Ep 368: Employee Engagement & Disability

People with disabilities represent 15% of the global population but are often left out of diversity initiatives, programs, surveys, and even basic conversations about workplace inclusion. Recent research from Global Disability inclusion and Mercer on the engagement gap of employees with disabilities shows a difference in some areas of up to 13% lower than non-disabled colleagues.

So with many employers seeking to do better with equity, inclusion and belonging, what can they be doing to address this problem.

To help us get some more insights into the issues, my guests this week are the research report authors Meg O’Connell, CEO & Founder of Global Disability Inclusion and Pete Rutigliano, Senior Principal at Mercer.

In the interview, we discuss:

• The State of Disability Employee Engagement Study

• Employer attitudes to disabilities

• Attitudinal barriers and dispelling myths

• Research methodology and scope

• Reasons for the engagement gap

• The employee experience for people with disabilities

• Building the right level of trust to allow people to be themselves

• Hidden disabilities

• The benefits of inclusion

• Lessons from the pandemic

• Hopes and predictions for the coming years

Listen to this podcast in Apple Podcasts.