Originally we wanted to tell stories, through print media, of people living with a disability being employed, and what that meant for them. We wanted to get across in our stories the employers perspective and how any barriers were overcome to employing a person with a disability, as well as finding out how other employees and customers interact with the individual.
There was the expected feedback from the focus group:
- Health and Safety concerns
- people being upfront about their disability / issues
- concerns with a persons capability to do the job
- queries about how a person would fit in with the team
Unexpected feedback though was that the employers didn't think that skills and experience were that crucial, but what was really important to them was that the person is:
- trustworthy
- a good listener
- team player
- reliable
The most important feedback from the focus group though was that having 'experience' someone with a disability in the workplace, or in their personal life dramatically increased the likelihood of them employing a disabled person themselves.
The light came on!
Their clear message to us was therefore that we needed to find a way for as many employers as possible to experience disability.
We've done some soul searching and decided that media articles alone would not provide the catalyst that we are looking for to break down the barriers of employing a disabled person.
So along with the crucial element of providing the experience we also felt that maybe our message would be stronger if we also looked for support and buy-in from employer groups, organisations and the media to hear the success stories from current employers and employees.
The best way to achieve this - target the key decision makers such as HR specialists and leaders of larger businesses, and get them in one room to hear the stories and experience the disability, maybe for just one day.
We want to enable employers to meet and engage with disabled people to give them greater confidence and understanding of the capabilities and opportunities and to see past the disability. We want employers to be more informed and think differently about employing a disabled person.
We're now planning a fabulous free event - 'Just One Day' where people will discover opportunities - not disabilities.
Find out more about 'Just One Day' next week....
Jenny Smith - Executive Assistant / Communications and Marketing
