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The Glass Ceiling You Don't Know About Yet: Removing Barriers for People with Disabilities at Work
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The Glass Ceiling You Don't Know About Yet: Removing Barriers for People with Disabilities at Work
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Language: EN.
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SPEAKER 1: It's 2021 and your organization probably has lots and lots and lots of videos. But before you click post, consider why making them accessible makes all the difference. Because it helps everyone. Because it's the law. Because it's a big world out there. Because that's how video is found. Because everyone deserves access. We can help.
SPEAKER 1: We're the video people and we believe in accessibility for all. Cadmore Media, discovered the power of scientific video. Hello and welcome to The Glass Ceiling You Don't Know About Yet: Removing Barriers for People with Disabilities at Work. During the session, you will hear from people with a variety of disabilities and people who do a variety of different types of work within the scholarly communication space.
SPEAKER 1: Just of note that our speakers will use a variety of terminology that may or may not be what you would use yourself. Opinions vary within the many, many disability communities. And each of us is going to use the terms that we personally feel comfortable with. So let's take it away. Thank you.
SIMON HOLT: Hi, everybody. My name's Simon Holt. I'm a book publisher at [? Elsewhere. ?] I'm visually impaired. I have about 10% of the vision that a fully sighted person has, and I've had that since birth. Today, I'm going to talk about some of the barriers that people with disabilities face at work and give some ideas about practical suggestions that we might overcome them. Next slide, please.
SIMON HOLT: So as you can see here, the definition of disability according to the Americans with Disabilities Act is quite a broad one. In reality, the definition differs slightly from country to country. But whatever it is, it encompasses a lot of people. So according to the United Nations, over 1 billion people in the world have a disability, and 15% of the workforce between 16 and 64 years of age have a disability as well.
SIMON HOLT: 80% of people who have a disability have an invisible disability. So not something that you can see. As we can see on the chart on the left hand side, which is figures for the UK taken from the UK parliament website. Employment outcomes for people with disabilities are a lot less than they are for the rest of the population. The same is true in the USA.
SIMON HOLT: As we can also see from the survey stat that I've got here, there's lots of people out there who don't feel comfortable talking about their disability. What I want to do in this talk is convey a positive normalizing view of what disability is, talk about how we can tackle it in the workplace, and start to think about people with disabilities, neither a superheroes, nor as charity cases, but actually just as part of our population with strengths and weaknesses just like everybody else, and people who are making an important contribution to the workforce.
SIMON HOLT: Next slide, please. So in terms of the barriers, I think that we can put barriers into three categories here. So there's environmental barriers. So they might be physical in terms of an office that isn't accessible. So the doors aren't accessible or something like that. Or it might be that it's in a location that is not accessible.
SIMON HOLT: So if you are like me and you don't drive, it's not accessible via public transport, or it might be an environmental barrier in terms of inaccessibility systems, for example. We also have to think about systemic barriers. So for example, something like presenteeism, where you're expected to work certain hours each day. And people, not everybody can work hours. It might depend on how they're feeling that day either physically or emotionally.
SIMON HOLT: And also, what we describe as cultural fit. So everybody has different strengths, weaknesses. And actually for example, if you have something like autism, Microsoft are leaders in this. But they are actively recruit people with autism because of the skills that they have in programming whilst also acknowledging that they see the world in a different way from everybody else.
SIMON HOLT: That's positive but that also means that they may or may not fit into a team in the same way as everybody else. And we need to embrace that. There's also psychological factors. So when you have a disability often the first conversation you have with someone, especially a potential hiring manager has to focus on what you can't do rather than what you can do. So for me, for example, as a visually impaired person, I struggle with travel on my own because it's difficult to navigate airports or train stations are unfamiliar.
SIMON HOLT: I can't read people's main batches at conferences. I can't always identify what the food is at the buffet. If I spend my first 15 minutes talking about what I can't do, it's unlikely people are going to think he's great and he's going to be great for a job. So that can be a big barrier in itself. A self-fulfilling prophecy as well actually from being a child, you often focus on what you can't do, I can't play the sport because of my disability, or I struggle with this, that or the other.
SIMON HOLT: Therefore, it can be hard to overcome those barriers in the world of work because you used to thinking about the things you can't do. And so therefore, focusing on what people can do is the responsibility of not just the employer, but the responsibility of all of us to try and change those mindsets. So actually, the individual starts to think about the things that they offer and that they can bring rather than just the things that they're not able to do.
SIMON HOLT: Next slide, please. So looking at employee life-cycle approach, we have to look at this from recruitment. So in terms of what's your job requirements, are you saying as part of this job, you need to travel x amount, or you need to be based in this particular office, or are we thinking about outcomes, and leaving it up to the individual about how we get there.
SIMON HOLT: Also, think about a point of contact. So if somebody has disability related questions that they want to talk about before they apply for a job. So they know that they're going to be looked after and set up for success when they get the job. They should be able to contact somebody within the organization that isn't the hiring manager. So they can separate the recruitment from the disability support.
SIMON HOLT: So the recruitment is based on the skills they have and what they can offer. And then the disability support is separate from that. In terms of onboarding, I've talked about joined up thinking in advance planning. I've started jobs before where the IT department didn't know about the special equipment I have. That means that I can do my job. That sometimes when I've not been able to do any work for the first couple of days.
SIMON HOLT: That's when I've not felt included or supported when I've joined the organization. It's been hard for me to be successful from day one. There's no problem about providing the support at most companies. But actually, what we need is advanced planning and not just assume that it will be OK. And it's important to make sure that all the different departments know that somebody who requires special adjustments is coming in.
SIMON HOLT: And it's not just about talking to IT, for example, when the person has already arrived and developing. So put a link there that I'll share with the slides later on to a free resource that's made by Google. That is some manager training for people for working with people with disabilities, and how to create an inclusive working environment. I think there's lots of this stuff out there on the internet.
SIMON HOLT: And I think it's really important to us workplaces. We make a habit of upskilling and increasing our knowledge in this area. And then in terms of progressing, as I said, it's about thinking about what people can do rather than what they can't do. Making sure that the hiring process at all level is inclusive. So it's not about saying, well, if you want that next job, you need to go and relocate to a different country.
SIMON HOLT: For me, for example, I am registered with a hospital near where I live. I need to go there for treatment. You could offer me the greatest job in the world in another country. But I still can't go. It's about working with people and their needs. We talk a lot about bringing your whole self to work. And this kind of thing is what it's all about.
SIMON HOLT: Next slide, please. So cultural change is really important. So if we can have all the policies we like, and policy is very important. But it's important also that individuals, whether it's hiring managers or teammates understand that people with disabilities play an important role in the workplace, can help us achieve our business goals, but have needs just like everybody else.
SIMON HOLT: So what we're talking about here is I always say the cultural change happens one conversation at a time. This is one of those conversations I hope. And I think about it in terms of awareness, education, and policy. Next slide, please. So in terms of awareness, how can we raise awareness within our organizations?
SIMON HOLT: Many companies now have employee resource groups or employee networks to provide their support, but also are a source of knowledge for the organization, to inform the organization and help them in terms of how to become more disability friendly disability confident. We need to think about how to ask those awkward questions. How do you ask somebody about that disability? I think everybody will have different responses to that.
SIMON HOLT: For me, it's about being open, and genuine, and showing good intentions. It's about thinking about how you get your messaging across to events. Or is it about videos? Or is it about personal stories? Elsewhere, we have a blog called I Am Enabled where people with disabilities and carers share their stories and elsewhere has had a positive impact and helped them.
SIMON HOLT: And that's worked really well. And think also about if you are an advocate, what specifically do you want? You can't boil the ocean. Focus on the one or two things that are going to have the greatest impact and work hard to focus your awareness campaigns on those. Next slide, please.
SIMON HOLT: In terms of education, so what do I do now? So it's about creating expertise. So how can we upscale certain individuals within the organization, whether that's managers, whether it's people in IT, whether it's HR professionals to become people other people can go to for guidance? It's about learning for your staff, whether that's your employee network or somebody else. Not everybody is an expert in everything.
SIMON HOLT: But people who have lived experience have a really important contribution to make listen to what they're telling you. So things like reverse mentoring and talent programs can really help in bringing those people together with the decision makers will help you make better, more informed decisions. And then don't reinvent the wheel. Think about intersectionality.
SIMON HOLT: What are you doing in terms of gender, or race, and ethnicity, or LGBTQ, et cetera that has parallels here that resonates? Let's think about what unites us and that we can all do together to make life better for everybody. And think about what the leaders in these fields, charities, and external speakers and government bodies are doing. Let's not try and reinvent the wheel. Let's build on what's already happening what resources already out there.
SIMON HOLT: Next slide, please. So in terms of policy, a couple of things about policy here. Think about who the gatekeepers here are here. How what you want aligns with the goals and the mission of your organization? And think about things like flexible working. Think about your procurement policy. So for example, if somebody needs special equipment, is there a fast track you can use, or are they going to have to jump through all the usual hoops that are going to take months and months?
SIMON HOLT: Think about your accessibility policy. You can have the greatest systems ever. But if your employees can't use them and can't access them, they're going to have problems fulfilling their potential. Next slide, please. So finally, Katie and Sylvia and I have started something called publishing enabled, which is a group people with disabilities, carers, and anybody else who's interested in disability inclusion within the publishing industry.
SIMON HOLT: We have a LinkedIn page. So please do look for us on LinkedIn. What we're hoping to create is a vehicle for a cohesive community within the publishing industry, where we can support each other and make meaningful changes within all of our companies, within the industry. If you'd like to know more, please do ask any questions in the session follows, or send us a message on LinkedIn.
SIMON HOLT: Thank you very much.
RUTH WELLS: Hi. My name is Ruth Wells. I'm the founder and innovator, a consultancy called Inventing Change. I specialize in publishing and social change including mental health. And I have a blog, a podcast, and a YouTube channel if you want to follow me. So can we go to the next slide, please?
RUTH WELLS: So my first topic really is a very meaty one and that of disclosure. I have bipolar disorder. But there are many mental health conditions. And they may or may not require you to disclose. And not only require in the sense of legally. I mean, that then will obvious perhaps than others. Bipolar disorder can be very obvious. And so I found disclosure helps stop me fall off the ledge if you like.
RUTH WELLS: And the reason for this is because I found that people around me, if they're aware, they can actually support me in my condition and make adjustments as required. Obviously, a lot of people hesitate to disclose mental health conditions because they feel it might limit their career through judgment and perhaps perception of low performance. So that's always something to bear in mind.
RUTH WELLS: But since the mental health movement has grown in traction, I've actually found it a very positive experience disclosing. Next slide, please. So in response to openness, when I've mentioned my condition, often I get a lot of questions around how I experience bipolar disorder, and what it is. There is some misunderstanding out there. I think it used to be called manic depression.
RUTH WELLS: I think those words sound very scary to people. But the experience of depression and mania varies between individuals. So bipolar UK very helpfully provides a document about how to speak to your employer and what to speak about. And really it's around the conditions you might need for general day still working as a normal level or when you experience minor depression.
RUTH WELLS: In my case, mania is much more difficult to handle than depression on a day-to-day since. And I found the price of callouses can be difficult to discuss as well because they can sometimes be quite difficult to predict. And I can't give exact symptoms. And I say that's quite common for mental illness is the invisible illness. Next slide, please.
RUTH WELLS: So in terms of policy and practice, it is part of the reason I disclosed these days is because it gives me legal protection with the health and safety discrimination laws. And various organizations have different policies. But I found that most people are very understanding. And I've always mentioned it since I've disclosed for about 2015. From the recruitment stage, the interview stage, because I felt it was fair to employers even if there may be some implicit underlying misunderstanding of that condition and what I'm capable of.
RUTH WELLS: In terms of the last 10 years, a lot of the mental health helped me disclose faster and more openly. And for example, I had postpartum psychosis when my daughter was born, it took me nearly eight years to blog about it. But when I section two years ago, when I experienced psychosis, it only took me four months. And I had amazing responses both times in terms of support from the general public and my employer.
RUTH WELLS: So in terms of health and safety adjustments, I think one of the most important things is how you escalate a problem in your day-to-day life. And often with bipolar stress triggers cause an issue if you like. So having an agreement about how you escalate those issues and also how colleagues around you might raise concern about your behavior or your state of mind may be something that you want to discuss.
RUTH WELLS: But it's extremely sensitive, and it requires a level of compassion and understanding within the organization you work to establish that. And that can take time. So I think for me, the most important thing in terms of understanding and making adjustments for any issue I might have is around being given space and understanding. Space to discuss really and to be open about the condition and what I might need a new stage.
RUTH WELLS: Next slide, please. So in reality, the level of support I've had has been very strong and very positive. I'm still capable and productive employee. And I think that's something that is really important message to convey that despite my illness, I've achieved the things I'm proud of in my career. And I performed well in most of my roles. I think one of the difficult things with mania for bipolar people is that what may look like poor performance is actually illness.
RUTH WELLS: And so that can be very difficult, particularly in the early days of working for someone. And I think the one thing that's very difficult to explain and understand if you haven't experienced it yourself is psychosis. So psychosis is like the top end of mania and schizophrenic people, as well as bipolar people my experience it. And psychosis is really when you're irrational.
RUTH WELLS: And so rationality by its nature means is very difficult to explain what you need from an employer, or your manager, or your colleagues. And so actually, under those circumstances, I have an escalation practice now where whoever is responsible and close to me escalate straight to my psychiatrist if they even expect that. So I think that the handling of depression and other more minor mental illnesses is very different to psychotic behavior.
RUTH WELLS: Next slide, please. And say one of the main escalation points to me is my daughter. She's caught on camera. I'm a single parent, which is why this is particularly critical for me. So I have a support structure around me, which I'm not employed at the moment.
RUTH WELLS: But my family, friends, local people, and my daughter all look out for me if they think I'm experiencing a serious issue in my life and in my mental health. And I lost both my daughter and my friends. If they have particular concerns that they do just call my doctor and don't worry too much about any invasion of privacy. And the reason I say that is because if I'm particularly ill in any circumstance, then early intervention is key for anyone who suffers mental health issues, particularly if it affects their behavior or their rationality.
RUTH WELLS: So my daughter is obviously not an employer's concern in many ways. But it is useful I think if you do have a young carer, which is far more common than you'd imagine that your employer is at least aware that, that might have an impact on her and outside your job. And next slide, please. So possibly the most difficult thing for me is managing my reputation, and my self-respect, and my relationships after an episode.
RUTH WELLS: So if you're depressed, then generally although you're depressed, you're still rational and aware of your behavior. Unfortunately, if you're manic, and that's a different scales or psychotic. It's incredibly difficult to see yourself as others see you. So in returning to work after an episode, I have experienced. That say I needed a lot of courage to face some of the people around me in order to overcome my embarrassment, and to explain any inappropriate comments or behavior, and to stop my illness undermining my reputation as an individual at work.
RUTH WELLS: So what I say is that I have to have some sense of humor around some of my behavior. I'm not going to go into what I've done in the past. But let's say some of it made others embarrassed and made me very self-conscious. And so I think the journey from illness to recovery is not just about recovery mentally and becoming rational and becoming able to manage your life again.
RUTH WELLS: It's very much about renegotiating relationships, re-establishing reputations. And there's a kind of lessons learned for me after an episode. And perhaps a learning journey with colleagues and employers as well. Next slide, please. So in terms of achieving wellness, which is obviously every mental health sufferers aim, often after a period of illness, then might be a need for gradual return.
RUTH WELLS: And that's where lots of different reasons. It's not necessarily because you're still ill, it's because during the illness your capacity for socializing may have decreased and being present with people may have decreased, maybe increased tiredness. And obviously, I've explained about overcoming embarrassment, which does take little time sometimes. So at this stage, it's really helpful for your employer or manager to have a listening ear.
RUTH WELLS: And that's a very high price for me and something I value above all other things. And then hopefully, during your time being employed with them, that they would become more and more understanding of where you at as a person and your capability despite your illness. So next slide, please. So I said I blog, I've written a various blogs one with Casey about the reality of neurodiversity.
RUTH WELLS: And a number of blogs on my own blog about being sectioned and how it is time to talk about that because a lot of people are still very frightened about hospital admissions for mental illness. And I've written one called Pulling Yourself Up by Your Bootstraps, which is really about the determination to recover after a period of illness and around the culture of compassion that's helpful for any mental illness.
RUTH WELLS: Next slide, please. So thank you very much for listening. I'm happy to take any questions either by email or in the session afterwards. Thank you. So hi, I'm Katie. And I'm going to touch on one of those 80% of disabilities that's not visible.
RUTH WELLS: I'm the Global Marketing Director at Digital Science, which is a technology company that serves the needs of scientific and research communities. Prior to that, I've worked in positions across the sky telecommunications industry at companies like BMJ Nature. And I'm also the founder of an educational games company called Remarkables. So we turn science heroes into superheroes to bring a more inclusive range of role models to young children.
RUTH WELLS: So I'm lucky to be dyslexic. And I'm going to tell you a little bit about what dyslexia is. So dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved with word reading, spelling, and verbal processing speed. It occurs across a range of intellectual abilities. Surveys have shown that 80% of people think that dyslexia means low intelligence.
RUTH WELLS: And they couldn't be more wrong. And this bias actually really impacts how we're treated in the workplace. So I just want to be very, very clear that it has nothing to do with how intelligent we are. You can be very bright and have dyslexia. It's also a spectrum dyslexia. So no two people will have the same set of strengths and weaknesses.
RUTH WELLS: Just some key stats. So one in five people are dyslexic. So I'm guessing even just during the session, there's going to be a number of people in the audience that either they're dyslexic, or they might not even they're dyslexic. But it's a substantial percentage of the population. It's genetic.
RUTH WELLS: So if your kid is dyslexic, the likelihood is that either you or your partner, it's becoming highly valuable as a trait amongst employees. So at the moment 50% of NASA employees are dyslexic. And you have companies like NASA, Deloitte, GCHQ. They're all actively recruiting neurodiverse candidates because of the skill set we bring to the job. So before I touch on some of the barriers, I'm going to just really quickly go through some of the strengths that we can bring.
RUTH WELLS: So we see things. We see the bigger picture. So one of the perks of being dyslexic is we often see things more holistically. So we might miss the [? org tree, ?] but we'll definitely see the forest. And I think as you get more senior in your career, seeing the bigger picture is incredibly valuable. We have the ability to see how things connect and how they connect to form complex systems and how to identify similarities among things.
RUTH WELLS: And strength like this are valuable when you want to pull together data or you want to even I think I guess in intelligence gathering, where you can start to see pattern recognition. We're picture thinkers. So Disney, unsurprisingly was dyslexic. And he created an empire. We actually tend to think in pictures.
RUTH WELLS: And maybe that's why I've gravitated on the side to comics and imagery is because that's how we see the world. And research at the University of California has demonstrated that we have enhanced picture recognition memory. And that can be a real advantage when it comes to business. We think outside the box. There are so many entrepreneurs who are dyslexic. And I think it fits quite well with the way we see the world, where no one for having sudden leaps of insight that solves problems in a way that most people think is unorthodox.
RUTH WELLS: So an example would be we might jump to a solution. And it could appear that we're just guessing, or perhaps it's intuition. But actually what really happens is our brain slides into neutral. And it eases itself around a problem, and it connects the dots. And sometimes we don't even know that we're doing it. And as we do this more and more, we can get faster and faster at it.
RUTH WELLS: Most people think sequentially. So it just takes a bit more time. So I'm really sorry to all you neurotypical who have joined us today. Don't worry. Your approach has benefits too. It's just a different way of doing it. And we excel at a visual processing. So we're very good at finding the odd one out.
RUTH WELLS: A little known fact is there are actually a lot of people with dyslexia in the field of astrophysics. And to such an extent that it prompted the Harvard Smithsonian Center for astrophysics to do a little bit of research into this. And they actually found that people with dyslexia are better at identifying and memorizing complex images or finding the odd letter out on a screen before others do. I'm going to just talk briefly now about some of the barriers.
RUTH WELLS: So we're ready and willing to work. But often, we find ourselves faced with sometimes what can feel like insurmountable barriers. So some of these are with regards to recruitment. Expecting applicants to understand the full inferences of questions at interview stage, to respond appropriately by describing what we know or what we can do. It can disadvantage narrow divergent applicants. We're better at showing what we do than telling someone about it.
RUTH WELLS: The other area that can be actually quite daunting is psychometric testing. It's just it's inaccessible. And quite frankly, a lot of time built with created biases. So this provides an unreliable measure to the skills and abilities that we can bring. So if you are currently using some of these approaches, just take some time to rethink maybe how they're being implemented.
RUTH WELLS: Another area, which I've seen over the course of my career is the lack of awareness. And that's at all levels. So there's little awareness or understanding at work about the nature of neurodiversity. And that's not just dyslexia. And this makes it really hard for us to operate effectively in the workplace. One example, I mentioned earlier was that dyslexic people will often get good high quality answers faster than neurotypicals.
RUTH WELLS: And that has its benefits, which is important. But it's you also have to understand that it has its flip side. We might not communicate how we got similar to a colleague right away. How did we get from A to Z? We might not explain it in a way immediately that, that can be understood. The other thing is we don't necessarily engage in a discussion immediately.
RUTH WELLS: So we might not be able to hold onto the threads of our arguments during a live debate or topic because it overloads our memory and it incapacitates us. So expecting an employee to be able to snack back or respond immediately on the spot during a meeting is just not overly inclusive for us. The other area is the consequence of disclosure. Disclosure, it can lead to discrimination.
RUTH WELLS: I mean, that's just a fact. We all have experienced this. And sometimes the discrimination is it's not intended. It just comes with maybe a lack of awareness. But it can also lead to the feeling of workplace bullying, which makes us feel like we constantly have to justify our ability. So many of us will not disclose. And that actually leads I think into somewhat of a vicious circle.
RUTH WELLS: Because if you don't disclose, you can't be supported. So it's sometimes who put the barrier on ourselves as well. And finally, I'm. Going to talk on performance management. Because it's a tough one for neurodiversity. I think the lack of awareness and understanding particularly amongst managers can often lead to treating neurodivergent employees as a problem, rather than recognizing that it's the barriers that we face and at work that may be creating the issues.
RUTH WELLS: And I think it's really important to make sure that we don't focus on individual competency, but that we really look at a solution based approach. So that we can start by looking at the strengths of the people in front of us, and we look at how we can remove barriers to give them the capability to progress. So just a few solutions that we could start to look at.
RUTH WELLS: When it comes to recruitment, some things that we could do are consider the types of tasks that we give an applicant. Don't spring tasks as well for an interview. Give someone plenty of time. Bear in mind that when dealing with spelling, especially with online forums that don't have spell checks, if there is no assistive technology for that type of thing, you may see spelling mistakes in an application. I would also suggest moving to evaluating a range of strengths at interview stage rather than looking at weaknesses or the outcomes of tests and scoring.
RUTH WELLS: So maybe some practical assessments. When it comes to support and training, so the internal awareness amongst colleagues and at work. I think looking at what training can be and put in place, so that people understand what neurodiversity means. Have neurodiverse champions if you don't already. Make sure your HR staff and senior managers are all on board. And it really needs to come from the top.
RUTH WELLS: If your organization isn't inclusive, and I'm not just talking about disability here. It means your leadership team isn't inclusive. So to really change the culture, it needs to come from the top so that it embeds in all the processes workflows, and it encompasses the whole company culture. Simon already mentioned publishing enabled. But I'll just put it up twice. If you see it twice, you're more likely to remember it.
RUTH WELLS: So please find us on LinkedIn. And if you have any questions, do get in touch. You can find me on Twitter or you can email me. Thanks.
KRISTINA MARTIN: So how can colleagues and organizations can support and the allies to people with disabilities and support disability inclusion? And I like what Simon has been saying about it's one conversation at a time. And so I'm using that theme. And you'll hear some other common language from our other speakers Katy, and Sylvia, and Ruth. So hopefully, you'll be able to tie some of this together. So I'm pleased to talk with you on the professional capacity as the Chief People and Equity Officer at PLOS.
KRISTINA MARTIN: I think it's also important to understand that that's one point of reference. My other point of reference is to lived experience of three invisible disabilities. So autism spectrum disorder, narcolepsy, and scoliosis have certainly had a very significant impact both on my personal life and my professional life. And I've been really honored to be able to do some bridge work professionally between organizational perspective, and leadership perspective, and making sure that we have inclusive environments that are truly harnessing the full talent and capacity of people.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And I think you've heard a little bit about some of the advantages that diversity can bring and how organizations and teams can really benefit when we're harnessing the power of diversity. Next slide, please. So in this theme of one conversation at a time, some things to keep in mind about roles in this system.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And some tensions. What makes the conversation difficult, and what creates tension in the system? And tension requires resolution, right? And so solution pathways is a way to think about focusing our efforts going forward. That solutions aren't always fixed. Sometimes they require revisiting, and iterating, and trying again.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And so you'll see the word resolution. Resolution in terms of both moving forward and in terms of resolving some of the natural tension that happens in the system that we're all operating in. We're going to talk about some values to anchor the conversation. And I think if we can ground in a particular set of norms and behaviors that will manifest in those conversations, that there's a whole lot of hope about moving forward to fully leveraging the capacity that people bring to the workplace.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And then some points of inquiry. This is where we're going to get really practical. And hopefully we'll have some ideas that you can take immediately as next steps to start really important conversations in the workplace about disability inclusion. Next slide, please. So within this system, you have the organizational perspective, right?
KRISTINA MARTIN: So this could be the HR person that you're in contact with. It can be organizational leadership. But essentially, the role of these representatives is to think about the macro employee experience, right? So we're thinking about accommodations, we're thinking about fair processes, we're thinking about the full lifecycle of how employees are experiencing the organization and to what extent we're harnessing their particular strengths and power or business performance, right?
KRISTINA MARTIN: Ultimately, every organization is chartered with doing something and we're achieving certain goals, policy. So there has to be universal policy that's consistent and applied equitably. Managing risk is an important role, right? And then certainly budgeting and funding is an important part of the organizational perspective. From a manager perspective, the manager responsible for the employee experience as well.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And also for individual team member performance and the overall performance of the team. And managers are also tasked with managing risk. So all the rest of us, co-workers were supposed to be allies, right? And we're supposed to be working together in support of all of the differences that we bring to the organization, so that we can drive exceptional performance.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And I'm wary of the word performance because it can have some negative connotations, especially as we think about traditional conventional systems. So when I use the word performance, I'm thinking about greatness and I'm thinking about us accomplishing really big things together. Let's go to the next slide. So you see, even within these rules, there's a little bit of tension.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And then you add in the conversation of disability and invisibility. And that introduces even more tension into the system. So from an individual perspective, when someone has a disability that's invisible, so are their challenges and so is the level of effort that's required to function effectively. Oftentimes, colleagues make assumptions based on what's visible and what's not.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And those assumptions can range from things about behavior, and performance, which you've heard to ability level, and motivation, and what people's perceptions are about the support that's needed for somebody. From the managerial or organizational perspective, sometimes there's a perception that a particular practice is fair or that a need has been resolved when that's just not the reality on the other side of it.
KRISTINA MARTIN: You've heard about disclosure and the inherent risk that is in disclosure from the employee with a disability perspective. And from the managerial perspective, managers are trained to avoid risk and open conversations about disability are fraught with risk. And co-workers are guided to avoid invading other's privacy. And then you combine that with different experiences, and challenges, and bias that people have experienced in the workplace.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And so you have some tension there in that system, right? Also embedded in these tensions and every perspective our emotions. There's fear, there's perceptions of unfairness that it's important to understand triggers disgust and anger. And so fairness, whether it's the person experiencing it or it's colleagues observing what they perceive as fairness or unfairness is really, really important.
KRISTINA MARTIN: Next slide, please. Perfect. Thank you. So if we can anchor and if you grounding behaviors. We talk about a culture of inclusion, right? What is culture? Culture, our values plus beliefs plus norms that are manifested in everyday interactions.
KRISTINA MARTIN: One conversation at a time. We're looking for values that will empower resolution. And if we can show up with an open and curious mind, curiosity is powerful, and it suspends judgment, and it allows us to enter into this space of what's possible and what can be. Go ahead and click. It might sound something like, how can I raise my awareness? Or what flexible solutions have we not considered yet?
KRISTINA MARTIN: Next, please. Commitment is hugely important. This is about a collective space of figuring it out. And it might sound like we've not got it right here yet, but we're not going to stop trying. This is actually something that Simon shared before that really, really resonated with me and one of our conversations before today. Next, please.
KRISTINA MARTIN: Collective good. We all have common needs, and we all have common goals. That might sound something like. We all need help. And we all succeed or fail together. Next, please. An asset based approach. You've heard about strengths and limitations. The walk away for today is that we all have agency, whether it's someone struggling to figure out how to fit in and perform at the level that they want to with a disability, or someone figuring out how to bridge divides that they observe.
KRISTINA MARTIN: Every person, every role, every vantage point has agency to impact disability and inclusion. And that might sound something like. What can we do and how can we do it ? This isn't about limitations. This isn't about gaps this is about positive asset-based inquiry and figuring out how to move forward together. Next slide, please. So here's a bunch of practical questions that you can think about.
KRISTINA MARTIN: From an individual perspective, these are the questions that hiring managers and HR folks that are involved in the hiring process can and should be asking. What types of accommodations do you need for your interview? What can we put in place before you start work, so that day one you hit the ground running and you feel like we've cared enough to make sure that you have the tools that you need to be effective?
KRISTINA MARTIN: What are you comfortable sharing with me about what to expect and how I can support you in your role? Do the right people have immediate access to emergency information? From an allied perspective, again, this is the most important role that we all play. The essential question is, how can I be an ally? And that's not a question you ask yourself. That's the question that you ask people if we're trying to be an ally to.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And you ask open ended questions, and you listen very carefully, and you repeat back and mirror what you've heard to make sure that you understand. And you keep asking it again and again. Did that work? Did I show up as an ally for you? Do you feel supported? How can I better support you? There are lots of questions that we can and should be asking.
KRISTINA MARTIN: From the organizational perspective, these are questions that all good allies can and should be asking. To what extent does our onboarding process address accommodations, and roles, and disability, and inclusion? Are we collecting and sharing data related to disability inclusion? So this type of data really captures the full lifecycle.
KRISTINA MARTIN: To what extent are folks with disabilities represented engaged to what extent are they progressing? To what extent do they stay? To what extent are accommodations being requested and satisfied? These are all really important indicators data that we should be tracking. Do we have a published inclusion goals that are tracked and reported just like any other business school?
KRISTINA MARTIN: Do we have employee resource groups with executive sponsorship? How are we supporting a supplier diversity? How accessible are our built spaces, our digital tools, and products, our trainings, our presentations, our documents? Not only for employees, but also for customers and suppliers with disabilities. To what extent do our benefits address the needs of our employees with disabilities?
KRISTINA MARTIN: A lot of time, we're not looking at the lens of AAP and mental health services. Short term disability and long term disability, vision care and hearing aids. And sometimes we're only offering important benefits to employees who meet a certain hourly threshold. We need to be looking at all of these things. Culture. That norms plus behaviors plus beliefs.
KRISTINA MARTIN: How openly are we talking about disability? Are people self-identified around us and having open conversations? That's actually really important signaling. Do we have sufficient and protected funding for accommodations? And finally, are we getting outside help when needed? The truth is that there are a lot of resolutions, a lot of tools that are not going to be immediately obvious internally, or that are not going to have the expertise needed behind them.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And so there are professionals who are trained to help support the solution and resolution pathway. So in closing, we all play a really, really important role to make sure that we are harnessing the full power of every person that we bring into our organization from the very first time we have contact with them until after they've left and trying to understand how their experience was shaped in both positive and potentially in less constructive ways.
KRISTINA MARTIN: So if you remember nothing else, we all play an important role to be an ally and disability inclusion.
Segment:0 .
SPEAKER 1: It's 2021 and your organization probably has lots and lots and lots of videos. But before you click post, consider why making them accessible makes all the difference. Because it helps everyone. Because it's the law. Because it's a big world out there. Because that's how video is found. Because everyone deserves access. We can help.
SPEAKER 1: We're the video people and we believe in accessibility for all. Cadmore Media, discovered the power of scientific video. Hello and welcome to The Glass Ceiling You Don't Know About Yet: Removing Barriers for People with Disabilities at Work. During the session, you will hear from people with a variety of disabilities and people who do a variety of different types of work within the scholarly communication space.
SPEAKER 1: Just of note that our speakers will use a variety of terminology that may or may not be what you would use yourself. Opinions vary within the many, many disability communities. And each of us is going to use the terms that we personally feel comfortable with. So let's take it away. Thank you.
SIMON HOLT: Hi, everybody. My name's Simon Holt. I'm a book publisher at [? Elsewhere. ?] I'm visually impaired. I have about 10% of the vision that a fully sighted person has, and I've had that since birth. Today, I'm going to talk about some of the barriers that people with disabilities face at work and give some ideas about practical suggestions that we might overcome them. Next slide, please.
SIMON HOLT: So as you can see here, the definition of disability according to the Americans with Disabilities Act is quite a broad one. In reality, the definition differs slightly from country to country. But whatever it is, it encompasses a lot of people. So according to the United Nations, over 1 billion people in the world have a disability, and 15% of the workforce between 16 and 64 years of age have a disability as well.
SIMON HOLT: 80% of people who have a disability have an invisible disability. So not something that you can see. As we can see on the chart on the left hand side, which is figures for the UK taken from the UK parliament website. Employment outcomes for people with disabilities are a lot less than they are for the rest of the population. The same is true in the USA.
SIMON HOLT: As we can also see from the survey stat that I've got here, there's lots of people out there who don't feel comfortable talking about their disability. What I want to do in this talk is convey a positive normalizing view of what disability is, talk about how we can tackle it in the workplace, and start to think about people with disabilities, neither a superheroes, nor as charity cases, but actually just as part of our population with strengths and weaknesses just like everybody else, and people who are making an important contribution to the workforce.
SIMON HOLT: Next slide, please. So in terms of the barriers, I think that we can put barriers into three categories here. So there's environmental barriers. So they might be physical in terms of an office that isn't accessible. So the doors aren't accessible or something like that. Or it might be that it's in a location that is not accessible.
SIMON HOLT: So if you are like me and you don't drive, it's not accessible via public transport, or it might be an environmental barrier in terms of inaccessibility systems, for example. We also have to think about systemic barriers. So for example, something like presenteeism, where you're expected to work certain hours each day. And people, not everybody can work hours. It might depend on how they're feeling that day either physically or emotionally.
SIMON HOLT: And also, what we describe as cultural fit. So everybody has different strengths, weaknesses. And actually for example, if you have something like autism, Microsoft are leaders in this. But they are actively recruit people with autism because of the skills that they have in programming whilst also acknowledging that they see the world in a different way from everybody else.
SIMON HOLT: That's positive but that also means that they may or may not fit into a team in the same way as everybody else. And we need to embrace that. There's also psychological factors. So when you have a disability often the first conversation you have with someone, especially a potential hiring manager has to focus on what you can't do rather than what you can do. So for me, for example, as a visually impaired person, I struggle with travel on my own because it's difficult to navigate airports or train stations are unfamiliar.
SIMON HOLT: I can't read people's main batches at conferences. I can't always identify what the food is at the buffet. If I spend my first 15 minutes talking about what I can't do, it's unlikely people are going to think he's great and he's going to be great for a job. So that can be a big barrier in itself. A self-fulfilling prophecy as well actually from being a child, you often focus on what you can't do, I can't play the sport because of my disability, or I struggle with this, that or the other.
SIMON HOLT: Therefore, it can be hard to overcome those barriers in the world of work because you used to thinking about the things you can't do. And so therefore, focusing on what people can do is the responsibility of not just the employer, but the responsibility of all of us to try and change those mindsets. So actually, the individual starts to think about the things that they offer and that they can bring rather than just the things that they're not able to do.
SIMON HOLT: Next slide, please. So looking at employee life-cycle approach, we have to look at this from recruitment. So in terms of what's your job requirements, are you saying as part of this job, you need to travel x amount, or you need to be based in this particular office, or are we thinking about outcomes, and leaving it up to the individual about how we get there.
SIMON HOLT: Also, think about a point of contact. So if somebody has disability related questions that they want to talk about before they apply for a job. So they know that they're going to be looked after and set up for success when they get the job. They should be able to contact somebody within the organization that isn't the hiring manager. So they can separate the recruitment from the disability support.
SIMON HOLT: So the recruitment is based on the skills they have and what they can offer. And then the disability support is separate from that. In terms of onboarding, I've talked about joined up thinking in advance planning. I've started jobs before where the IT department didn't know about the special equipment I have. That means that I can do my job. That sometimes when I've not been able to do any work for the first couple of days.
SIMON HOLT: That's when I've not felt included or supported when I've joined the organization. It's been hard for me to be successful from day one. There's no problem about providing the support at most companies. But actually, what we need is advanced planning and not just assume that it will be OK. And it's important to make sure that all the different departments know that somebody who requires special adjustments is coming in.
SIMON HOLT: And it's not just about talking to IT, for example, when the person has already arrived and developing. So put a link there that I'll share with the slides later on to a free resource that's made by Google. That is some manager training for people for working with people with disabilities, and how to create an inclusive working environment. I think there's lots of this stuff out there on the internet.
SIMON HOLT: And I think it's really important to us workplaces. We make a habit of upskilling and increasing our knowledge in this area. And then in terms of progressing, as I said, it's about thinking about what people can do rather than what they can't do. Making sure that the hiring process at all level is inclusive. So it's not about saying, well, if you want that next job, you need to go and relocate to a different country.
SIMON HOLT: For me, for example, I am registered with a hospital near where I live. I need to go there for treatment. You could offer me the greatest job in the world in another country. But I still can't go. It's about working with people and their needs. We talk a lot about bringing your whole self to work. And this kind of thing is what it's all about.
SIMON HOLT: Next slide, please. So cultural change is really important. So if we can have all the policies we like, and policy is very important. But it's important also that individuals, whether it's hiring managers or teammates understand that people with disabilities play an important role in the workplace, can help us achieve our business goals, but have needs just like everybody else.
SIMON HOLT: So what we're talking about here is I always say the cultural change happens one conversation at a time. This is one of those conversations I hope. And I think about it in terms of awareness, education, and policy. Next slide, please. So in terms of awareness, how can we raise awareness within our organizations?
SIMON HOLT: Many companies now have employee resource groups or employee networks to provide their support, but also are a source of knowledge for the organization, to inform the organization and help them in terms of how to become more disability friendly disability confident. We need to think about how to ask those awkward questions. How do you ask somebody about that disability? I think everybody will have different responses to that.
SIMON HOLT: For me, it's about being open, and genuine, and showing good intentions. It's about thinking about how you get your messaging across to events. Or is it about videos? Or is it about personal stories? Elsewhere, we have a blog called I Am Enabled where people with disabilities and carers share their stories and elsewhere has had a positive impact and helped them.
SIMON HOLT: And that's worked really well. And think also about if you are an advocate, what specifically do you want? You can't boil the ocean. Focus on the one or two things that are going to have the greatest impact and work hard to focus your awareness campaigns on those. Next slide, please.
SIMON HOLT: In terms of education, so what do I do now? So it's about creating expertise. So how can we upscale certain individuals within the organization, whether that's managers, whether it's people in IT, whether it's HR professionals to become people other people can go to for guidance? It's about learning for your staff, whether that's your employee network or somebody else. Not everybody is an expert in everything.
SIMON HOLT: But people who have lived experience have a really important contribution to make listen to what they're telling you. So things like reverse mentoring and talent programs can really help in bringing those people together with the decision makers will help you make better, more informed decisions. And then don't reinvent the wheel. Think about intersectionality.
SIMON HOLT: What are you doing in terms of gender, or race, and ethnicity, or LGBTQ, et cetera that has parallels here that resonates? Let's think about what unites us and that we can all do together to make life better for everybody. And think about what the leaders in these fields, charities, and external speakers and government bodies are doing. Let's not try and reinvent the wheel. Let's build on what's already happening what resources already out there.
SIMON HOLT: Next slide, please. So in terms of policy, a couple of things about policy here. Think about who the gatekeepers here are here. How what you want aligns with the goals and the mission of your organization? And think about things like flexible working. Think about your procurement policy. So for example, if somebody needs special equipment, is there a fast track you can use, or are they going to have to jump through all the usual hoops that are going to take months and months?
SIMON HOLT: Think about your accessibility policy. You can have the greatest systems ever. But if your employees can't use them and can't access them, they're going to have problems fulfilling their potential. Next slide, please. So finally, Katie and Sylvia and I have started something called publishing enabled, which is a group people with disabilities, carers, and anybody else who's interested in disability inclusion within the publishing industry.
SIMON HOLT: We have a LinkedIn page. So please do look for us on LinkedIn. What we're hoping to create is a vehicle for a cohesive community within the publishing industry, where we can support each other and make meaningful changes within all of our companies, within the industry. If you'd like to know more, please do ask any questions in the session follows, or send us a message on LinkedIn.
SIMON HOLT: Thank you very much.
RUTH WELLS: Hi. My name is Ruth Wells. I'm the founder and innovator, a consultancy called Inventing Change. I specialize in publishing and social change including mental health. And I have a blog, a podcast, and a YouTube channel if you want to follow me. So can we go to the next slide, please?
RUTH WELLS: So my first topic really is a very meaty one and that of disclosure. I have bipolar disorder. But there are many mental health conditions. And they may or may not require you to disclose. And not only require in the sense of legally. I mean, that then will obvious perhaps than others. Bipolar disorder can be very obvious. And so I found disclosure helps stop me fall off the ledge if you like.
RUTH WELLS: And the reason for this is because I found that people around me, if they're aware, they can actually support me in my condition and make adjustments as required. Obviously, a lot of people hesitate to disclose mental health conditions because they feel it might limit their career through judgment and perhaps perception of low performance. So that's always something to bear in mind.
RUTH WELLS: But since the mental health movement has grown in traction, I've actually found it a very positive experience disclosing. Next slide, please. So in response to openness, when I've mentioned my condition, often I get a lot of questions around how I experience bipolar disorder, and what it is. There is some misunderstanding out there. I think it used to be called manic depression.
RUTH WELLS: I think those words sound very scary to people. But the experience of depression and mania varies between individuals. So bipolar UK very helpfully provides a document about how to speak to your employer and what to speak about. And really it's around the conditions you might need for general day still working as a normal level or when you experience minor depression.
RUTH WELLS: In my case, mania is much more difficult to handle than depression on a day-to-day since. And I found the price of callouses can be difficult to discuss as well because they can sometimes be quite difficult to predict. And I can't give exact symptoms. And I say that's quite common for mental illness is the invisible illness. Next slide, please.
RUTH WELLS: So in terms of policy and practice, it is part of the reason I disclosed these days is because it gives me legal protection with the health and safety discrimination laws. And various organizations have different policies. But I found that most people are very understanding. And I've always mentioned it since I've disclosed for about 2015. From the recruitment stage, the interview stage, because I felt it was fair to employers even if there may be some implicit underlying misunderstanding of that condition and what I'm capable of.
RUTH WELLS: In terms of the last 10 years, a lot of the mental health helped me disclose faster and more openly. And for example, I had postpartum psychosis when my daughter was born, it took me nearly eight years to blog about it. But when I section two years ago, when I experienced psychosis, it only took me four months. And I had amazing responses both times in terms of support from the general public and my employer.
RUTH WELLS: So in terms of health and safety adjustments, I think one of the most important things is how you escalate a problem in your day-to-day life. And often with bipolar stress triggers cause an issue if you like. So having an agreement about how you escalate those issues and also how colleagues around you might raise concern about your behavior or your state of mind may be something that you want to discuss.
RUTH WELLS: But it's extremely sensitive, and it requires a level of compassion and understanding within the organization you work to establish that. And that can take time. So I think for me, the most important thing in terms of understanding and making adjustments for any issue I might have is around being given space and understanding. Space to discuss really and to be open about the condition and what I might need a new stage.
RUTH WELLS: Next slide, please. So in reality, the level of support I've had has been very strong and very positive. I'm still capable and productive employee. And I think that's something that is really important message to convey that despite my illness, I've achieved the things I'm proud of in my career. And I performed well in most of my roles. I think one of the difficult things with mania for bipolar people is that what may look like poor performance is actually illness.
RUTH WELLS: And so that can be very difficult, particularly in the early days of working for someone. And I think the one thing that's very difficult to explain and understand if you haven't experienced it yourself is psychosis. So psychosis is like the top end of mania and schizophrenic people, as well as bipolar people my experience it. And psychosis is really when you're irrational.
RUTH WELLS: And so rationality by its nature means is very difficult to explain what you need from an employer, or your manager, or your colleagues. And so actually, under those circumstances, I have an escalation practice now where whoever is responsible and close to me escalate straight to my psychiatrist if they even expect that. So I think that the handling of depression and other more minor mental illnesses is very different to psychotic behavior.
RUTH WELLS: Next slide, please. And say one of the main escalation points to me is my daughter. She's caught on camera. I'm a single parent, which is why this is particularly critical for me. So I have a support structure around me, which I'm not employed at the moment.
RUTH WELLS: But my family, friends, local people, and my daughter all look out for me if they think I'm experiencing a serious issue in my life and in my mental health. And I lost both my daughter and my friends. If they have particular concerns that they do just call my doctor and don't worry too much about any invasion of privacy. And the reason I say that is because if I'm particularly ill in any circumstance, then early intervention is key for anyone who suffers mental health issues, particularly if it affects their behavior or their rationality.
RUTH WELLS: So my daughter is obviously not an employer's concern in many ways. But it is useful I think if you do have a young carer, which is far more common than you'd imagine that your employer is at least aware that, that might have an impact on her and outside your job. And next slide, please. So possibly the most difficult thing for me is managing my reputation, and my self-respect, and my relationships after an episode.
RUTH WELLS: So if you're depressed, then generally although you're depressed, you're still rational and aware of your behavior. Unfortunately, if you're manic, and that's a different scales or psychotic. It's incredibly difficult to see yourself as others see you. So in returning to work after an episode, I have experienced. That say I needed a lot of courage to face some of the people around me in order to overcome my embarrassment, and to explain any inappropriate comments or behavior, and to stop my illness undermining my reputation as an individual at work.
RUTH WELLS: So what I say is that I have to have some sense of humor around some of my behavior. I'm not going to go into what I've done in the past. But let's say some of it made others embarrassed and made me very self-conscious. And so I think the journey from illness to recovery is not just about recovery mentally and becoming rational and becoming able to manage your life again.
RUTH WELLS: It's very much about renegotiating relationships, re-establishing reputations. And there's a kind of lessons learned for me after an episode. And perhaps a learning journey with colleagues and employers as well. Next slide, please. So in terms of achieving wellness, which is obviously every mental health sufferers aim, often after a period of illness, then might be a need for gradual return.
RUTH WELLS: And that's where lots of different reasons. It's not necessarily because you're still ill, it's because during the illness your capacity for socializing may have decreased and being present with people may have decreased, maybe increased tiredness. And obviously, I've explained about overcoming embarrassment, which does take little time sometimes. So at this stage, it's really helpful for your employer or manager to have a listening ear.
RUTH WELLS: And that's a very high price for me and something I value above all other things. And then hopefully, during your time being employed with them, that they would become more and more understanding of where you at as a person and your capability despite your illness. So next slide, please. So I said I blog, I've written a various blogs one with Casey about the reality of neurodiversity.
RUTH WELLS: And a number of blogs on my own blog about being sectioned and how it is time to talk about that because a lot of people are still very frightened about hospital admissions for mental illness. And I've written one called Pulling Yourself Up by Your Bootstraps, which is really about the determination to recover after a period of illness and around the culture of compassion that's helpful for any mental illness.
RUTH WELLS: Next slide, please. So thank you very much for listening. I'm happy to take any questions either by email or in the session afterwards. Thank you. So hi, I'm Katie. And I'm going to touch on one of those 80% of disabilities that's not visible.
RUTH WELLS: I'm the Global Marketing Director at Digital Science, which is a technology company that serves the needs of scientific and research communities. Prior to that, I've worked in positions across the sky telecommunications industry at companies like BMJ Nature. And I'm also the founder of an educational games company called Remarkables. So we turn science heroes into superheroes to bring a more inclusive range of role models to young children.
RUTH WELLS: So I'm lucky to be dyslexic. And I'm going to tell you a little bit about what dyslexia is. So dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved with word reading, spelling, and verbal processing speed. It occurs across a range of intellectual abilities. Surveys have shown that 80% of people think that dyslexia means low intelligence.
RUTH WELLS: And they couldn't be more wrong. And this bias actually really impacts how we're treated in the workplace. So I just want to be very, very clear that it has nothing to do with how intelligent we are. You can be very bright and have dyslexia. It's also a spectrum dyslexia. So no two people will have the same set of strengths and weaknesses.
RUTH WELLS: Just some key stats. So one in five people are dyslexic. So I'm guessing even just during the session, there's going to be a number of people in the audience that either they're dyslexic, or they might not even they're dyslexic. But it's a substantial percentage of the population. It's genetic.
RUTH WELLS: So if your kid is dyslexic, the likelihood is that either you or your partner, it's becoming highly valuable as a trait amongst employees. So at the moment 50% of NASA employees are dyslexic. And you have companies like NASA, Deloitte, GCHQ. They're all actively recruiting neurodiverse candidates because of the skill set we bring to the job. So before I touch on some of the barriers, I'm going to just really quickly go through some of the strengths that we can bring.
RUTH WELLS: So we see things. We see the bigger picture. So one of the perks of being dyslexic is we often see things more holistically. So we might miss the [? org tree, ?] but we'll definitely see the forest. And I think as you get more senior in your career, seeing the bigger picture is incredibly valuable. We have the ability to see how things connect and how they connect to form complex systems and how to identify similarities among things.
RUTH WELLS: And strength like this are valuable when you want to pull together data or you want to even I think I guess in intelligence gathering, where you can start to see pattern recognition. We're picture thinkers. So Disney, unsurprisingly was dyslexic. And he created an empire. We actually tend to think in pictures.
RUTH WELLS: And maybe that's why I've gravitated on the side to comics and imagery is because that's how we see the world. And research at the University of California has demonstrated that we have enhanced picture recognition memory. And that can be a real advantage when it comes to business. We think outside the box. There are so many entrepreneurs who are dyslexic. And I think it fits quite well with the way we see the world, where no one for having sudden leaps of insight that solves problems in a way that most people think is unorthodox.
RUTH WELLS: So an example would be we might jump to a solution. And it could appear that we're just guessing, or perhaps it's intuition. But actually what really happens is our brain slides into neutral. And it eases itself around a problem, and it connects the dots. And sometimes we don't even know that we're doing it. And as we do this more and more, we can get faster and faster at it.
RUTH WELLS: Most people think sequentially. So it just takes a bit more time. So I'm really sorry to all you neurotypical who have joined us today. Don't worry. Your approach has benefits too. It's just a different way of doing it. And we excel at a visual processing. So we're very good at finding the odd one out.
RUTH WELLS: A little known fact is there are actually a lot of people with dyslexia in the field of astrophysics. And to such an extent that it prompted the Harvard Smithsonian Center for astrophysics to do a little bit of research into this. And they actually found that people with dyslexia are better at identifying and memorizing complex images or finding the odd letter out on a screen before others do. I'm going to just talk briefly now about some of the barriers.
RUTH WELLS: So we're ready and willing to work. But often, we find ourselves faced with sometimes what can feel like insurmountable barriers. So some of these are with regards to recruitment. Expecting applicants to understand the full inferences of questions at interview stage, to respond appropriately by describing what we know or what we can do. It can disadvantage narrow divergent applicants. We're better at showing what we do than telling someone about it.
RUTH WELLS: The other area that can be actually quite daunting is psychometric testing. It's just it's inaccessible. And quite frankly, a lot of time built with created biases. So this provides an unreliable measure to the skills and abilities that we can bring. So if you are currently using some of these approaches, just take some time to rethink maybe how they're being implemented.
RUTH WELLS: Another area, which I've seen over the course of my career is the lack of awareness. And that's at all levels. So there's little awareness or understanding at work about the nature of neurodiversity. And that's not just dyslexia. And this makes it really hard for us to operate effectively in the workplace. One example, I mentioned earlier was that dyslexic people will often get good high quality answers faster than neurotypicals.
RUTH WELLS: And that has its benefits, which is important. But it's you also have to understand that it has its flip side. We might not communicate how we got similar to a colleague right away. How did we get from A to Z? We might not explain it in a way immediately that, that can be understood. The other thing is we don't necessarily engage in a discussion immediately.
RUTH WELLS: So we might not be able to hold onto the threads of our arguments during a live debate or topic because it overloads our memory and it incapacitates us. So expecting an employee to be able to snack back or respond immediately on the spot during a meeting is just not overly inclusive for us. The other area is the consequence of disclosure. Disclosure, it can lead to discrimination.
RUTH WELLS: I mean, that's just a fact. We all have experienced this. And sometimes the discrimination is it's not intended. It just comes with maybe a lack of awareness. But it can also lead to the feeling of workplace bullying, which makes us feel like we constantly have to justify our ability. So many of us will not disclose. And that actually leads I think into somewhat of a vicious circle.
RUTH WELLS: Because if you don't disclose, you can't be supported. So it's sometimes who put the barrier on ourselves as well. And finally, I'm. Going to talk on performance management. Because it's a tough one for neurodiversity. I think the lack of awareness and understanding particularly amongst managers can often lead to treating neurodivergent employees as a problem, rather than recognizing that it's the barriers that we face and at work that may be creating the issues.
RUTH WELLS: And I think it's really important to make sure that we don't focus on individual competency, but that we really look at a solution based approach. So that we can start by looking at the strengths of the people in front of us, and we look at how we can remove barriers to give them the capability to progress. So just a few solutions that we could start to look at.
RUTH WELLS: When it comes to recruitment, some things that we could do are consider the types of tasks that we give an applicant. Don't spring tasks as well for an interview. Give someone plenty of time. Bear in mind that when dealing with spelling, especially with online forums that don't have spell checks, if there is no assistive technology for that type of thing, you may see spelling mistakes in an application. I would also suggest moving to evaluating a range of strengths at interview stage rather than looking at weaknesses or the outcomes of tests and scoring.
RUTH WELLS: So maybe some practical assessments. When it comes to support and training, so the internal awareness amongst colleagues and at work. I think looking at what training can be and put in place, so that people understand what neurodiversity means. Have neurodiverse champions if you don't already. Make sure your HR staff and senior managers are all on board. And it really needs to come from the top.
RUTH WELLS: If your organization isn't inclusive, and I'm not just talking about disability here. It means your leadership team isn't inclusive. So to really change the culture, it needs to come from the top so that it embeds in all the processes workflows, and it encompasses the whole company culture. Simon already mentioned publishing enabled. But I'll just put it up twice. If you see it twice, you're more likely to remember it.
RUTH WELLS: So please find us on LinkedIn. And if you have any questions, do get in touch. You can find me on Twitter or you can email me. Thanks.
KRISTINA MARTIN: So how can colleagues and organizations can support and the allies to people with disabilities and support disability inclusion? And I like what Simon has been saying about it's one conversation at a time. And so I'm using that theme. And you'll hear some other common language from our other speakers Katy, and Sylvia, and Ruth. So hopefully, you'll be able to tie some of this together. So I'm pleased to talk with you on the professional capacity as the Chief People and Equity Officer at PLOS.
KRISTINA MARTIN: I think it's also important to understand that that's one point of reference. My other point of reference is to lived experience of three invisible disabilities. So autism spectrum disorder, narcolepsy, and scoliosis have certainly had a very significant impact both on my personal life and my professional life. And I've been really honored to be able to do some bridge work professionally between organizational perspective, and leadership perspective, and making sure that we have inclusive environments that are truly harnessing the full talent and capacity of people.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And I think you've heard a little bit about some of the advantages that diversity can bring and how organizations and teams can really benefit when we're harnessing the power of diversity. Next slide, please. So in this theme of one conversation at a time, some things to keep in mind about roles in this system.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And some tensions. What makes the conversation difficult, and what creates tension in the system? And tension requires resolution, right? And so solution pathways is a way to think about focusing our efforts going forward. That solutions aren't always fixed. Sometimes they require revisiting, and iterating, and trying again.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And so you'll see the word resolution. Resolution in terms of both moving forward and in terms of resolving some of the natural tension that happens in the system that we're all operating in. We're going to talk about some values to anchor the conversation. And I think if we can ground in a particular set of norms and behaviors that will manifest in those conversations, that there's a whole lot of hope about moving forward to fully leveraging the capacity that people bring to the workplace.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And then some points of inquiry. This is where we're going to get really practical. And hopefully we'll have some ideas that you can take immediately as next steps to start really important conversations in the workplace about disability inclusion. Next slide, please. So within this system, you have the organizational perspective, right?
KRISTINA MARTIN: So this could be the HR person that you're in contact with. It can be organizational leadership. But essentially, the role of these representatives is to think about the macro employee experience, right? So we're thinking about accommodations, we're thinking about fair processes, we're thinking about the full lifecycle of how employees are experiencing the organization and to what extent we're harnessing their particular strengths and power or business performance, right?
KRISTINA MARTIN: Ultimately, every organization is chartered with doing something and we're achieving certain goals, policy. So there has to be universal policy that's consistent and applied equitably. Managing risk is an important role, right? And then certainly budgeting and funding is an important part of the organizational perspective. From a manager perspective, the manager responsible for the employee experience as well.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And also for individual team member performance and the overall performance of the team. And managers are also tasked with managing risk. So all the rest of us, co-workers were supposed to be allies, right? And we're supposed to be working together in support of all of the differences that we bring to the organization, so that we can drive exceptional performance.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And I'm wary of the word performance because it can have some negative connotations, especially as we think about traditional conventional systems. So when I use the word performance, I'm thinking about greatness and I'm thinking about us accomplishing really big things together. Let's go to the next slide. So you see, even within these rules, there's a little bit of tension.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And then you add in the conversation of disability and invisibility. And that introduces even more tension into the system. So from an individual perspective, when someone has a disability that's invisible, so are their challenges and so is the level of effort that's required to function effectively. Oftentimes, colleagues make assumptions based on what's visible and what's not.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And those assumptions can range from things about behavior, and performance, which you've heard to ability level, and motivation, and what people's perceptions are about the support that's needed for somebody. From the managerial or organizational perspective, sometimes there's a perception that a particular practice is fair or that a need has been resolved when that's just not the reality on the other side of it.
KRISTINA MARTIN: You've heard about disclosure and the inherent risk that is in disclosure from the employee with a disability perspective. And from the managerial perspective, managers are trained to avoid risk and open conversations about disability are fraught with risk. And co-workers are guided to avoid invading other's privacy. And then you combine that with different experiences, and challenges, and bias that people have experienced in the workplace.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And so you have some tension there in that system, right? Also embedded in these tensions and every perspective our emotions. There's fear, there's perceptions of unfairness that it's important to understand triggers disgust and anger. And so fairness, whether it's the person experiencing it or it's colleagues observing what they perceive as fairness or unfairness is really, really important.
KRISTINA MARTIN: Next slide, please. Perfect. Thank you. So if we can anchor and if you grounding behaviors. We talk about a culture of inclusion, right? What is culture? Culture, our values plus beliefs plus norms that are manifested in everyday interactions.
KRISTINA MARTIN: One conversation at a time. We're looking for values that will empower resolution. And if we can show up with an open and curious mind, curiosity is powerful, and it suspends judgment, and it allows us to enter into this space of what's possible and what can be. Go ahead and click. It might sound something like, how can I raise my awareness? Or what flexible solutions have we not considered yet?
KRISTINA MARTIN: Next, please. Commitment is hugely important. This is about a collective space of figuring it out. And it might sound like we've not got it right here yet, but we're not going to stop trying. This is actually something that Simon shared before that really, really resonated with me and one of our conversations before today. Next, please.
KRISTINA MARTIN: Collective good. We all have common needs, and we all have common goals. That might sound something like. We all need help. And we all succeed or fail together. Next, please. An asset based approach. You've heard about strengths and limitations. The walk away for today is that we all have agency, whether it's someone struggling to figure out how to fit in and perform at the level that they want to with a disability, or someone figuring out how to bridge divides that they observe.
KRISTINA MARTIN: Every person, every role, every vantage point has agency to impact disability and inclusion. And that might sound something like. What can we do and how can we do it ? This isn't about limitations. This isn't about gaps this is about positive asset-based inquiry and figuring out how to move forward together. Next slide, please. So here's a bunch of practical questions that you can think about.
KRISTINA MARTIN: From an individual perspective, these are the questions that hiring managers and HR folks that are involved in the hiring process can and should be asking. What types of accommodations do you need for your interview? What can we put in place before you start work, so that day one you hit the ground running and you feel like we've cared enough to make sure that you have the tools that you need to be effective?
KRISTINA MARTIN: What are you comfortable sharing with me about what to expect and how I can support you in your role? Do the right people have immediate access to emergency information? From an allied perspective, again, this is the most important role that we all play. The essential question is, how can I be an ally? And that's not a question you ask yourself. That's the question that you ask people if we're trying to be an ally to.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And you ask open ended questions, and you listen very carefully, and you repeat back and mirror what you've heard to make sure that you understand. And you keep asking it again and again. Did that work? Did I show up as an ally for you? Do you feel supported? How can I better support you? There are lots of questions that we can and should be asking.
KRISTINA MARTIN: From the organizational perspective, these are questions that all good allies can and should be asking. To what extent does our onboarding process address accommodations, and roles, and disability, and inclusion? Are we collecting and sharing data related to disability inclusion? So this type of data really captures the full lifecycle.
KRISTINA MARTIN: To what extent are folks with disabilities represented engaged to what extent are they progressing? To what extent do they stay? To what extent are accommodations being requested and satisfied? These are all really important indicators data that we should be tracking. Do we have a published inclusion goals that are tracked and reported just like any other business school?
KRISTINA MARTIN: Do we have employee resource groups with executive sponsorship? How are we supporting a supplier diversity? How accessible are our built spaces, our digital tools, and products, our trainings, our presentations, our documents? Not only for employees, but also for customers and suppliers with disabilities. To what extent do our benefits address the needs of our employees with disabilities?
KRISTINA MARTIN: A lot of time, we're not looking at the lens of AAP and mental health services. Short term disability and long term disability, vision care and hearing aids. And sometimes we're only offering important benefits to employees who meet a certain hourly threshold. We need to be looking at all of these things. Culture. That norms plus behaviors plus beliefs.
KRISTINA MARTIN: How openly are we talking about disability? Are people self-identified around us and having open conversations? That's actually really important signaling. Do we have sufficient and protected funding for accommodations? And finally, are we getting outside help when needed? The truth is that there are a lot of resolutions, a lot of tools that are not going to be immediately obvious internally, or that are not going to have the expertise needed behind them.
KRISTINA MARTIN: And so there are professionals who are trained to help support the solution and resolution pathway. So in closing, we all play a really, really important role to make sure that we are harnessing the full power of every person that we bring into our organization from the very first time we have contact with them until after they've left and trying to understand how their experience was shaped in both positive and potentially in less constructive ways.
KRISTINA MARTIN: So if you remember nothing else, we all play an important role to be an ally and disability inclusion.
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