Category: Employment

Diversity, Disability and Disbelief

A young man stands between library book shelves. He has a large book open in his hands. Diversity, disability and disbelief.Diversity, disability and disbelief jointly create barriers to creating an inclusive workplace. When the disability isn’t obvious, disbelief by others becomes another barrier to inclusion. Owning up and spelling out what you need is painful enough. So not being believed is the final straw. If you have a mental health condition this can be devastating. A personal story by a library employee highlights how attitudes are just as important as any physical workplace accommodations.

The title of the article is, The Impact of Disbelief: On Being a Library Employee with a Disability. You will need institutional access for a free read or ask for a free copy from ResearchGate.

From the abstract:

As a library employee with a hidden disability (post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]), just going through the accommodation process is difficult. The process is invasive and includes an in-depth interview with a disability specialist who knows nothing about you.

The process also requires a letter from a care provider detailing both the accommodation and why it is necessary. So, the person must first be diagnosed by a medical professional or a psychiatrist. The process is made more difficult and painful when supervisors and administrators do not recognize the validity of the condition for which the accommodation is needed.

This paper explores the accommodation process, its impact on the employee, and the politics and psychology of disbelief and suspicion. Through the lens of personal experience and reflection, I will explore how the library can be a place of ableist views that limit the abilities and potential of employees with disabilities. I will also provide guidelines for combating ableism in the library workplace.

There is a companion article Disability, the Silent D in Diversity, which gives the library experience of wanting to have diversity, but not wanting it to be too difficult.

Diversity and inclusion: why don’t they care?

A bearded man in a white shirt leans back from his desk and computer. He is laughing and has a sticker on his forehead that reads, be happy.When the terms ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ fall on certain ears, it raises hackles and is considered a big problem. The Fifth Estate has published a very interesting article titled, Why people hate on diversity and inclusion (and how to get them not to). It’s by the CEO of Diversity Council Australia, Lisa Annese. She quotes David Gaider, “Privilege is when you think something is not a problem because it’s not a problem to you personally.”

Annese discusses the research that shows the more diverse a company’s workforce, the more satisfied the whole workplace is. And that leads to improved productivity. It should also lead to better service for their customers. They are a diverse lot too!

Designing for workplace diversity

An office with desks in a row with computer screens and people sitting at the desks.An inclusive workplace is one that values individual differences and makes people feel welcome and accepted. Designing for workplace diversity and inclusivity means considering the issues from the outset. Checking out existing workplace policies to see how inclusive they are is a good start. 
As Pragya Agarwal says in her article on Forbes website, “Inclusive Design is not an afterthought… it has to be planned beforehand…”This also means that employees are not segregated based on any special requirements they might have. This is a thoughtful article and gives examples throughout. It is good to see universal design and inclusive thinking applied to both the physical and cultural aspects of the workplace.  The aim of a “diversity manager” is to make themselves obsolete – that is, the job is done.

From diversity to inclusion at work

A mosaic of many different faces and nationalitiesThere’s no one right way to measure workplace diversity and business performance. According to a systematic review, equality and diversity need to be “embedded in the business strategy, not treated as an ad-hoc addition”.

Consistent with all universal design thinking – it has to be thought of from the outset.  Then thought about throughout the design process, whether it is a building, a service or a business policy and strategy. The research was commissioned by the Design Council. The findings make for interesting reading because they discuss the benefits as well as some of the drawbacks that need managing along the way. There are several references to original research included in the article. 

Here is a quote from the Design Council report:

“Benefits of diversity and inclusion are found to include: reduced costs; improved resourcing of talented personnel; better products and services; enhanced corporate image; improved creativity and problem-solving; better decision making; innovation; greater flexibility; increased productivity; improved organisational performance and efficiency; enhanced trust in relationships, satisfaction and commitment within the workforce; and improved customer relations and service delivery.” (Rohwerder, 2017, p.2)

Diversity and inclusion needs to be managed well. If not, it can lead to conflict and loss of productivity. However, some research suggests that a difficult start can still lead to productive results in the longer term. Hence, diversity becomes the norm for an inclusive workplace.

Will you hire me?

Front cover of report showing hands and a keyboardInclusive employment practice is not usual employment practice. While businesses might have a positive attitude towards the diverse nature of their customer base this does not always apply to their recruitment practices. But a handful of organisations are giving it a try. The Australian Network on Disability (AND), which specialises in assisting organisations to be more inclusive in their human resource practices, has developed an index. This year the top performers are the Federal Department of Human Services, the Australian Taxation Office and ANZ. AND has just published their 2017-2018 benchmark report. It can be downloaded in PDF, Word, video or podcast.  

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