Panel Discussion | Employing The First Step For A Billion Success Stories

Persons with disabilities are competing for employment where there are unequal opportunities. How to bridge the gap?

(L-R) Shishir Bhatnagar, Ankit Rajiv Jindal, Ekta Bhyan and Pawas Anand.

Courtesy - The Quint

[This story has been produced as part of #ABillionVoices campaign ahead of #IDPWD2023. Learn more about Accenture's Disability Inclusion initiative.]

According to the United Nations, about 90% of persons with disabilities in developing countries remain unemployed. The statistics are staggering and heavily under-reported in countries like India.

India Inc organisations have put concerted efforts to create awareness around the subject, addressed the specific needs of persons with disabilities, and are bridging the gap. Ever since the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, they have strived to design disabled-inclusive workspaces, held sensitisation workspaces, hired role models who have proved their mettle against the odds, and kick-started multiple support networks. But is that enough?

"Even today, children with disabilities are not getting admission to schools. The literacy rate in our community is less than 35%. It is much less among women with disabilities. Furthermore, persons with disabilities are competing for employment where there are no equal opportunities. In other words, we are still not part of the mainstream."

Ekta Bhyan, Paralympian and District Employment Officer at CCS HAU

Persons with disabilities, since the beginning, have to confront three big challenges: attitudinal, awareness and accessibility. They must overcome unconscious bias, root out stigma and demonstrate to the world the competitive advantages they bring to any institution they would onboard. It, therefore, becomes vital for professors, academics, hiring managers and leaders to think beyond the conventional mold of desired skill sets in a potential candidate.

"If the leader at the top understands that we can really tap the wider talent pool by not limiting ourselves to the able-bodied people, then we truly have access to the right kind of people.”

Pawas Anand, HR Lead - Strategy, Consulting & Corporate Functions, Accenture

Persons with disabilities can build an organisation's competitive advantage in several ways. They bring on onboard unique talents around problem-solving and critical thinking. They elevate the culture of the organisation by making it more collaborative and help boost productivity through team-building exercises. Overall, the ethos of inclusivity enhances an organisation's value proposition with fellow industry clients and contemporaries and can result in long-term partnerships.

So what more can organisations do to enable persons with disabilities in the workplace? They can provide assistance for diagnosis, workplace adjustments, assistive technology that supports cognitive disabilities and coaching for neurodiverse colleagues to start.

Our panel discussion not only identified these gaps in the current ecosystem that persons with disabilities have to overcome regularly. It also exchanged creative solutions that leaders can implement to make their work culture more diverse, equal, and truly disabled-inclusive.

Watch the video above to learn more about these practices and how to implement them at your workplace.