A note on language

In this toolkit, we use both ‘disabled people’ and ‘people with disabilities’ to reflect the different global and personal preferences we know exist within our global community.

If writing for a UK audience, then ‘disabled people’ is often preferred over ‘people with disabilities.’ This recognises that people are ‘disabled’ by society’s response to them or by their long-term condition. For a global audience, ‘people with disabilities’ is generally preferred as it sees the person before their disability.

For more information on the different ways people talk about disability, see our report ‘‘Lost in translation?’ A global guide to the language of disability.’

The benefits of a global business disability inclusion strategy

The research clearly showed the benefits of implementing a global strategy for disability inclusion, with over 80 percent reporting:

• Improvements for disabled colleagues and customers on a global scale.
• Access a wider pool of talent
• A driver for employee motivation
• A positive impact on sales and opportunities
• Supported business objectives.

The dream versus reality

Over 90 percent of the respondents stated that ‘disability inclusion is the right thing to do’ at a global level – but only about 20 per cent had a global strategy for disability inclusion in place and resourced. The rest reported that their organisation had made one or more commitment to disability inclusion at a central level.

Why the discrepancy between the belief and reality in action? The likely answer is the potential challenges that can make this project complex. For example, the study also identified several common barriers to creating a global strategy for disability inclusion including:

• Cultural differences in the way disability is understood
• Levels of engagement with disability and accessibility in some countries
• Varying legal requirements between countries
• Resources and systematic data collection
• Gaining the commitment of local champions and managers

See ‘Developing a Global Disability Inclusion Strategy – Key challenges’ for advice on addressing the key challenges.

Podcast – ‘If you don’t mind me asking…’ with LaMondre Pugh

In this episode, Lucy and Dan are joined by LaMondre Pough, CEO of Billion Strong, an organisation aimed at empowering disabled people all over the world. LaMondre talks about his early childhood, how dangerous assumptions can potentially change the trajectory of a person’s life and career and the positive influence of his mother and sister.

You can connect with LaMondre here: Linkedin and Twitter.

Towards a disability-smart world – Key findings

A majority of global organisations taking part in the online survey were considering or evolving and embedding their global disability inclusion strategies. At the time of writing this report, a minority were active, engaged and fully resourcing theirs (23 per cent).

Participants shared some lessons they had learned and a number of common themes developed:

• Developing a global disability inclusion strategy needs a sustained approach: do not underestimate the time it may take and celebrate all the steps you take in between.
• Focus on your intentions and not perfection: the complexity of this task can be overwhelming, so it is important to have realistic expectations and not let the scale of the task mean doing nothing at all.
• There are many potential catalysts for change: participants often noted they needed a number of ‘allies’ and key drivers in place and often worked hard on developing and aligning inclusion incentives at both local and central levels.
• Seek the support of senior leaders at the earliest opportunity: once there, engagement and collaboration at a global level will gain traction at a faster pace.
• Don’t work in isolation: build on successful efforts already underway in other strands of inclusion. Collaborate with colleagues inside, and network with those outside, your organisation. Many are willing to share experiences.

You can read the rest of the report, including other findings and research methodology, in ‘Towards a Disability-Smart World: Global Disability Inclusion Strategy report.’

Towards a disability-smart world – Key learnings

The research highlights some fundamental lessons:

• Do not be overwhelmed: start off small and, once you have gathered evidence of impacts and successes in your organisation, scale up. Do this by prioritising projects or locations for inclusion activities, or both. Do not let the scale of the task be the reason for doing nothing.
• Identify a senior global disability champion as early as possible: having a senior global disability champion is essential for influencing senior managers globally to take action and ensuring all employees understand the importance of inclusion.
• Disability impacts on every aspect of the organisation: establish a forum and gain commitment from senior colleagues across a range of functional areas such as recruitment, HR, the built environment and digital technology. Please refer to the Global Business Disability Framework (Business Disability Forum) in Appendix A of this report for ideas.
• Engage leads at regional and local levels to understand the objectives of a global strategy and work to implement it at a local level: working collaboratively on this will empower colleagues to interpret global commitments to disability in ways that are culturally and legally appropriate for their country.

Disability inclusion may be very new for some locations which means the central role is often a nurturing one. Provide motivation, resources and an environment for local leads to connect to each other. One strong message from participants in the research is not to under-estimate the complexity of a global disability strategy and how long it might take. Be patient and focus on intentions.

“Respect the challenges that come with becoming a disability-smart organisation but don’t be overawed by them. It’s better to just start and learn as you go, rather than trying to line up your perfect strategy.”

• Research participant

You can read the rest of the report, including other findings and research methodology, in ‘Towards a Disability-Smart World: Global Disability Inclusion Strategy report.’

Current context

• 23 per cent of respondents said their organisations were resourcing a global disability strategy at the time of the survey and another 57 per cent were considering or starting to embed.
• 91 per cent agreed that identifying a senior global disability champion as early as possible was essential to the success of a global disability inclusion programme.

Motivation and consistency

“Disability inclusion is the right thing to do”

• 96 per cent agreed this motivation was important in their organisation (76 per cent stated it was very important).
• 50 per cent agreed this was an important motivator in all or most locations they operated in, 42 per cent in some locations.

“Disability inclusion supports achieving our business objectives”

• 84 per cent agreed this motivation was important in their organisation (56 per cent stated it was very important).
• 31 per cent agreed this was an important motivator in all or most locations they operated in, 52 per cent in some locations.

Key learnings

“It is important to allow countries to adapt processes and standards related to disability inclusion in their own way”

• 84 per cent agreed with this statement (43 per cent agreed strongly).

“Learning from previous work in other areas of diversity e.g. gender has been useful in shaping our global approach to disability inclusion”

• 73 per cent agreed with this statement (24 per cent agreed strongly).

Base: Online survey all respondents considering/active in a global strategy and answering the question (70).