Library
Welcome to this collection of short, straightforward
and practical papers about different diversity topics.
We are delighted that other equality
and diversity specialists have also made contributions.
Please contact
us with any feedback and if you too would like to contribute a paper.
For more information about our business
support activities, visit www.businessability.co.uk.
Model Approach
1. We originally developed the model shown above in relation
to disability but quickly realised that it applies to all aspects of
equality and diversity.
2. The square is divided in to four quarters covering:
Attitudes.
This quarter is further sub-divided in two for:
Employers
and service providers. The attitudes of people
are expressed through their words and behaviour. Many people from diversity
groups find that the negative attitudes they experience are the most
difficult barriers they experience. Attitudes can range from two extremes:
direct discrimination (from abuse and violence to deliberate expressions
of prejudice) to more subtle patronising and over-protective behaviour.
The happy medium is when people treat each other with dignity and respect,
offering help when needed.
Diverse
individuals. The attitudes of the individuals
from different diversity groups also need to be taken in to account.
Again, these can vary from some feeling frustrated to others having
low self-confidence - both often caused by their previous experiences.
Communications.
This covers the various means of communicating
with diverse groups, the content and language plus the outlets used.
Limiting communication channels can mean that some diversity groups
are excluded from the outset.
Environment. This covers
venues themselves and all aspects of accessibility (including lighting,
noise, lifts and ramps) but also broader issues of access such as parking,
public transport and geographical location. Other needs such as prayer
facilities, child-care and appropriate food choices may also be required
depending on the use of the environment.
Policies,
practices and procedures. These (plus communications
and environment) can often be the source of indirect discrimination.
The needs of all diversity groups should be considered whenever a policy
is developed and embedding flexibility can help practices and procedures
work while still accommodating individual needs.
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Training
Approach
1. We like to deliver training that is fun and interactive
for everyone - and that also builds new self-confidence about equality
and diversity.
2. Care is taken in maintaining quality by ensuring that
every session ticks all the boxes:
Objectives.
At the outset, we agree the brief with the client and use the objectives
to set expectations at session start and to measure success in feedback.
Session
design. Each session is specifically tailored drawing on our
comprehensive equality and diversity resources and additional research
where needed.
Inclusivity.
We ask clients to tell us about attendees' individual needs so that
we can make any necessary adjustments to our training style and materials.
Preparation.
Every session is fully scripted with specification of supporting resources,
materials and visual aids.
Participation.
Using ice-breaking games and practical exercises, we actively encourage
all attendees to contribute.
Learning
styles. Sessions mix presentations, discussion and exercises
to suit everyone.
Workbooks.
Each attendee receives a workbook including the session visual aids,
tasks, handouts and supplementary material so that they can make notes
and gather all their 
learning
in one place.
Feedback.
Attendees' evaluation is gathered and analysed to provide a short report
to the client and to help us continually improve.
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for Training Case Studies
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Equality Impact
Assessments
Many organisations have developed very comprehensive processes
for Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) that they use when developing
new policies or refining old ones. We suggest that there may be five
straightforward questions that an EIA should address - each with a series
of simple steps.
Question 1. Is a full EIA needed?
The answer is Yes if either of the following applies:
The
policy has high relevance to diversity groups because it is Major in
terms of scale or significance for your activities.
The
relevance appears minor but you have clear indications that it is likely
to have a major impact on some diversity groups (or even some people
within those groups). This is a question of degree so that extremely
negative impact on, say, a few disabled people will have high relevance
and prompt a full EIA.
Question 2. Does the current situation/policy
provide proportionate benefit for everyone?
Gather
and analyse quantitative data. You need to know the numbers and
diversity profile of the potential market relevant to your current policy
(perhaps employees, local residents, learners, business owners, service
users etc) compared with the numbers and diversity profile of your current
actual customers. For example, a policy about health care should be
reaching a population of 10,000 of which around 8% are from ethnic minority
backgrounds but currently only 5,000 are reached including just 3% ethnic
minority people.
Gather
and analyse qualitative data. You need to know the reasons for
particular success or shortfalls amongst some diversity groups. This
can be found in other research, surveys, complaints records, consultation
and involvement. For example, older business owners said that they are
not comfortable with Information Technology and therefore tend to use
on-line information less frequently.
Knowing which groups are gaining less benefit from the policy, the scale
and causes means that design of the new policy can resolve or reduce
the problems. You may also find that more data is needed for some groups
in the future.
Question 3. Will the new policy provide
proportionate benefit for everyone?
Apply
the learning from Question 2.
Design the new policy to resolve/reduce the causes of current shortfalls.
Use
more widely those practices that bring current success.
Use
the current data to test the inclusivity and impact of each proposed
policy change.
Consider
if other bodies need to make changes.
Other/higher
bodies may need to adjust shared standards and approaches if your own
policy is to provide proportionate benefit.
Bodies that will implement your policy may need to develop their capacity
(equality and diversity policies, performance management, staff training
etc).
Intermediary
people/groups may need to be influenced if their current attitudes,
practices and procedures might limit the proportionate benefit of your
policy.
The result should be a well-designed policy that will work in the wider
context.
Question 4. Can failure to provide proportionate
benefit be justified?
It may be possible to justify decisions not to take actions to remove/reduce
negative impact. What is justifiable will depend on the circumstances
of the policy. Factors may include practicability, time constraints,
resource implications and more. Justification should be sufficient to
satisfy external scrutiny, including by those who will receive the negative
impact.
Question 5. What more can be done to promote equality?
Creative
design that maximises positive impact. Going beyond just reducing/resolving
barriers to producing a policy that actively encourages participation/take-up
amongst those previously under-represented.
Gathering
better data. Increasing understanding of success (or shortfalls) should
feed continual improvement.
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Linking equality
and diversity with public policy performance
1. Context. This is perfect
timing to consider equality and diversity. We are in a period of extraordinary
financial and economic turmoil. The roles of public sector organisations
could not be more important. Many have roles that will directly contribute
to economic recovery - especially those concerned with entrepreneurship
and business growth plus up skilling the workforce. But, at the same
time, there is increasing pressure on the public sector: performance
and productivity will be scrutinised by politicians, the public and
the media - and, of course, the National Audit Office. Consequently,
the theme of this paper is the part that equality and diversity can
play in the development of high performance policies and activities.
2. Relating equality and diversity
to performance. Equality and diversity activities can tend to
gain a bureaucratic and "box-ticking" reputation. Equality
Impact Assessments have been particularly prone. Instead, I suggest
that such assessments are considered more as super-sophisticated customer
segmentation exercises. This better links the segmentation/assessment
with performance when the former provides:
Clarity about the target market: its size, location and diversity profile.
The potential market represents optimum performance - whether engagement,
take-up, active participation or other by end-users (such as businesses,
business owners, entrepreneurs, innovators etc).
Clarity
about actual market: its size, location and diversity profile. Comparing
actual and target markets reveals any shortfalls in current performance.
Causes of any performance shortfalls. These may represent risks to future
policy performance
Solutions.
Steps to improve performance and/or mitigate shortfalls that need to
be embedded in the design of a successful policy.
3. Customer segmentation in action.
HMRC identified that some 40% of its customers (tax payers and working
tax credit recipients) would comply with the Department's requirements
but had difficulty doing so.
Foreign workers had particular problems understanding the use of National
Insurance numbers. A simple, cheap solution was to issue them with straightforward
explanation cards with their NI numbers.
Others
had problems understanding complex correspondence and instructions.
The Department commenced work on more straightforward information.
4. Disabled business support customers
example.
4.1 Publicly-funded business support policy offers an example of how
equality and diversity has performance potential. This is an area where
progress has already been made, with particular focus on women. The
Business Support Simplification Programme introduced a new policy development
in 2008 and made special provision for under-represented groups (women,
ethnic minorities and disabled people) with targeted products (Intensive
Start Up Support and Enterprise Coaching). Additionally, in recent months,
Regional development Agencies, Business Links and their providers have
been active in undertaking research, Equality Impact Assessments, capacity
building training for staff, re-designing customer information etc.
National standards for the accreditation of front-line Business Advisers
are being revised to include equality and diversity. However, while
such progress is positive, other areas such as provision for disabled
people remain patchy.
4.2 Customer
segmentation/impact assessment. Taking the example of disabled
people and business support:
Potential target market. Information indicates that:
Disabled
people represent about 20% of the population;
About
half a million businesses are already run by disabled people and around
a further 175,000 who want to work would be willing to start a business;
Disabled
people wanting to work are proportionately more likely to start businesses
than non-disabled people.
Actual
market. In contrast, the numbers of disabled people receiving
publicly-funded business support is very low. Business Link in one Region
has reported that 0.1% of their customers are disabled people. This
suggests that this diversity group are not under-represented in enterprise
but are under-represented in publicly funded business support. Hence
current provision may be considered to have disproportionately negative
impact on this group.
Causes
of performance shortfall. The following are some of the causes
that are increasingly recognised for disabled people:
Data.
Current information gathering tends to ask the wrong questions and ignore
some key questions resulting in inadequate and inaccurate data.
Marketing.
Promotion that focuses on "business, enterprise and entrepreneurship"
and primarily uses business outlets can be less effective in engaging
disabled people who have limited confidence and modest aspirations for
self-employment through a home-based micro-venture. Business language
and outlets can be alien to them
Information.
Disabled people tend to have lower qualifications and skills than others
and some have limited IT capacity. Hence, information that is complex
and garnished with business jargon delivered primarily through IT and
the web may not reach them.
Funding.
Many disabled people may have very limited business capital and
may be wary of taking on debt.
On the positive side, disabled people who have encountered disadvantage
and discrimination in finding employment can be highly motivated towards
self-employment as the only viable route to work.
5. Solutions. The necessary
mitigating actions need not be difficult or costly, especially if addressed
during policy design. Equally significant is that many of the causes,
and their solutions, are common to other diversity groups. Hence, actions
to engage and support disabled people have wider benefit across other
diversity groups. For example:
Data.
Improved data collection and recording by trained staff applies to all
diversity groups, especially those where no data is currently available
(on religion/faith, sexual orientation etc).
Marketing.
Women, ethnic minorities and older people have all been under-represented/resistant
to Business Link support alongside disabled people. They all need promotion
that is targeted effectively in branding, language, content and outlets.
Information.
Older people, like disabled people, can tend to have lower IT skills
so multi-channel communications are needed. With some 50% of the population
having a reading age of 14 and English being a second language for others,
simple straightforward and relevant business information is necessary
for more than just disabled people.
Funding.
Other diversity groups such as women can have little business capital.
Although Jobcentre Plus enterprise credits, ISUS micro-grants and working
tax credits can all help. Other business grant/loan policies still remain
too remote for many micro-businesses.
But again, the benefits of making such changes can be significant as
many of these other diversity groups also face difficulty in getting
jobs (women with dependant children, some ethnic minorities, older people)
so their motivation towards starting a business can be higher.
6. This example has concentrated on business support.
However, other public policy areas are equally likely to benefit from
such customer segmentation: revealing commonality of causes and solutions
with resultant potential performance improvement.
Risks.
The above covers some of the positive benefits of embedding equality
and diversity in policy development. Failing to do so also results in
some specific risks:
Performance.
Again, using a business support example. One Business Link reported
that their current offer was predominantly aimed at the traditional
market of white, middle-aged, non-disabled men. However, this group
represent only 23% of the respective Regional population - and this
group is shrinking further with the demographic trend and the increase
of disability with age. Expecting high performance from an organisation
with such a limited market represents considerable risk.
Leadership
and influence. Policies that have gaps and flaws are open to
re-interpretation by those undertaking delivery. Inconsistency in policy
implementation can then place overall performance at risk. Additionally,
maintaining control and consistency avoids end-users receiving conflicting
messages about Government policy which can occur if equality and diversity
is advocated via some channels but ignored in others.
Non-compliance.
Although some may consider that the risk of judicial review or investigation
by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission is unlikely, the consequences
of being subject to either, or legal action through the courts or tribunals,
can be considerable. The experiences of the Ministry of Defence and
Metropolitan Police demonstrate how long-lasting and far-reaching the
damage to reputation and operation can be.
7. Conclusion. While the above
has focussed on one aspect of Government policy, the principles are
equally applicable more widely. There are three key messages:
Don't
think of equality and diversity as tedious, bureaucratic box-ticking
but as a potent tool to enhance performance.
Don't
leave Equality Impact Assessments until the end of policy development
but embed it throughout the design and development.
Don't
abdicate from your position of control, leadership and influence but
exert the power of your area of public policy to deliver impact that
succeeds due to its inclusivity.
A policy that excludes sections of the population from the outset is
never likely to achieve the optimum success desired.
For more information about our business support
activities, visit www.businessability.co.uk.
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Information about
disabled people.
1. Often monitoring data has become an end in itself rather
than a tool to improve equality of opportunity.
2. Asking the wrong questions
means the answers are wrong too. For example, monitoring questions will
often not identify everyone protected by the Disability Discrimination
Act. A research survey conducted by the Office of Disability Issues
found that two thirds (66%) of disabled respondents preferred to use
the term 'health problem' and 26 per cent preferred the term 'disability'.
Less than one in ten (eight per cent) said that they would prefer to
refer to their impairment as an 'impairment'. So the re-wording of questions
may produce more accurate response rates. People asked for monitoring
data should know that their responses are optional, anonymous and the
reasons for its collection.
3. Detail to avoid. Unless you
are a doctor and able to interpret medical terminology, asking for medical
conditions is likely to leave you none the wiser - and holding highly
sensitive personal data. Even if you do recognise a particular condition,
you may not know the consequences which are likely to vary for every
individual.
4. Reasonable adjustment needs.
Focussing on needs rather than different impairments can be more productive.
People with different impairments can share common needs. Meeting those
needs will often help other non-disabled people as well. Employers should
make reasonable adjustments needed once they know about a disabled employee.
Those providing services to the public must anticipate the needs of
disabled people and make reasonable adjustments. Information about needs
should be linked to the individual if adjustments are to be effective.
5. Other needs. Disabled people,
like anyone else, can have dietary preferences, care commitments and
other individual needs. These can be good to know to improve management
or customer service but meeting these needs will not normally be a legal
requirement.
6. Good record keeping. Keeping
a record of adjustments is sensible and sharing that information with
others can help if the disabled person agrees. Records can:
Demonstrate
performance;
Provide
evidence if there is a complaint;
Ensure
consistent support;
Contribute
to planning and budgets.
7. Check list for information
gathering.
Effectively
worded question?
Record
of adjustment needs?
Record
of adjustments provided?
Permission
to share sensitive personal information?
Record
of other needs?
Record
of other adjustments?
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Digital divide and
disabled people.
1. There seem to be three interlocking factors relevant
to many disabled people:
1.1 Disability.
About
20% of the UK population are protected within the definition of the
Disability Discrimination Act 1995. This proportion is likely to grow
as propensity for disability increases with age. The demographic trend
means that the overall population is ageing. Currently some 40% are
aged over 45 and, by 2030, 40% will be aged 50 and over.
The
substantial majority of people protected by the DDA have "hidden"
disabilities ranging from HIV and cancer through hearing impairments
and mental health conditions to the huge range of medical conditions
that limit day-to-day activities in the long-term. People with such
"hidden" disabilities tend to encounter the most negative
attitudes from others.
The
substantial majority (70%) of disabled people acquire their impairments
during their working lives. This means that many face massive changes:
in their careers, incomes, family arrangements and more.
1.2 Poverty.
About
50% of working age disabled people depend on social security benefits
for their income.
The
majority of disabled people live on incomes below the national average.
There
is a tendency for higher proportions of disabled people to live in deprived
and disadvantaged areas.
1.3 Low skills/low employment.
There
is a trend for disabled people to have lower levels of qualifications
than others. It has been estimated that some 50% of disabled people
have no qualifications whereas only about 30% of the general population
have none.
About
50% of working age disabled people are not working.
Employment
discrimination remains a significant factor for many disabled people
who want to work.
1.4 Hence, it seems that there are links between disability,
poverty and low skills/employment. Creating effective social inclusion
and increased employment requires each of these barriers to be tackled
strategically and practically.
2. Consequences of those barriers in
relation to IT technology.
2.1 Disability.
A
report by BT in 2004 indicated that some 70% of disabled people were
digitally excluded. This was forecast to increase from 2.4m people to
3.6m people in 2025 if exclusion continued at the same rate due to the
ageing population.
While
disabled people tend to use the internet in much the same way as the
general population, their usage rates are about 25% lower, less frequent
and less recent.
2.2 Poverty.
Internet usage rates drop even farther amongst unemployed disabled people.
Low
income can have direct impact due to the costs of IT equipment and connectivity.
The costs of adaptive software and hardware can be very high and prohibitive
for the minority of disabled people who need such.
The
benefits of super fast broadband can be especially relevant for some
disabled people. For example, video-conferencing can be an alternative
to travel. Yet, deprived areas with high numbers of disabled people
may not be considered attractive markets for super fast broadband providers.
2.3 Low skills/low employment.
People
with lower general skills are also likely to have lower IT skills. They
may also have less confidence and motivation to gain new skills.
Current
training provision is often not sufficiently accessible - in the broadest
sense. This can include obvious factors such as training venues, equipment
and software but also more subtle barriers such as trainers with limited
understanding of the needs of disabled people plus the delivery styles
and materials of the training itself.
The
language of IT technology can present its own barrier with new concepts
and a plethora of acronyms. It has been estimated that the reading age
of some 50% of the population is that of a 14 year old. Disabled people
are likely to have at least a similar proportion. Yet, IT design still
seems to be too focussed on others in the industry rather than this
substantial customer group.
3. Impact for disabled business owners.
3.1 Disabled people often consider that self-employment through starting
a business is the only route to work in the face of barriers and discrimination.
Evidence includes:
The
proportion of disabled people who work and are self-employed is higher
than that in the general population.
It
has been estimated that there are about half a million businesses already
run by disabled people and that another 175,000 who want to work would
be willing to become self-employed.
However, this route to work is only recently being recognised and publicly-funded
business support for this customer group has been extremely limited.
Increasing business reliance on information technology simply adds yet
another potential hurdle.
3.2 Running a business. Having
no or limited IT skills can have direct impact on disabled entrepreneurs
as they endeavour to manage routine business activities. Running accounts
without electronic spreadsheets, still hand-writing invoices and juggling
paper files plus handling customer details without a database can all
be more time-consuming and so limit business development. Although Access
to Work support from Jobcentre Plus can provide adaptive technology
and support workers, disabled entrepreneurs still need the training
and confidence to make the best business use of technology.
3.3 Communications. Networking
can be fundamental to a successful business. However, inclusivity is
not a strong feature of most business networks and organisations. Additionally,
many publicly-funded sources of business support and information tend
to consider the internet as their primary communications channel - with
the resultant exclusion of those without access or adequate skills.
Disabled people may be considerably disadvantaged as communication becomes
more reliant on technology. Their lower internet usage can mean less
e-mails and website use. Other communication devices can be inaccessible.
Hence, disabled business owners may be more isolated than others - losing
opportunities to learn from their peers, develop their customer base
and increase their market share.
3.4 Competing for business opportunities.
If disabled people already use the internet less frequently, this route
to market can be further constrained when some 80% of websites fail
even basic accessibility standards. Finding new work is made even more
difficult with the increasing trend of electronic tendering. Not only
is language complex and larded with jargon, but information demands
may be beyond many small businesses. Adding complicated electronic forms
further compounds inaccessibility. Competing for new contracts, especially
in the public sector, can simply become too daunting and time-consuming
to be worthwhile.
4. Conclusion.
Disabled people can see self-employment as a means of fulfilling their
potential and getting off benefits but publicly-funded business support
may not adequately meet their needs. They may therefore depend on their
own ingenuity to get a business launched but may still face significant
barriers when competing in a technology-dominated environment. Although
many may use basic IT skills, they remain on the wrong side of the digital
divide. Consequently, they may rarely grow beyond the micro or lifestyle
business. Even the most able entrepreneur will be constrained when denied
some of the essential tools for growth.
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Disability
into Diversity Planning
This has been written as a think-piece in preparation
for the Equality Bill becoming law. It sets out what Disability Forward
thinks about how disability issues should fit into an overall diversity
strategy for any organisation.
Disability issues will always need to be an integral part
of your diversity strategy. This is because one In five of your staff
and customers are likely to have a disability, and because disability
can happen to anyone at any time, most disabled people are not born
with their disability and therefore unless you include disability issues
in your diversity planning you are not going to be able to respond fully
and effectively to the diversity agenda.
You need to take a strategic approach to disability issues
within your diversity planning, How should you do this?
1. Consider what your vision is with regards to your approach
to disability equality in your organisation, what are you trying to
achieve overall?
For example, you may have an organisational mission statement
or strategic objective on diversity that you must meet. You may not
have developed this, and therefore the first thing to do is think about
what doing well on diversity means to your organisation. Once you have
done this, you need to think about what you specifically want to achieve
around disability equality, this will require you to think about what
the specific issues are for disabled people whose lives you will affect
either as an employer or service provider.
2. Take a three stage approach.
You will need to tackle:
a. Issues for staff
b. Issues for those that use or buy your services
c. Issues around reputation and relationships *
This means that the way that you deal with staff, service
users, contractors, partners and other organisations will not only influence
your own practice but if you take the right approach, will enable you
to demonstrate your commitment to disability equality to a wider audience.
3. Who needs to know what?
Most organisations know they have to do something but
they are not sure what. Not everyone needs to know the same things,
so when you are planning your approach consider who needs to know what
and why, So:
Senior managers
Need to understand the underpinning principles of disability equality
and the law and how this should be taken into account in their strategic
thinking. They also need to understand that their role is to facilitate
significant culture change within the organisation. They do not necessarily
need to know a lot of detail.
Middle managers/Line managers
Need to understand their responsibilities in terms
of implementing the company/organisations policies in a way that promotes
equality for disabled people. So they will need more in depth information
on disability equality issues and the law, but they will need to be
given the tools to understand how this applies to their function, role
and responsibilities. This isn't just about what they themselves do,
it's about how they work with other managers and staff to ensure that
equality for disabled people is always the end goal.
Other staff
Your staff are key. Often they are forgotten or only
given basic information. These are the people that can really make your
diversity planning happen in practice and in a successful way. So, they
may not need information overload on everything, they will need to know
enough to ensure that what they do is right, and what services, resources
and processes the organisation or company has in place to assist them
in their role. For example how to produce documentation in electronic
formats so that is accessible to blind and visually impaired people
or how to appropriately assist a person with a learning disability to
access your services.
4. How do you know what needs to be done?
Step one - find out what your organisation or company
already does on
disability issues, this is not just about policy, but about custom and
practice
Step two - By working with disabled people in your organisation
and outside it
(service users, customers, partners) you should identify what the key
issues and barriers for disabled people might be in the context of what
you do.
Step 3 - By working with disabled people, you can use
the
information gathered in step one to see whether what you are doing is
addressing the issues identified, and if not whether what you are doing
needs minor changes, or whether you need to take a new approach, introduce
a new service etc.
Remember:
1. By making your general policies, practices and procedures
as flexible and inclusive as possible, you will reduce the need for
'special or different measures'. This is not only better for your organisation,
it is better for the disabled people who may work in it or who may use
your services, buy your products.
For example: you may be upgrading your customer information
management software, If you ensure that you work with disabled people
in your organisation to identify what their requirements might be from
an upgraded system (including the actual accessibility of the system
as well as the type of management information it will produce), then
your upgrade will improve your business overall.
2. When seeking input and feedback from staff, service
users/customers or partners, you will need to spend a little time providing
them with some context about what you are doing and your thinking behind
this, this will help to improve the quality of the feedback that you
get.
We can offer consultancy and training on all of this and
more just contact us!
Michelle Valentine, Director
Disability Forward Limited
michelle@disabilityfwd.co.uk
c/o 10 Rushmore Rd
Norwich NR7 8QR
Tel: 01603 301358 Mobile: 07949 565539
www.disabilityfwd.co.uk
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