People with disabilities are opening up at work, and the human resources department has a role to play in this. According to a Deloitte report called Disability Inclusion @ Work 2024: A Global Outlook, 99.6 per cent of respondents who identified as a person with a disability for the purposes of the survey said they have disclosed at work (vs. 88 per cent of the overall sample). Also, these respondents were more likely than the overall sample to disclose to a person in HR or their direct supervisor, but less likely to disclose to members of their team or other colleagues outside their team. A good 78 per cent respondents disclosed their disability to an HR person at work, while a significant 73 per cent of respondents who have disclosed their disability at work and 79 per cent of those who identify as a person with a disability admit to having spoken about it to their direct superior.
Since the HR is the one tasked with training to reduce bias against people with disabilities, they are the ones who first need to be approachable. If they are to successfully celebrate diversity, recognise the contributions of PwDs and acknowledge their strengths, they have to ensure that PwDs are comfortable discussing their issues with them. Unless the HR establishes a good rapport with the PwDs in the organisation, they will not be able to develop suitable mentorship programmes to support their career advancement. And isn’t it the HR’s responsibility to prioritise accessibility across the workplace, from physical spaces to technology?
Between January and April 2024, Deloitte Global surveyed 10,000 people with disabilities or chronic health conditions or who are neurodivergent in workplaces across 20 countries. All respondents were in full- or part-time jobs. The respondents spanned 20 countries—Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United Kingdom, and the United States—and 10 economic sectors.
The survey posed a simple question, ‘Who of the following have you disclosed your disability to at work?’
In response, 78 per cent of all respondents who have disclosed at work said they did so to a person in HR, while 84 per cent of those who identify as a person with a disability have disclosed to a person in HR. Clearly, this has happened because the HR has worked towards establishing that level of comfort with the employees.
A good 73 per cent of all respondents who have disclosed and 79 per cent of those who identify as a person with a disability have said they spoke to their director superior. Forty-three per cent of all respondents who have disclosed, and 45 per cent of those who identify as a person with a disability, have spoken to a member of the recruitment or onboarding team.
About 35 per cent of all respondents who have disclosed and 33 per cent of those who identify as a person with a disability admit to having spoken about it to a member of their team who is not senior to them.
There are also respondents (31 per cent) who have disclosed and those identify as a person with a disability (30 per cent) said they did so through their employer’s Human Resources Information System (HRIS ).
Thirty one per cent of all respondents who have disclosed and 28 per cent of those who identify as a person with a disability have disclosed to other colleagues outside their team.
Twenty-nine per cent of all respondents who have disclosed and 30 per cent of those who identify as a person with a disability say they spoke with a member of an employee resource group in the organisation.
