The value proposition of disability inclusion

It takes more than just a low unemployment rate to create a thriving economy. Just last month, the U.S. added 236,000 jobs bringing the unemployment rate to just 3.5 percent. But many businesses are still struggling to find workers because there simply aren’t enough employees to fill all the openings. McKinsey Consulting calls this “structural gap” in the labor market the most significant challenge facing the private sector. McKinsey also noted that, “even when employers successfully woo these workers from rivals, they are just reshuffling talent and contributing to wage escalation while failing to solve the underlying structural imbalance.”

Yet, there is a massive pool of talented, committed, and engaged workers who are not fully integrated into the workforce — persons with disabilities. Companies that fail to embrace the value proposition of disability inclusion not only are stuck in the structural gap of talent management, but they are missing opportunities to innovate new products and services for a global market worth trillions of dollars.

Consider:

• According to Return on Disability, a Toronto-based a data-driven insights and design firm that leverages disability in working with clients, found that the global population of persons with disabilities and their close friends and families is roughly 3.4 billion people — about twice the size of China’s population.

• The spending power of that population is over $13 trillion — almost the size of the European Union economy.

• The Center for Talent Innovation found that 75 percent of employees with disabilities in the United States have ideas that would drive value for their company — compared with 61 percent of employees without disabilities.

• Research by Accenture shows that companies which are inclusive of people with disabilities are, on average, have 28 percent higher revenue and 30 percent higher profit margins than their peers.

Perhaps most important is the stark reality is that every one of us in our lives will experience a disability — be it through a condition at birth, injury, illness, aging, caring for a parent, or a life event such as exposure to emotional trauma.

Cruise control in vehicles, the phonograph, the ever-popular text function or touch features on mobile phones, the electric toothbrush, and the internet. All were innovated by people with disabilities as part of designing themselves into a culture and society that did not center on their needs. Yet each innovation quickly found its way to mainstream acceptance, enjoying widespread commercial success, and fostering a positive change in how billions of people work and live — regardless of disability status.

Within that context, disability inclusion is not an act of charity or philanthropy. Nor is it compliance with laws and government mandates. Rather, disability inclusion is a management strategy that encourages companies to attract a diverse pool of talent while maximizing the skills of their employees in a way that creates long-term value for the company, investors, customers, and society.

Without a doubt, approaching disability inclusion from a position of business strategy and value creation requires a significant commitment at all levels of an organization. That commitment starts at the very top and must be embedded throughout the organization — which places a premium on securing the active support of midlevel management. Metrics are required, data needs to be tracked, and relevant information disclosed to important internal and external audiences. Disability inclusion also requires a new mindset when it comes to recruiting, managing, and retaining talent.

Yet the payoff is clear — better talent, greater innovation, and long-term value creation through products and services able to meet public expectations in a global marketplace.

Robert Ludke is a senior fellow at the The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement.