How hiring people with disabilities can revolutionise your company

Shortly after Derek Bove joined Indeed as the product manager for accessibility, a former colleague called him. After congratulating him on his new role, Bove’s friend, who is blind, explained that one of the biggest barriers to blind people living a full life is finding a job.

‘For many people, myself included, a job can provide purpose’, Bove says. ‘It can give us stability and help us provide for our families – it is an integral part of who we are as individuals’. Bove scribbled down what his friend said, and he has kept the note as an enduring reminder of his and the company’s mission to help all people get jobs. 

Over one million people of working age in Australia identify as having a disability, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Often, these individuals exemplify the qualities that any company would prize in a prospective employee: adaptability, resourcefulness, tenacity and a capacity to overcome significant challenges. 

Here’s a look at the benefits of hiring people with disabilities – and how doing so can revolutionise your company. 

Reasons to hire people with disabilities

Employees with disabilities help to diversify a workplace, providing valuable new perspectives and demonstrating a company’s commitment to equity, inclusion and accessibility. And research shows that diverse teams produce better work.

Diversity can also improve your company’s products. Indeed’s commitment to accessibility and the company’s larger Environmental Social Governance efforts help make Indeed more usable – and useful – to job seekers with disabilities.

And yet, people with disabilities are often overlooked

Despite these tangible advantages, people with disabilities experience persistently lower rates of employment than the general population. The labour force participation rate – the percentage of the population that’s employed – was 45% for working-age Australians with disabilities in 2018 compared to 84% for those without a disability. 

In part, this is because employers fail to understand the scope of available talent and the potential benefits of hiring people with disabilities. Job seekers with a disability are consistently being overlooked by employers, Bove says, since many employers harbour misconceptions about the potential costs of accommodating an individual’s specific needs.

In most cases, government funding is available for the cost of these accommodations. The Employment Assistance Fund helps employers provide work-related modifications, equipment, services and support for employees with disabilities. Eligibility requirements for the fund are broad, as the aim is to get more Australians with disabilities into the workforce. A Wage Subsidy Scheme is also available to provide employers with an incentive to offer ongoing work to people with disabilities.

In addition, by hiring people with disabilities, a company becomes a better reflection of its consumer base. With 20% of the Australian population identifying as having some kind of disability, they are a significant section of the market. And hiring people with disabilities is shown to lead to higher revenues, net income and profit margins. Failing to consider workers with disabilities in hiring practices could mean passing up a critical and highly valuable talent pool. 

For companies convinced of the need to attract talented workers who happen to have a disability, it can be difficult to know what best practices are. 

The Fair Work Act 2009 makes it illegal to discriminate against someone due to physical or mental disability. This includes hiring and promotion practices, and terms and conditions of employment. Employers are expected to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to accommodate the disability if the person is otherwise suitable for the job. However, the COVID-19 pandemic saw an 87% increase in complaints to the Human Rights Commission in 2021-22, with over 50% of them being complaints under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. So it’s understandable why disabled workers can feel apprehensive about sharing this part of themselves in the hiring process, which can complicate communication about needs and accommodations.

According to Donna Bungard, senior marketing accessibility program manager at Indeed, companies can demonstrate that they offer an accessible workplace long before an individual submits their job application.

‘At every stage, work to remove “otherness”,’ she advises. ‘Include the voice and image of employees with a disability in your website, media and any other way your organisation represents itself – and not simply because of the person’s disability. It’s the difference between showcasing a chef who inspires you because he cooks with a disability and a chef who inspires you with great food, and he happens to be disabled. Hiring is always about focusing on the abilities of the applicants. This doesn’t change because of disability. And if disability is normalised in your company culture, it will show’.

Businesses and marketers have started to get to grips with this normalisation by showing diversity and inclusivity in their advertising. Recent examples include BUPA’s FLEXtras Podiatry ad and Australia Post’s 'delivering like never before’ campaign.

Creating a more accessible hiring process

To help ensure your hiring process is inclusive and encourages individuals with disabilities to apply for roles that they might otherwise feel excluded from, it’s important to provide clear language up front, whether that’s in the job posting itself or in advance of an interview.

‘When I was interviewing for my current role, I was asked whether I had any requirements for the interview – whether it was okay for us to use Zoom, and so on’, Bove says. ‘This opened up the conversation about what accommodations might be needed’. When employers list the software needed to carry out a job’s responsibilities, candidates can judge for themselves how accessible those platforms are, which will help inform their application.

According to Bungard, disabilities broadly fit into one or more of six categories: cognitive, mobility, audio, visual, intellectual and emotional. While hiring managers can be mindful of the needs of each category (and may be required by law to provide baseline accommodations, such as ensuring wheelchair access, providing space for a service animal, enabling live captioning on video calls and enunciating clearly to accommodate lip-readers), Bungard points out that every human body, regardless of disability status, is different.

‘Ask all applicants, regardless of whether they present as having a disability, what their access needs are’, she says. ‘Be willing to be accommodating and go from there. The idea is to create a welcoming, open space where people feel comfortable disclosing their needs without fearing that doing so will cause them to be passed over for a role’.

Making your onboarding inclusive

Bungard also encourages companies to provide multiple ways for new hires to take in onboarding information.

‘Some people learn better with videos, others prefer text content, others would rather talk it out’, she says. ‘Create multiple pathways to success and let them choose their own adventure’.

Employers must also be mindful of initial interactions between a new hire with a disability and the rest of the team. ‘Before you introduce an individual, ask them if they’re comfortable saying a few words about themselves first’, she adds. ‘And, crucially, introduce individuals as you would any other hire, to underscore the message that disability is normal’.

While not everyone identifies as a person with a temporary or permanent disability, Bungard points out that every individual in any organisation has needs – working conditions, schedules or arrangements that enable them to work successfully and efficiently. ‘The idea is to break down societal barriers so that people can accomplish things for themselves’, Bungard says. ‘Companies that make meaningful provisions around accessibility show staff and potential employees that they respect them enough not to get in their way’.

Support for people with disabilities will benefit the entire organisation

The benefits of becoming a more accessible, inclusive company can be profound. In addition to increasing the pool of competent and qualified talent who will apply to work for you, demonstrating an inclusive culture is attractive to all types of potential employees, as well as consumers.

‘Customers take notice and are interested in the brand story’, Bove says. ‘Knowing that a company is inclusive and cares about diversity enough to ensure access needs are met for all employees – including those who are disabled – may mean as much, or more to customers, as having a bug-free product’. 

Employees with disabilities can offer alternative, creative perspectives on how to tackle challenges. ‘They’re going to give you perspective on your products and services that others may not have’, Bove says. 

Inclusive workplaces can improve the public perception of a company and impact how employees view their place of work. Employees who perceive their organisation to be committed to diversity and who feel included are 80% more likely to believe they work in a ‘high-performing organisation’. 

‘As much as people focus on the barriers that stand in the way of the disabled community, it is, in fact, everyone else who is missing out’, Bungard says. ‘These are creative, dedicated members of the workforce, and if they’re not a part of your company, you’re missing out on all they can contribute’.