New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli is calling on major corporations to be more proactive in demonstrating their disability inclusion efforts. In a recent statement as well as in letters to 49 company presidents in New York State’s pension portfolio (including Apple, McDonald’s, Nike and Twentieth Century Fox) he asked each to measure and report inclusion across the enterprise, beginning in 2019.
How will they do that? DiNapoli is recommending that disability inclusion data be measured and reported using a benchmarking tool called the Disability Equality Index (DEI) is a joint initiative from Disability: IN, a nonprofit resource for worldwide business disability inclusion, and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD).
The announcement is a huge vote of support for the disability community.
To give you some perspective, DiNapoli oversees the third largest pension fund in the country. In his inaugural address, he added disability inclusion to a list of engagement initiatives he’s doubled down on in past years.
“From pushing corporations on labor rights, on the need for there to be more women on corporate boards, on LGBTQ non-discrimination, on the environment and climate change, on executive compensation, on disclosure of corporate political spending, New York will have the most robust corporate engagement initiatives of any state fund, adding, “We are starting 2019 with a new effort to press corporate America to have clear policies on disability inclusion," said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
In essence, the announcement catapults disability inclusion into the corporate accountability mainstream, putting it on par with environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
Still, there are corporations who will resist emphasizing disability inclusion in their ESG reports. Some will do so because they think of inclusion as compliance, something they see as costly. Others may not be educated about the skills and strengths of this huge talent pool, simply because of their fear of the word disability. Neither of the above assumptions about people with disabilities is true—and when everyone isn’t educated on the topic, it can cast a shadow on that employee’s experience. “I think a lot of companies currently lack awareness about people with disabilities. Although you may receive accommodations on the job, that doesn’t mean that your co-workers will be familiar with accommodations in the workplace,” says Meenakshi Das, a Disability: IN NextGen Leader who is currently a senior at Mississippi State University.
Here’s what you need to know about disability inclusion and why it will be on board room and C-suite agendas in 2019:
There Is A Strong Business Case for Inclusion
Measuring ROI on any issue can be a challenge—but the case for inclusion has gotten a lot more accurate. That is due in large part to Disability: IN and AAPD, whose research is included in Getting to Equal: The Disability Inclusion Advantage. The report summarized the positive result of companies already using the DEI. Businesses receive an objective score on their inclusion policies and practices and identify opportunities for improvement. The tool addresses the lack of information and disclosure of corporate policies on disability inclusion.
DiNapoli also strongly supports this type of quality, third-party reporting because taking part can strengthen a company’s reputation as inclusive and make them an employer of choice.
He said in a press release:“We want the companies our pension fund invests in to be desirable places to work for everyone,” DiNapoli said. “Studies have shown that businesses that commit to disability inclusion outperform their peers. Companies should seize the opportunity to join the growing number of corporations that recognize the benefits of disability inclusion and are reporting their efforts.”
In other words, disability inclusion is not a charitable act; it is a corporate social responsibility with a huge upside: jobs and a jumpstart for profits.
This Is Not A Diversity Issue. It’s An Inclusion Strategy
To be clear, even as companies become more diverse, they may not be inclusive of people with disabilities. For example, non-Hispanic, black and Hispanic adults are more likely to have a disability than white non-Hispanic adults. Therefore, even the best diversity strategies can be insufficient at inclusion, according to Houghton, president, and CEO of Disability: IN.“While the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) opened doors to economic opportunity for people with disabilities, it can’t legislate attitudes,” says Houghton, “Disability: IN was built on the premise that businesses respond to their peers and competition. Disability inclusion leads to better business performance and those companies recognizing this are coming out on top.”
Disability Inclusion Will Be Seen As An ESG Issue In 2019
Why this issue, right now? Like environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, everyone is affected in some way by disability and inclusion issues. One in five people in the U.S. has a disability and as the population ages, this number will only rise, say experts. Efforts to recruit people with disabilities are only just beginning and there is a lot of work to be done. Today, nearly 20% of people of working age have a disability and close to 70% are unemployed. That’s an incredibly high number of people without jobs in such a booming market—and it’s not due to a lack of talent. A World Report from Davos shows that part of the problem is leaderships inability to talk about mental health and disability at work, even at the top levels and only 7% of business leaders identify as disabled. Those are pretty disturbing numbers from a global health conference.
Big Corporations Need To Get Started
The DEI also clears one very big hurdle for companies: finding an objective, comprehensive way to measure inclusivity. Getting buy-in to weave inclusive practices into everyday work will be new for many businesses. It is also a process that takes an estimated 30 to 40 hours of work to complete. That’s exactly why its proven to be so effective. So far, more than 150 companies including CVSHealth, Comcast NBC Universal, DuPont, EY, Fidelity, GM, J.P.Morgan Chase & Co., and Voya Financial are already measuring and tracking their efforts. Within one year, GM made significant gains in their inclusion initiatives and received a top rating of 100 on the 2016, 2017 and 2018 DEI.
The payoff: “New research shows that hiring people with disabilities increases corporate financial performance and shareholder returns,” wrote Ted Kennedy, Jr., AAPD Board Chair, via email. “It’s not enough just to have programs and policies – the entire culture of an organization must be inclusive and equitable for employees with disabilities to experience the true benefit of total immersion within a corporate environment. Consumers and investors are paying attention,” wrote Kennedy.
DiNapoli asked that all of the companies in the New York State pension fund portfolio measure their disability inclusion in 2019. The deadline to complete this year’s DEI is January 31, 2019—which will be a stretch for some companies. Begin the process anyway—before you’re ready. Businesses shouldn’t be afraid to start. These are tools intended to be helpful and every company starts at a different place,” says Houghton, “By building the tool together with leaders across the disability community and with input from business leaders, the DEI became a business tool that can be taken to the board room.”
