Doing the right thing

The ethical benefits of disability confidence are a central component of the business case for action. Ethical behaviour is not an add-on and nor should it be in conflict with the strategic, commercial and other aspects of the business case.

Some would argue that treating people fairly is itself fundamental to the business case — unless people feel valued their commitment is compromised in ways that can result in underperformance — so in many ways the social justice and business case arguments can be complimentary.

Chartered Institute for Personnel Development, The business case for diversity, 2005

Keeping pace with changing societal values

Over the last fifteen years the work of the Employers' Forum on Disability has demonstrated the mutual benefit of a positive approach to disability for both business and disabled people.

Global opinion on what constitutes ethical treatment of disabled people has changed fundamentally.

It is no longer acceptable to exclude people on the basis of assumptions based on a medical label which cannot predict their ability to contribute. The medical model of disability, where exclusion is seen as the inevitable result of the person's medical impairment, has been replaced with the social model, where exclusion and discrimination are instead understood as the result of society's refusal or inability to make adjustments to enable people with different needs and experiences to contribute.

Disability is a rights issue, not an issue for charity or for doctors. Business key role as a problem solver, providing products and services which meet people's needs, means that it can make a huge contribution to improving the lives of disabled people.

I believe our train of though should be this: business is part of society; society has agreed certain international values and principles; business needs to reflect these in its operations if it is to be acceptable. Its social purpose is to provide products and services profitably and responsibly, the boundaries of that responsibility being determined by the extent of its impact on its stakeholders, the nature of that responsibility being determined by society's values.

Sir Geoffrey Chandler, BT‘ Just Values’, 2003. [i]

Values and strategic decision making

Values are the means by which businesses steer their course and are the set of rules which are used to make decisions

Peter Blanck, Professor of Law, University of Iowa.

Developing disability confidence as an element of corporate values helps to reinforce good decision making on these three levels of corporate culture:

1. Basic values, which are largely unconscious, guide an organisation as it encounters new situations and problems
2. A pattern of shared assumptions, form stated strategies, goals and procedures
3. Manifestations of culture make up the physical and social environment

Disability highlights obvious barriers in the physical and social environment of business – from inaccessible buildings to lack of ease in relating to disabled colleagues and customers.

The development of disability confidence enables a business not just to tackle specific incidences of discrimination and exclusion but to analyse systems (including value systems) to create an inclusive business environment.

Bringing senior business people together with disabled people helps to shift deeply embedded, often unconscious basic values — prejudices and fears — which exclude disabled people. [ii]

Swimming with the tide

Management ethics and organisational values are particularly important in times of change, providing organisations with the ‘moral compass’ needed to steer through complex issues.

An understanding that disability is a natural part of human life, and that the different experiences and ways of interacting with business which disability brings should be valued, will help businesses to develop innovative responses to the challenges of an aging workforce and consumer population as well as to the need to build a more inclusive approach to development around the world.

Employees and customers are increasingly aware of their rights. Businesses which respond to the changing expectations of corporate accountability by demonstrating disability confidence will be better placed to realise all human potential.

Better relationships with disabled people will bring greater trust and improved reputation. Business will also benefit from increased alignment of corporate values with stakeholder expectations and standards set by international human rights and labour standards. Standards such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Social Accountability International SA8000 system now include reference to disability.

For more information see the CSR Standards & Codes section of the Employers' Forum on Disability website

Increasing numbers of businesses recognise the importance of ethical behaviour

Ethical behaviour is a core component of company activities. Of the 89 percent of companies that have a written corporate values statement, 90 percent specify ethical conduct as a principle. Further, 81 percent believe their management practices encourage ethical behavior among staff. Ethics-related language in formal statements not only sets corporate expectations for employee behavior; it also serves as a shield companies are using in an increasingly complex and global legal and regulatory environment.

The Value of Corporate Values, Booz Allen Hamilton/ Aspen Institute, 2004

 

Sources

1. [i] http://www.strategy-business.com/article/05206?pg=1 (requires registration)
2. [ii]Schur, Kruse, Blanck, ‘Corporate culture and the employment of persons with disabilities’, June 2003, Rutgers University