International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2023: Positively Purple

#PositivelyPurple is a global movement that celebrates and draws attention to the contribution of employees with disabilities around the world.

In this podcast, Stuart Brain, Chair of Companies House Ability Network, and Michelle Wall, executive board champion for equality, diversity and inclusion and executive sponsor of the Ability Network, discuss the importance of the network and how it’s helping to build disability confidence across Companies House.  

 

Transcript

Stuart Brain: Hello and welcome to this leader to leader conversation with me, Stuart Brain. And I'm joined today by Michelle Wall. Michelle is our Director of Finance and Commercial. She's also the executive board champion for ED&I and the exec sponsor of the Ability Network.

So a bit about me - my name is Stuart Brain. I'm a manager within the internal communications team and I'm also the chair of the Ability Network. And I have an invisible disability, which is Ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitis is a long term condition in which the spine and other areas of the body become inflamed.

So, Michelle, tell us why disability inclusion is important to you and to Companies House.

Michelle Wall: So I've always had a passion for disability inclusion, supporting family members who had deafness and physical difficulties and friends as well, who'd had accidents and were wheelchair users over the years. However, I started to experience vision loss myself due to a genetic condition about 10 years ago. So being part of the community is also very personally important to me.

At Companies House, inclusion is a golden thread that runs through all our activity and we want to ensure we embed diversity in everything we do. Our ambition is to build an inclusive, positive culture where everyone can bring their whole selves to work. Disability inclusion is a critical part of that support that we give to colleagues, as it helps all colleagues to do their best work and creates an environment for our people to thrive and flourish. And focusing on what people can do, and not what they struggle to do, is really key for me. Without a strong disability inclusion programme, this won't happen.

SB: That's great. And it really is important that we do create that environment of support for less-abled colleagues. One way we have done that is through our thriving Ability network. Our mission statement is empowering everyone to flourish at Companies House. Can you tell us a bit more about how we've been able to create a positive narrative about disability at work, through some of the work the network has done?

MW: I can try. To show a positive narrative about disability at work is one that celebrates the contribution of people with disabilities in the workplace. As I said earlier, it's important that as an organisation we recognise the challenges and barriers that people with disabilities face, but also the strengths and skills that they bring. Being positive, open, and talking about disability empowers other people with disabilities to disclose their conditions and request reasonable adjustments without fear of discrimination or stigma.

It also values them as an equal and respected member of the workforce who can thrive and succeed with the right support and opportunities. I think colleagues from our networks have been heavily involved in shaping and introducing the Civil Service Workplace Adjustment Passport into the organisation. I have one myself. These adjustments can include changes to our ways of working and other practices that support colleagues with disabilities. Encouraging collaboration where people with disabilities are involved in decision making or problem solving, and where their perspectives and ideas are valued and appreciated is one way of creating a really positive narrative.

The Ability Network has been really successful this year. Many colleagues have been sharing their stories about their disabilities as part of the ‘This is us’ campaign on the Intranet. This has been great in not only raising awareness of our colleagues and the many different disabilities and health conditions that they live with, but also in giving more colleagues the confidence to come forward and be open about their own lived experiences, which is really important.

Being able to promote a culture of openness and trust where people with disabilities and health conditions feel safe or comfortable to talk is really important to me. And as exec sponsor of E,D&I, it makes me really proud to see it in action every day. To also then have managers and colleagues listen and respond with empathy and respect is what inclusivity is really all about for me.

SB: Yes, that's been a really successful campaign and it's been brilliant to see colleagues willing to share their stories openly, and is a real practical example of our strong, inclusive culture, and that colleagues really feel that they bring their whole selves to work.

We've been able to use some of the excellent resources, like the ‘confident conversations toolkit’ and the ‘5 steps to confidence’ model from Purple Space, which has supported our colleagues on their journeys.

MW: Yes, and there's lots of resources out there that networks can tap into to support them with the work that they do. I know the Ability Network this year is also signed up to the Crohn's and Colitis UK ‘are you in?’ campaign. This is a campaign aimed at making work better for people with invisible disabilities, and for us as employers to help support our colleagues, and the resources we've accessed have been really great.

But we've also had some amazing blogs from colleagues providing education and awareness on so many different types of disabilities and health conditions and explaining how Companies House has helped and supported them to work effectively, which is also great to see. We can really tap into the expansive knowledge that our colleagues have.

SB: As chair of the network, I'm also very proud of the work that colleagues have supported in. So what are some of the changes or key asks that we want to see in Companies House next year?

MW: Well I think we've made great progress as an organisation over the 5 years that I've been here and we're continuing the positive narrative around disability and keeping our culture inclusive, which has got to be an imperative for me to continue our progress.

I'd like to see us truly and embed the social model of disability throughout our organisation and network colleagues will be so important in supporting that. For those who don't know, the social model of disability is all about not seeing the person as disabled but seeing the environment as disabling. And so we really need to focus on removing barriers that we may have that could prevent disabled colleagues from feeling that they couldn't do something in our organisation. Those barriers could be physical barriers, access to particular areas of the building, for example, or social barriers, such as stereotypical beliefs that non-disabled staff may have about disabled staff.

SB: So how do you think senior leaders could help us achieve this?

MW: Well I think there's lots of ways that I, as a champion, and exec sponsor, and other senior leaders can help us to achieve this. I think the first and most important is leading by example. Senior leaders need to ensure we model inclusive behaviours, that we demonstrate our commitment to disability inclusion, by taking action and removing barriers and promoting accessibility, but also being really open about where we have difficulties or disabilities or health conditions ourselves.

I think secondly, we should encourage employee engagement and participation and disability inclusion initiatives, create space and time for colleagues to do this alongside their day jobs. It's really important that we help colleagues to feel valued and included, and sort of really understand where they can make a change and make a difference.

And I think finally ensuring that as leaders, we really provide training and awareness for our colleagues on disability, accessibility and inclusion. And it's also important that we try and measure our progress and set targets for improvements where it's needed.

SB: Well, thanks, Michelle, for your time and input into this conversation. As we approach the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Sunday 3rd December. It's important to recognise and celebrate the amazing work and contributions of disabled colleagues here at Companies House, but also across the wider Civil Service and globally.