Benefits for Business
Increasingly, businesses are viewing diversity as a strategic priority. Diversity allows businesses to tap into deeper recruitment pools and attract the best talent[i]. It assists them to gain new perspectives and be open to new ways of operating; impacting on innovation, performance[ii] and profits[iii].
Studies have shown employees and customers are more loyal to organisations that demonstrate they value diversity and inclusion[iv].
It is also useful to know that employing people living with disability does not cost any more than employing people without disability[v]. Employees living with disability often have lower absenteeism and a low incidence of workplace injury[vi].
References
[i] Australian Network on Disability, Business benefits for hiring people with disability.
[ii] INTHEBLACK Why you should hire a diverse team, 1 March 2021 and
Journal of Management of Organisations, 2019 The advantages and challenges of neurodiversity employment in organizations, 25, 453-463.
[iii] McKinsey & Company, Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters, 2020 and
INTHEBLACK Diversity and profit: there is a link, 7 Nov 2018
[iv] Employer of Choice Study, 2014 by Instinct and Reason for Heads Up campaign. Australian Network on Disability surveys of members and case studies.
[v] Graffam,J, Shinkfield, A, Smith,K, & Polzin, U. (1998). Making it work; Employer outcomes when employing a person with a disability. Melbourne; Institute of Disability Studies, Deakin University.
[vi]Australian Safety and Compensation Council, 2007, Are People with Disability at Risk at Work? A Review of the Evidence, ASCC, Canberra, Du Paul University and
Graffam J, Shinkfield A, Smith K and Polzin, U 2002, Employer benefits and costs of employing a person with a disability, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 17, no. 4, p. 251-263.