Here are our 10 top tips for actions that individuals and companies can take to be more inclusive to customers, colleagues and potential new hires:

• Sign your company up to Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme – this is a tool for individuals to share if they have a disability that is not immediately apparent. It helps a business to foster a culture where employees feel safe to share that they have a hidden disability, and everyone has the same opportunities and a voice to impact the business.
• Hold team inclusion sessions – the topics covered in these sessions could include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Autism, Pain Awareness Month and Mental Health. This will help to spread awareness and understanding of these conditions so that managers can make suitable adjustments to support those affected.
• Talk to your colleagues with disabilities. Ask them if they are comfortable sharing their lived experience story and hold listening sessions for the team or department. An example of how Serco did this was an informal Q&A session with a Restart Scheme employee who suffers from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). This deepened awareness and understanding of how PCOS impacts her day-to-day life.
• Signpost publicly available resources – These could include Valuable 500 (a global business partnership of 500 companies working to end disability exclusion), government websites such as FCDO disability inclusion and rights strategy and charities like Mencap and Scope.
• Use positive language such as people or person with a disability, disabled, wheelchair user or visually impaired​.
• Avoid euphemisms and phrases such as “suffers from”, “other abled” or “wheelchair-bound”.
• Understand poor grammar could be an access issue for people with learning difficulties such as dyslexia or for whom British Sign Language is their first language.
• Make job application processes accessible, use simple language and give candidates the option to apply in their preferred format.
• Ask job candidates if they require reasonable adjustments at all stages of the application process.
• Celebrate milestone events e.g., International and National awareness days such as ADHD Awareness Month, Neurodiversity Celebration Week and Deaf Awareness Week to name a few.

Serco is actively committed to fostering a more disability-inclusive workplace through a variety of initiatives. As well as joining the Valuable 500 and becoming accredited by the Disability Confident scheme as a Leader (only 267 in the UK), a scheme Serco found great success taking part in was Ambitious about Autism. This scheme offers university students with autism the opportunity to experience a working environment over the summer in order to make the transition from university life into the working environment much easier. Students joined Serco Restart Scheme’s Reporting, Analytics and IT Teams. It’s a scheme Serco regularly talk about to our partners as an opportunity for them to get involved in.

By embracing these initiatives, Serco not only demonstrates its commitment to social responsibility, but also enhances its overall workplace culture, fostering a more inclusive and supportive atmosphere for all employees.

Read about how we’ve helped those with a disability into sustainable employment:

Taking a bite of success into first ever job with support from the Restart Scheme (serco-ese.com)

Health challenges doesn’t stop Steven finding work through the Restart Scheme (serco-ese.com)