Inclusive Training Course: Lead Culture Change

You will learn how to find and involve leaders with disabilities to develop your organization’s inclusion strategy. And with your new skills, you will be able to identify the steps needed to build a company culture that includes disabled people.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are familiar terms to many organizations. These words are powerful, and when organizations create ethics, values, behaviours, and beliefs based on the meaning of these words, the organization is stronger. Organizations that typically embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion in their work culture have stronger employee and customer loyalty. All levels of staff often have open communication and work well together. And overall, employees are happy and feel supported.

But something is missing that stops people with disabilities from truly being part of an organization, even when diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the foundation of the work culture. And that missing element is “accessibility.”

Add Accessibility

If someone cannot get into your office space, read a job ad, or contact your customer service, no matter how inclusive, diverse, and equitable you think your organization is, it is missing the mark. Look around your organization. Are people with disabilities present as leaders, staff, and customers? If so, great! If not, why not?

This course helps employers, Human Resources specialists, and managers recognize the importance of building accessibility into an inclusion strategy. Change starts at the top, and you will learn how to find and nurture leaders who will promote access and inclusion in your organization. People with disabilities will add value to your planning process and this course will explore how to engage them. 

Whether you are encouraging participation of disabled people within your organization or looking to hire people with disabilities, this course will focus on characteristics and skills you need to ensure your culture shifts to focus on inclusion AND accessibility.

Barriers that are Hard to Detect

Often a barrier to disabled people working in an organization isn’t as obvious as you might think. 

How you communicate through words and actions can be inclusive or non-inclusive. For example, your organization might add a line on every job description saying that you encourage people with disabilities to apply. Does your organization include this statement in your job ads?

What an easy way for disabled people to feel welcomed! If you encourage people with disabilities to apply and no one does, you must ask yourself why? Chances are it’s an accessibility issue. The Lead Culture Change course will help you identify what the barriers could be.

There could be several reasons why your organization is not attracting or retaining people with disabilities.

Here are just a few:

• The office space does not have an elevator.
• Remote job opportunities are not advertised.
• Other employees are not encouraging or welcoming of new or diverse colleagues.
• The messages from your organization are not easy to read or do not represent people with disabilities through chosen imagery.
• Accommodations are not mentioned to all applicants and new employees as being available to all. They are only mentioned if someone has a visible disability or tells you they have an invisible disability.
• The website is not built to be accessible to all.
• The only contact option, by phone, is not accessible to someone who is Deaf or hard of hearing
• The washrooms are not accessible. For example: there is a heavy door without an automatic door opener, there isn’t a larger stall, there is not clear signage, or the only accessible option is past multiple heavy doors in another department or on a separate floor. 

Business Case for Change

There is a business case for a work culture that is accessible, inclusive, diverse, and equitable. Benefits include increased innovation, improved performance, and easier recruitment and retention. Let’s not forget that customers also want accessibility! The Lead Culture Change course demonstrates why it is good business to be accessible. You will learn how to rate and improve your organization’s culture.

Change does not happen quickly, but it does not occur at all without a plan.

Take the Lead Culture Change coursetoday so that your organization can grow stronger and more viable in the days to come by developing your organization’s access and inclusion practices.