28 May 2015

In this weekly round up our Trustee Robert Hunter gives some thought to not just getting a job, but how people with disabilities can make real progress in their careers:

We’ve been thinking this week about students with disabilities and what lies ahead for those who want careers as professionals in London.  Our mentors have been advising many students and newly qualified professionals in recent months on how to secure a job, and for those with disabilities and long term health conditions, there are obvious challenges.  One, covered in a separate blog, is whether to disclose a disability to a prospective employer.

Another challenge for our mentees is trying to assess which organisations will give them a fair opportunity to progress. It’s all too easy to focus on the challenge of getting a job, especially when it’s your first; but it is as well to have an eye to what will happen thereafter.  Not everyone achieves equal success and not everyone reaches a senior position.  That is as true of people without disabilities as it is of people with them – but the research shows that people with disabilities are underrepresented in management positions.

One has to ask why this is.  Perhaps in some cases it is as simple as employers not making “reasonable adjustment” to allow people with disabilities the same opportunity.  For our part, we think the reasons are much more subtle, but just as powerful.

People with disabilities often have more to deal with; many disabilities are tiring or distracting for the person that has them, for example. But we also believe there are more powerful factors at play.  Assumptions in the workplace by employers and colleagues frequently mean that people with disabilities are passed over.  There is an unspoken assumption that they have done well to get a job at all, and that – somehow- is a sufficient success story. No further progress is needed. The worst thing about this way of thinking is that it is easy for the disabled person to buy into it themselves.

Just as often, lack of progress is the result of tacit discrimination based upon ill-considered views of the limitations that the disability poses.  These views are formed with little or no understanding of the disability in question. Assumptions are simply made that the person cannot do certain things that the job requires (“Jane cannot hear and so she cannot meet with clients”) and even when this is strictly true, no thought is given to a sensible work-around (“Jane can utilise a palantypist and can participate in clients meetings just as well as another partner”). This automatic prejudice and lack of thought can result in the disabled person being excluded from events or activities that are important for career purposes.

Even where the disability may make a practical difference, little thought is given to how the employee with a disability can engage in some alternative, that allows him or her to play to their strengths – and this is to the detriment of both employer and employee. Perhaps a marketing event with a difference that accommodates employees with disabilities might actually mark the employer out as different and win them more business. At the same time it will get the very best from their employees. Certainly what research has shown, time and again, is that innovation and advancement, in any field, never comes from a room full of people who are all the same.  But often the event does not need to be that different at all.  Small changes can make all the difference.

So what is the answer?

First, teamwork with other disabled professionals who have encountered the same problems and explored solutions. We have much to learn from each other.

Secondly, communication and pro activity.  Nobody is going to give you a fair crack of the whip unless you make it clear you want it and give them ideas as to how you can get it.  Initiative is as important for City professionals with disabilities as it is for those without them. Have a strategy.  Tell your employer what you can do and give them practical solutions.  You know your disability better than anyone so you know what will work.  So don’t say: “Can we not hold this kind of marketing event?” say: “Can we hold this kind of event instead?”

Thirdly, persistence.  It is often a question of gently, patiently and repeatedly pushing until you have the opportunities that everyone else has to show your talents. If you’re deaf, (as I am) don’t go to noisy cocktail parties where people will simply see you floundering or not participating in conversations.  Seek out opportunities to give lectures, or one on one marketing, in situations where you can communicate.  Don’t focus on what won’t work for you.  Focus on what will.

Remember – you wouldn’t have got a job at all unless you had courage and tenacity.  They are your key assets – so use them.