility. Um I think
education is essential uh to ensure that everyone
understands and consistently apply disability
inclusion principles without stigma or judgment.
Um and I've spoken ad nauseam about the ability to
prevent, recognize, and eliminate barriers, uh and
in my experience barrier recognition is a skill
that requires ongoing learning and dialogue
as barriers can be nuanced, are continuously
evolving, and can surface where they are least
expected. For- in for instance, accommodations
typically focus on work tasks but the workplace
is so much broader than the duties. Um you know
we need to start thinking about um building in
accessibility into staff events and trainings and
conferences. So Francis I think I'm interested
time, I'm going to move to the final slide.
Um so we talked about the you know the very common
best practices, and March of Dimes Canada has a
number of complimentary initiatives to advance
disability inclusion. Uh we have uh mental health
program, champions, destigmatization efforts, um
a variety of complimentary inclusion policies,
resources, and trainings. Uh we have
a central accommodation fund to reduce
barriers on individual departments. Uh we have
an accessibility-driven approach to recruitment,
onboarding, performance management, events. Um
we have numerous disability awareness campaigns
and a disability people accessibility working
group to ensure that we can embed disability
inclusion across all disciplines, uh to name
a few. But I do want to share um details with
you about a tool that we're currently piloting
um that can be applied to every employment or
service activity to advance disability inclusion.
Uh and it's called the Accessibility Lens Tool.
So it's the tool is borrowed, uh for anyone who's
familiar with um something called an Equity Lens
which is which has a broader application, but the
Accessibility Lens is a simple tool aligned to the
Social Model of disability and universal design
to help identify and address barriers experienced
by people with a disability. So the purpose of
the tool is to intentionally focus attention on
accessibility barriers and impacts on people
with disabilities when undertaking employment
related decision-making activities. It can also
be applied to services. So the tool introduces um
a set of approximately five to seven questions
to help decision makers focus on accessibility
in both their process and outcomes, drawing
attention to how their decisions can positively
or negatively impact people with disabilities.
The tool won't tell you what action to take,
rather it helps decision makers reflect on
accessibility in the early or design phase of a
process well before executing programs or services
or benefits. Uh the tool asks the decision maker
to consider a range of accessibility dimensions
related to stakeholder involvement process,
values, assumptions, and outcomes from a
perspective that highlights how processes
hold potential to enhance inclusion. Um so our
tool currently has approximately six questions
and we are piloting it across departments with
some large and small projects and I just want to
share with you some of the- like a sample of some
of the questions. Um so we so there's questions
and then there's several um bullets to sort of
trigger um engagement, so some of the questions
include: What particip- participatory structures
will be engaged to hear from diverse voices and
perspectives representing all abilities (so,
not just your DEI subject matter expert)? Um
what barriers may limit or exclude people with
a disability from participating engaging once
the decision is implemented? And it asks folks to
think about values, biases, assumptions, consider
and identify a range of barrier forms including
physical, attitudinal, cultural, systemic,
technological, communication, geographical, and
economic barriers. Um what assistive devices
including service animal or support person
may be necessary to address a broad range of
disabilities? What is the impact of the decision
upon people with a disability? Does the decision,
policy, program, etc. improve, worsen, or make
no change to people with disability? What actions
or revisions will be undertaken to mitigate
negative impacts and/or enhance accessibility?
So the- that's a sample of the questions, and
ideally you would apply this tool to all all
activities requiring both leadership awareness
and endorsement. Um and when taking your program
project to leadership you would include uh
what I've termed an accessibility impact
statement based on the tool questions, noting
activities undertaken in response to this tool
to address barriers. So that is a tool we're
piloting. Uh once it's endorsed I'm sure it
will be available to this group, and with that
I'm going to hand it back over to Francis.
Great thanks uh Kim. So we've talked a little bit
about the importance of creating and fostering
the disability inclusive culture and some of
the strategies to intentionally work towards
disability inclusion within an organization, some
specific tools, consideration, some different
process in terms of asking questions and making
sure that um thinking about accessibility from all
stages of uh creating a process or implementing a
program. Disability inclusion won't be sustained
if employers or leaders don't um ensure
accountability though. And I'm not talking
about the commitment from one or two leaders
within within an organization I want to talk
about um a more systematic and strategic way of
measuring culture change and monitoring and then
evaluating as well. So, Kim have spoken uh about
you know several ways of um helping influence
the cultural change to a more dis- disability
in- inclusive one. Um she's mentioned about
education and training, and we need to understand
that education and training generally aim for
correcting misinformation, right, and it deals
with inaccurate stereotypes and myths and things
like that. So when you try to measure change, you
need to have indicators that are specifically that
deals with those things. And other interventions
that could be in place within an organization
could be like, for example, bringing people with
this lived disabilities um experience to interact
with the rest of the organization or with the
public, describing the challenges and stories of
success. Um and and that could help overcome some
interpersonal divide, um you know, help reduce
that public stigma on a person-to-person uh basis
as well. And of course, you you you need to have
complaint mechanism as well because that help
mitigate power disadvantages um of people with
disabilities and and other um marginalized group.
So, when you think about these efforts that are
are being uh put in uh within organization um my
suggestion is to also develop some indicators that
are specific to them so that you can really
systematically evaluate how um the culture
is changing, evolving, and and how successful
you may be as an organization. So, I'm going to
borrow some uh wisdom from a report that I read
um that was uh done by The Institute of Work and
Health um for the ESDC, and they suggested two
types of indicators: uh the process indicators
and the results indicators. And the process
indicators help you kind of monitor the number
and the types of activities that are being carried
out, and that could be very useful for actually
analyzing cost and time that you invested in a
particular initiative. Um and compared to other
programs and campaigns that may have already been
taken place or is happening simultaneously. The
results indicators are more about the uh intended
objectives and whether you're able to achieve it
through a particular initiative or or intervention
or activity, and and that could be at different
levels, you can look at the outputs. So for
example, counting how how many people completed
the training, and that could be useful to compare
to perhaps maybe the employees demographics um and
participation in other initiatives. And then you
can also have outcome indicators, which would be
more focusing on sort of the longer term effect.
So how much knowledge and attitude and perception
have changed um within organization, and may you
may need to do some survey or some focus group you
know to look at those things. And then you need
to have bigger impact indicators as well. So,
it's the prevalence of discrimination towards
people with disabilities that actually been
reduced. So that may be something that you would
look at if there's complaints, um is there any uh
challenges in return to work directly related to
disabilities. So the monitoring and the evaluation
is quite crucial um for an organization to make
sure things are happening. Um monitoring to me is
more like internal, ongoing during the initiative,
and that helps um supports accountability,
and it also gives you opportunity to tweak things,
right? So, if you a leading initiative for um
disability inclusion and there's not enough
participation then you might need to change
in terms of your communication strategies and
so forth. Evaluation is kind of um taking place
periodically or at the end of an initiative, and
that could be done internal or external depending
on kind of uh how objectives or uh that you wanted
to do this. And this focuses more on the final,
like that um uh overall goal you know, and and
that provides accountability. And important
things I want to point out here though is when
you're track when you're tracking, monitoring
things and you evaluating things it is important
to not just focus on showcasing the achievement,
but also focus on the um the the changes in any
magnitudes, whether it's positive or uh negative.
Okay, so in the interest of time I'm summarize
um what we talked about today. Uh we went
through a lot of ideas, um but essentially
all organizations need to uh create and and
foster a disability inclusive culture. The culture
change needs to start sooner, rather than later,
because disability inclusion is a journey.
Organizations need to understand the Social
Model of disability that Kim has mentioned,
and the principles of disability inclusion
such as "nothing without us." There needs to be
intentional effort to normalize and destigmatize
disability, embrace diversity, recognize
differences, and accommodate needs. Needs go
beyond legal compliance and pursue accessibility
excellence. Organization needs to be accountable,
establish indicators in order to monitor
progress and evaluate outputs and outcomes
specific to disability inclusivity.
Leadership needs to be authentic and
needs to avoid window dressing. Disability
inclusion is more than just hiring more
people disabilities, it's about participation,
opportunities, dignity, and autonomy as well.
With that, I'm going to show you a page
of references, um happy to share that with
anyone who wants to look at that a little bit
more in detail. Um and of course we want to
invite you to stay in touch with us, and there's
different ways to do that. Um of course joining
the IDEA distribution list um and you can also
join um March of Dimes- sorry March of Dimes
Disability Advocacy Network. And uh we
have our emails um here, as well. Sorry,
just going back and forth, that you can, I
don't know why it's doing, that um that you
can email us as well. Okay um, I'm going to
turn it back to Dan for questions and answer.
Yeah thank you so much Kim and Francis, and
that is an extremely cute dog for anyone,
uh just in case the slide right now has a very
adorable dog on it, uh for our Q&A slide. Um
so yeah now we are in the Q&A portion. Just in
case, if you do have a question please use the
Q&A function in Zoom, uh that's where I'll take
your questions and then share them with Kim and
Francis. I just want to note too the talk
today um it's a really meaningful one and
a very important one. I really appreciate how you
started with these conceptual ideas, principles,
and moved into actions. Uh on the previous slide,
there is information on emails and this sort of
thing. In case you don't get that information
please email us at IDEA and we'll make sure you
can get in touch with Kim and Francis if you'd
like, uh if you're interested in things like
the Accessibility Lens Tool and otherwise. So,
our first question for you is: do you have any
stories of cultural change? Um you know like
cultural change is a very a big thing, do you
have any kind of um examples of you know perhaps
a manager or an organization that was perhaps
not as inclusive or not as aware and shifted
towards the direction that you're discussing?
I don't know if Kim wants to grab this,
but I I'll try to take a stab that is um,
I don't have any specific um story as that comes
to mind. Um but um what I would say is that um the
the the conversation about culture change, it's
not um rare um when when we are um working with
employers or working with um other organizations
that may be work in um in in this space. Um the
what I find that is uh sometimes challenging is
that people knows that the culture needs to shift,
but being able to intentionally and systematically
work on things to drive that change is where is um
sometimes it's a little bit more troublesome.
So, you know, people would tend to focus on a
particular uh resource that they can share
with the employees, and um you know uh uh,
maybe a particular um disability awareness
campaign that they do as a one off, and maybe
they'll do it periodically when they feel that,
you know, folks are a little bit stale about
those things. Um but but what I found in some
of the conversations that we have um about the
culture is that there hasn't been a consistent,
intentional ways of doing that, um even though
there's that real recognition that yeah something
needs to shift here and and there's sometimes
there's a bit of a blame on the leadership um and
the employers of of not fostering that culture but
but the culture isn't just something that the
leader um is responsible for right it's it's
the entire organization as well. If you if you're
going around and you're not um you know talking
about uh disability in the right ways yourself,
um it it rubs on other people as well. It's not
just what leadership and employers you
know the top, that tells you what to do.
I can, I can add to that. I did work with
an organization um several years ago who uh
spearheaded a cultural change through their
commitment to mental health. Uh they had a
really progressive mental health approach,
um and I would say that they they led their
culture change through that approach, and so
I actually borrowed um some of the components
from their program when I was thinking about
advancing disability inclusion. So, it wasn't,
I mean, uh disability inclusion was advanced
through that commitment to mental health,
but the it was led through
the lens of mental health.
Thank you, and so our next question
is about intersectionality. Um the
the question asker uh mentions that, you know,
disability is often viewed as this monolith,
um but that there can be multiple uh experiences
of disadvantage and mistreatment. So the idea
that you know someone with a disability
may not be believed when they are trying
to access uh supports. But we can also have uh
disadvantages like anti-black racism and the
impacts of colonialism for Indigenous folks. Uh so
to understand, you know, do you have any feedback
on incorporating uh intersectional perspectives
into this kind of work around culture.
Yeah, I can I can jump in and then Francis maybe
you can add. Um I think the simple response,
although it's not a simple activity is to
always approach this work with an intersectional
lens um because we don't know what folks
bring to the workplace. Um so if you go back
to applying the mental health lens right, and
building trust and normalizing conversations,
um you can you can learn about folks and you
can learn about their individual needs, right,
through those conversations and trust.
Um but I I really think it's crucial
that you come to this work um recognizing
that intersectionality disadvantages um folks
disproportionately. So is there anything
you want to add Francis, about that?
Yeah, what I would just quickly add is that um uh
intersectionality and disability inclusion are not
two different things to be addressed separately,
you know they always have to be together I think.
Um and when I think about it from a workplace
culture perspective, um what it boils down
to me is that you need to understand the people,
you know, and and you need to be prepared that
you are welcoming for all walks of lives right.
And and it's not just like intersectionality um
talks about the different um inter- intersections
between identity. Um and identity is not the same
for uh even within one person with disability
and another person with the same disability,
the the way that they identify themselves could
be quite different as well. So really need to
look at the the person um um um individually
and and not um separate things out. Um the
other thing that I would also mention, um is that
is that normalization, you know. The um I have
to be careful because disability uh people with
disability sometimes they they employ concealment
strategies, and and and when it comes to this um
intersectionality in relation to you know gender
identity and and and sexual orientation, things
like that, um those kind of concealment strategies
will also um happen. So so for me it's more about
normalizing the conversation, um and uh yeah.
Thank you, and I think we probably have time
for about one, maybe two more questions. So,
sorry to anyone who asked a question that we
won't get to. If we don't get to your question,
please send us an email or send our speakers
an email. We want to make sure, you know,
this is one hour but the conversation
needs to go much more than an hour for
sure. Um our next question is when you're
making the case for cultural change,
uh what is your experience been with the
business case? Uh in relation especially
to engaging with employers and the kind of
financial elements that are often focused on.
Sure. Um I can start with that. Um so uh yes,
the business case important. The financial
aspect of things depends on the interest of
the employer, um I think. Um in in our world,
because March of Dimes is primarily a charitable
um nonprofit organization providing services,
um we have funding that from government and other
sources and so forth. So sometimes the focus is
more about um the placement of the person with
disability and providing that supports to um
um help that employers uh on board of that
individual. Um so so, the the business case
is most of the time is built around helping that
uh employers with with the recruitment effort,
so that they don't have to do their own um,
you know, uh candidate screening for example,
and and give them some confidence on on that they
were going to get the right candidate that can do
the job, help them ensure that they can onboard
them and train them properly, because some of
them are a little bit hesitant about hiring people
disability just because they're not familiar with
what their needs may be. So so the business case
from my experience uh with this kind of context,
so generally build around what we can help the
employers to kind of save time, um and um and
and making sure that they have a person that
they they they can um work with for much longer
term and that does happen in in situations where
employers um had experience with with people um
with high turn turnover. Um so the the the more
high level of financial aspect on things, how
disability um how hiring people with disabilities
can kind of change your your organization's um uh
financial resources, and and uh help improves
your productivity and and your your your GDP
and those kind of things is a bit high level. We
would um talk about that um when we are orienting
employers to the concept of disability inclusion,
uh but more so focus on that recruitment um needs.
Yeah, there's I also think there's a reputational
element to it too. Um there's quite an appetite,
I think, among many employers to want to
hire people with disabilities. I mean at
the federal level, there's um you know there's
obligations to do so. Um I've only worked for
employers that are not federally regulated
and yet every single one of them has had
an equity policy that includes people with
disabilities. So, I think it also comes back
to education um and and who the you know who-
who the employer wants to identify as. So I
agree with Francis in terms of the financial
component to the business case, but I also
think it it is reputation and it is culture.
So those things play into the business case.
Thank you both so much. And so we're just about at
our time so I'll wrap up now. Uh but I just really
want to show appreciation for you sharing both
in your your expertise on this subject matter.
Uh we do this month have two webinars, rather
than just the usual one. Uh so I want to flag
that the next one is October 25th from noon to
1. Uh it's a really really exciting webinar we're
gonna have Dr _______ uh from Bangalore speak
with us. Um we're really lucky to be having her
join us. Um it's a big time difference,
but she'll still join us from noon to 1,
so appreciative of that. Uh and she is
one of the foremost researchers on, kind
of applied disability inclusion and management
and organizational issues in the world, uh and
when I started working in this space some time
ago, she was almost one of the only or perhaps
the only one in an academic space talking about
career success, talking about career advancement,
uh rather than this former focus on entry-level
jobs and this sort of thing. So someone who
has a wealth of knowledge, and also a wealth of
knowledge from a different context than uh who
we often hear from. So, I hope you can make it
and learn from Dr _______. Uh you'll get a note
on that if you are on our mailing list and again,
as always, email us. Um so thank you everyone for
being a part of this, uh participants, attendees,
and our speakers, and also just a big thank you to
our team: _______, Therese Salenieks, Sabrina
Chaudhry, Emile Tompa, and Rebecca Gewurtz,
and a special thank you to our French
language interpreter Michelle ______. Uh
we hope to see you at the next webinar, and
yeah have a nice Friday afternoon. Goodbye.