How to Combat Ableism At Work (10+ Helpful Tips)

An estimated 27% of Americans face some form of disability that requires unique care, treatments, and lifestyle considerations. The demographic also represents a considerable size of talented hires that companies miss out on due to ableism. Adding to the challenge is that 42% of candidates reject job offers in response to poor interview experiences.

By stacking these numbers, it is safe to say that your hiring teams could boost the quality of hires by nipping ableism in the bud. To that end, we’ve rounded up the signs of ableism at work. We’ll also look at how it compromises your recruitment campaigns, and offer recommendations to curb it.

What is Ableism?

Ableism comes in various forms, causing discrimination and prejudice against individuals with mental or physical disabilities.

The Center for Disability Rights defines ableism as:

“a set of beliefs or practices that devalue and discriminate against people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities and often rests on the assumption that disabled people need to be ‘fixed’ in one form or the other.”

These biases could manifest in many ways at the workplace, including a lack of accessible facilities for wheelchair users or withholding promotion opportunities.

In severe cases, ableism could result in microaggressions and team conflicts, leading to employee dissatisfaction and poor productivity. Companies may also face legal repercussions if existing talent policies fail to meet the latest disability regulations like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The ADA is a comprehensive act enforced by The Civil Rights Center (CRC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). It prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and extends to employees and job seekers. The ADA also requires employers to provide disabled employees with special equipment, support services (e.g., interpreters), and other accommodations if needed.

However, ableism is not always easily seen as discrimination at work. Sometimes, ableism happens because of small misunderstandings between able-bodied team members and those with disabilities. So, these misunderstandings can come from not knowing enough, which teams need to fix to make sure everyone is included.

The Ongoing Fight Against Ableism at Work

Ableism remains commonly overlooked, although diversity and inclusion have become increasingly prioritized among communities. For instance, ableism is a lingering issue in the healthcare industry. These biases have also resulted in a low prevalence of medical students and physicians in the US who identify as disabled.

Ableism also affects some groups of people more than others. Recent studies with 516,281 participants from eight countries over 20 years showed that young people experience a lot of ableism. The same research also found that younger individuals had higher unemployment and job turnover rates.

Three people with different disabilities (Ableism blog)

The Complications of Invisible Disability

Fostering a sense of understanding among team members is challenging, especially when a disability is not immediately obvious.

Specifically, this refers to an invisible disability where a person faces physical, mental, or neurological conditions without visible external symptoms. Examples of invisible disability include autoimmune disorders, mental health disorders like depression and anxiety, and conditions like neuropathy that cause chronic pain.

In such cases, employees may feel that accommodations could give disabled team members an unfair advantage. Employers and hiring managers have the power to improve the situation of ableism by redefining workplace practices. So, these inclusive strategies should account for every stage of an employee’s company journey, from hiring to their last day at the office.

Strategies For Combatting Ableism at Work

Fighting ableism at work takes several steps. These include improving diversity efforts when hiring and encouraging open communication among team members. You should also provide reasonable accommodations to meet the specific needs of each employee.

Promoting Ableism Awareness

A company that promotes fairness fights ableism by teaching every team member to spot hidden biases. So, to help with this, your company can invite outside experts to give practical workshops and seminars on ableism.

Expert-led sessions on Ableism can inform your employees in:

Recognizing the various forms of ableism. These include environmental ableism, which restricts physical access, and institutional ableism, characterized by biased work policies.
Forming strategies for addressing, removing, and preventing ableism at work.
Equipping them with the tools for eliminating ableism in work processes.
Initiating conversations that help team members foster a stronger sense of unity and acceptance. These activities promote mutual respect among employees, increasing group empathy and inclusion.

Raising awareness of ableism helps employees understand and support team members with different needs. So, this would reduce ableist attitudes at work. Meanwhile, company leaders can reward everyone equally based on their hard work.

Promoting Workplace Accessibility

Workplace accessibility can contribute to a positive work culture by offering disabled employees the accommodations to focus on their roles. Accessibility initiatives may include installing ramps, handrails, and other mobility features within the workplace.

HR teams should also consider special arrangements that enable employees to work at their convenience if needed. So, talent managers may offer flexible hours and telecommuting options. It is also critical to consider the digital accessibilities in technology.

Your hiring team could highlight employee testimonials on your company’s accessibility features. For instance, you could upload a video interview of employees who have benefitted from the convenience of the office layout and how it contributed to a positive work experience. These testimonials may also feature ERG representatives and their continuous efforts and plans to create an inclusive work environment.

Shaping Recruitment With DEIB

Perhaps the biggest step in resolving ableism involves addressing existing talent and workplace policies and practices. A clear idea of existing practices and challenges is critical to promoting successful and lasting change.

Your HR team should establish and revise a DEIB mission statement and relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure progress against ableism.

Examples of powerful DEIB mission statements include Indeed’s “The future of work is equitable and inclusive” and Johnson and Johnson’s “for every person to use their unique experiences, abilities and backgrounds, together—to spark solutions that create a better, healthier world.”

Handling Privacy

Making reasonable adjustments at the workplace is a delicate but necessary aspect of removing ableism at work. A reasonable adjustment or accommodation should remove any disadvantage associated with a person’s disability.

Similarly, a University of College London report notes that a person’s disability could comprise visible, invisible, physical, sensory, mental, situational, fluctuating, and/or involve learning differences.

In some cases, disabled employees may not openly request an accommodation due to the sensitive subject. In such cases, teams should strategically initiate the topic with open dialogue and engage in active listening. Your team may include the following questions when broaching the subject:

Do you currently face any barriers to workplace productivity?
Have you received any accommodations and adjustments in past job roles that eased task management?
What are your preferred communication methods and channels?
Would you like to receive support and training to familiarize yourself with an accommodation or adjustment?
Do you have any concerns regarding workplace practices and layouts that need addressing?

Company leaders should also establish an open-door policy that empowers employees to address their concerns openly. Therefore, establishing psychological safety at work is a major component of removing ableism and other forms of bias.

Giving individuals communication opportunities and an outlet to voice their insecurities contributes to a more inclusive, understanding, and collaborative workforce that negates ableism.

Auditing The Talent Process

Creating an accessible and inclusive environment is often the first step in realizing an ableism-free workplace. Hiring managers must also ensure fair treatment across talent management.

Managers must check to ensure equal hiring practices, promotion, training and development, and leadership according to merit. So, investigating suspected unfairness and providing empathetic solutions at every level is a priority.

Hiring managers can further advance inclusive talent management practices by collaborating with relevant employee resource groups (ERGs). HR teams could also tailor employer perks and accommodations based on ERG feedback.

For instance, managers could offer company-sponsored subscriptions to specialized applications like Be My Eyes, which provides AI support to individuals with blindness or low vision.

Employee benefits - Holographic representation

Promoting an Inclusive Company Culture

Your company culture affects how happy employees are, how engaged they feel, and how long they stay. So, it’s important to create a positive and inclusive culture to fight ableism. Thus, an inclusive culture makes a safe space where everyone feels they belong. And this attracts candidates from different backgrounds.

Industry findings reveal that companies with positive workplace cultures achieve higher average annual returns. A company’s reputation often proceeds it. 95% of job seekers are more likely to find a good boss at a certified great workplace.

Job listings are a great way to show the positive values and practices of an inclusive workplace, making the job more appealing. Your company can share its diversity statement or mention accessibility features and a friendly team. So, this shows a supportive environment where everyone can succeed.

Reviewing JDs in Hiring

Your JD structure is instrumental to the quality of hires in your recruitment campaigns. A DEIB-focused JD attracts candidates of all backgrounds, preventing unconscious biases.

Recognizing a job role’s essential functions is an effective strategy for crafting inclusive JDs. So, your job descriptions, titles, and listings should only include the criteria for fulfilling a role without superfluous information.

Lengthy JDs can deter applicants who could feel overwhelmed by the details. Long descriptions might make people feel they aren’t good enough for a job, even if they have the right skills and qualifications.

Part of the paring down process includes limiting the number of adjectives used in a job description. A “less is more” approach reduces the risks of accidentally including biased terms (e.g., gender-coded words) in your JD.

Hiring teams should identify and avoid subtly ableist language such as “must be able to stand for long hours or have perfect vision and hearing.” Your teams should also factor in mental health considerations by rephrasing sentences like “must have excellent verbal or writing skills or “possess strong analytical skills.”

Eliminating exclusionary languages presents a more inclusive organizational reputation that builds rapport with a larger group of qualified prospects.

Digital and Tech Considerations

Hiring teams should refer to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) international standard to ensure that every candidate has a seamless online application process. So, hiring managers may work closely with IT/developer teams to discuss:

User testing – Checking that users of diverse backgrounds and disabilities can complete an online job application without barriers or disruption.
Compliance checks – Aligning online job portal forms and webpage designs with the latest accessibility standards.
Job portal audits– Conducting routine checks to ensure your job portals remain optimized based on compliance guidelines.

HR managers can try to remove ableism from job descriptions and listings by hand. However, they might miss subtle details. It can also be hard to do this manually when HR teams are handling many open positions at once. That’s where Text Analyzer’s AI-supported efficiency can come in handy in correcting JD biases at scale.

Text Analyzer – Your Ally Against Ableism at Work

Ongig’s Text Analyzer automates the JD vetting process, eliminating inherent prejudices that deter top hires from applying. These biases include gender-coded words, ageism, and ableism. With Text Analyzer, your team can efficiently convert leading candidates by speaking to them in a language of engagement and acceptance.

The Text Analyzer’s algorithm also detects readability issues to keep your JDs concise and secure the attention of potential hires. JDs with optimized readability can attract high-performing passive job seekers with positive employment records and relevant industry proficiencies.

Text Analyzer also helps create effective templates for generating impactful JDs quickly based on your unique hiring needs. Thus, your recruitment team can confidently apply these templates to improve current JDs by reviewing them with Text Analyzer’s robust AI.

Training and Education for Employees and Management

Training programs are key to building a more inclusive workplace. They help educate staff and management about ableism and disability awareness. In the United States, a lack of awareness about different types of disabilities, including invisible disabilities like chronic fatigue or Crohn’s disease, is a common problem.

The Importance of Training

One of the best ways to address this issue is through education. Training helps people understand that ableism is a form of discrimination that affects a lot of people. So, it’s not just about physical disabilities. It also includes mental health issues and chronic illnesses too. Therefore, educating employees about these topics helps reduce disability discrimination and foster a more inclusive workplace.

Different Types of Training

Training programs can take many forms. Workshops, seminars, and online courses are all great ways to educate staff. These programs should cover common examples of ableism and teach employees how to recognize ableist behavior. For instance, they can learn about the subtle ways ableism manifests in the workplace, like making assumptions about a co-worker’s disability or using common phrases that may be hurtful.

Benefits of Training

Educating employees and management also has many benefits. It helps create a better place to work by promoting disability inclusion. So, when people understand the unique needs of disabled employees, they are more likely to support reasonable accommodations. This can range from providing ergonomic chairs for those with chronic back pain to allowing flexible work hours for those with sensory disabilities.

Role of HR Departments

HR departments play a crucial role in this process. They should implement training programs as part of the hiring process and ongoing employee education. It’s also important for HR to address workplace performance issues that may stem from a lack of awareness about disabilities. So, in this way, they can prevent hostile work environments and better support disabled employees.

Promoting Organizational Change

Finally, for training to be effective, the entire organization must be on board. Leadership roles should take the lead in promoting these initiatives. It requires a conscious effort to change widespread misconceptions and false beliefs about disabilities. So, this can lead to significant organizational change, making the workplace a great place for everyone.

The Bottomline – Overcoming Ableism in 2024

Ableism is a wrench in the works for organizational success. To fix the problem, HR teams must truly “read the room” of their culture. This means routinely evaluating workplace conversations, employee dynamics, and talent policies. Automated DEIB tools like Text Analyzer can also prove advantageous in eliminating inherent biases that complicate the fight against ableism.

A comprehensive and systematic approach to the subject enables employers and recruiters to overcome these deep-rooted prejudices. By doing so, companies can remove ableism at work and boost talent acquisition by optimizing their existing talent pool.

Why I Wrote This:

Ongig’s Text Analyzer platform places enterprises on the fast lane in meeting their DEIB goals. The advanced AI-powered solution reviews JDs at scale, replacing biased and boring content with impactful alternatives that draw top talent. Text Analyzer supports your hiring team by identifying the subtlest wordings that leave a bad impression, including signs of ableism. With Text Analyzer in your corner, qualified candidates will find each job application accessible, attainable, and attractive. So, request a demo, today!

Shout-Outs:

July 19, 2024 by Laurenzo Overee in Diversity and Inclusion