Competitive, Integrated Employment: A Driver of Long-Term Value Creation

What do cruise control, the phonograph and the internet have in common? They were all created by people with disabilities — Ralph Teetor, Thomas Edison and Vint Cerf, respectively. Their innovations enjoyed mainstream commercial success and helped fostered positive change in how billions of people work and live.

The size of the global population of people with disabilities is enormous. According to Return on Disability (ROD), a data analytics firm that specializes in disability data, the estimated worldwide population of these individuals is 1.85 billion or nearly one in four of the world’s total estimated population. When friends and family members of people with disabilities are factored in, the affected population increases to 3.4 billion.

This seminal research paper by The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement, in collaboration with Voya Cares®, shows that companies with an environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy that includes a focus on people with disabilities can be a competitive differentiator for an organization and create long-term value for shareholders and stakeholders.

The Harkin Institute’s new research demonstrates that competitive, integrated employment — i.e., the same rate of pay and benefits for people with disabilities as for workers who do not have disabilities — provides lasting benefits to the brand and bottom line of companies across every sector of the economy, as well as making a positive difference in society.

The opportunity to strengthen the workforce has never been more clear

The time to address disability inclusion in the workplace is now. In 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to announce a rulemaking process that will require companies to improve disclosure of how they attract, develop and retain their talent. The belief is that a diverse, talented and motivated workforce strengthens a company culture and better enables its long-term success.

There is also a growing understanding that competitive, integrated employment is not charity or philanthropy. Rather, it is an integral part of a comprehensive ESG business strategy focused on creating sustainable, long-term value. Companies that create inclusive cultures are more innovative and profitable, and better positioned to tap into a global marketplace of consumers.

Additionally, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nature of employment across many aspects of the global economy has evolved in ways that open a door to greater opportunities for people with disabilities. Most notably, the nature of work and the experience of the office have fundamentally shifted in ways that go beyond a transition to increased remote and hybrid work with more accessibility and accommodations to attract, retain and engage talent and expertise of the people with disabilities and caregiver community.

Yet, even in today’s incredibly tight labor market, people with disabilities are struggling to land jobs. Individuals with disabilities still are an extremely under-tapped talent pool that many companies could benefit from. This research underscores the importance of tapping into this talent pool, making workplaces and job searches more accessible and attractive to people with disabilities, as well as taking steps to ensure an inclusive environment that helps to retain this talent.

Given the growing focus on the social aspects of ESG, it is now time to seize the moment to fundamentally alter the way the disability community engages in the global economy and deploys its value creating potential.

10 steps to positive change

The paper outlines 10 action steps to achieve competitive, integrated employment and capitalize on the $13 trillion² global disability market.

1. Take a holistic approach to disability inclusion

Regardless of their size or industry, every company must look at the large disability audience as customers of their products and services and ask: “How do we reach this market that can add to our bottom line and social value?”

2. Broaden the coalition

Diversity aspects of ESG have primarily been focused on race, gender and sexual orientation. It is now time to also integrate disability inclusion to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

3. Create more-accurate measures of disability inclusion

It’s time to move beyond using compliance-based metrics, such as the number of people with disabilities hired, toward measuring how companies have integrated individuals with disabilities into all levels of the organization with an ultimate goal of value creation.

4. Focus on middle management

An inclusive culture requires the input, effort and collaboration of every member of the organization, especially middle management. Middle management is the “lynchpin” to fostering an inclusive organization because they make the vision and commitments of senior leadership a reality through authentic action and team leadership.

5. Collect more relevant data

Traditionally, there has been little actionable data around disability inclusion. As a result, there hasn’t been an incentive for companies to provide robust disclosure about their disability-inclusion commitments and performance. Policymaking bodies and regulatory agencies around the world must do a better job of requiring organizations to provide more complete disability-related information.

6. Expand the body of work

A handful of studies is not enough. It took thousands of studies and roughly two decades to show the connection between ESG and value creation before ESG gained mainstream acceptance by business leaders and investors. More research that looks at the connection between disability inclusion and long-term value creation is needed to foster a similar level of acceptance.

7. Go where the investors are

It is vital for the disabilities community to be more visible at conferences hosted by the investment community, whether it’s the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, smaller conferences or online events. Each represents a critical moment for the disability community to be present in the conversation and ensure visibility to investors and corporate executives.

8. Consider investor actions

Many of us are investors — whether directly as company shareholders or through mutual funds. The investment community has been taking on a larger role in creating a more-just society by helping people invest in causes that benefit the greater good.

9. Leverage the entire value chain

The disabilities community must take a page from environmental organizations like the World Wildlife Fund. These groups collaborate with companies in every industry, and significant numbers of their suppliers to improve the environmental performance throughout the entire value chain.

10. Create a public-facing benchmark of disability inclusion

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of benchmarks that rate companies on their ESG performance, largely focusing on the environment. It is it time to create a benchmark that will rank companies on several key categories, including their level of commitment to competitive, integrated employment and the impact and outcomes achieved.

The disabilities community has a long and proud history of policy advocacy at every level of government. Now is the time for this community to advocate in support of greater transparency around how businesses create their boards and invest in their people — and to engage in a public dialogue about the value creation unique to people with disabilities in the workforce.

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