This May, some of the UK’s leading employers will gather at the RIDI Awards ceremony in London, hosted by global legal firm Eversheds, to celebrate the success of a three-year initiative aimed at improving the recruitment experience for disabled job seekers.
Advertorial, from Able Magazine #110 (March/April 2014)
Sponsored by leading brands including E.ON Energy, CEB SHL, Eversheds, DWF Randstad, and The Clear Company; the Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative has the backing of Minister for Disabled People, Mike Penning. The past three years have seen recruiters sign up to a programme designed to help improve their knowledge and disability confidence. Employers and their talent providers use the ClearAssured assessment and development to identify and remove barriers at a very practical level putting disability at the top of their agenda and giving them access to a rich talent pool as a result.
Kate Headley, Development Director at the Clear Company, said:
“Research suggests that disability remains a difficult challenge for employers to manage, bringing a mix of fear and uncertainty that can so easily be overcome given the right advice and support. Disabled people repeatedly report how difficult it is to talk to someone who lacks confidence around disability, get some adjustments in place, and that they fear discrimination if they declare a disability.”
“Opening up that dialogue is the reason we developed ClearTalents.com; a revolutionary suite of web applications designed to facilitate the much needed ‘conversation’ between the candidate, recruiter, employee and employer to identify what ‘reasonable adjustments’ can be made to ensure everyone can perform at their best.”
ClearTalents™ In Recruitment and ClearTalents™ At Work are rapidly being embedded by leading employers within their existing HR practices to engender a more inclusive culture and remove the often negative stigma attached to workplace adjustments.
Employees create a profile that assesses the impact a whole series of issues can have on their ability to do well and enjoy work. This includes their disability and health related conditions, as well as life circumstances such as being a carer. ClearTalents then gives the employers the guidance and advice they need for each individual employee to make the adjustments and communicate confidently to ensure they are effective.
Kate Headley added:
“Until now, employers have reacted to individual employees asking for workplace adjustments relying on either a really obvious need to be addressed or an employee feeling able to have the conversation. ClearTalents is a proactive approach to optimising people performance and enabling adjustments however simple or complex, to be confidently put in place.”
There other benefits for employers including an improved candidate experience and successful candidates arriving at work ready to perform at their best. Statistically, disabled employees are likely to take fewer days sick leave, feel more engaged and stay longer.
“As these applications are now available in the education sector we’ll soon see pupils and students adjustment and support requirements addressed early on in life enabling them to move from education into employment job ready and able to maximize their potential.”
