Australian Employers Network on Disability

Employers' Network Chief Executive Suzanne Colbert was recently invited to attend and participate in an International conference in Washington, convened by the United States Business Leaders Network (USBLN).

Read her full report below.

Report from USBLN hosted International Roundtable and Conference
Washington DC, September 22-25 2009

International Roundtable

The Roundtable was introduced by Beth Butler a ‘truly historic moment’.  This was the first time employer organisations on disability from across the globe aimed to meet and collaborate.  Countries represented included Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, UK and USA.  Other emerging employer networks that were unable to be present are South Africa, Russia and Brazil.

The meeting was hosted by John Kemp, CEO and General Counsel to the USBLN and Chair of the USBLN Beth Butler from Wachovia (a Wells Fargo company).  The meeting was chaired by Susan Scott-Parker from the UK Employers Forum on Disability.

Also in attendance as ‘observers’ were companies that have a global interest in the inclusion of people with disability and these included our members IBM, Manpower, and KPMG as well as Starbucks and Suntrust Bank.  Senior officials from the Office of Disability Employment also were present during the day.

Country representatives gave an outline of their organisations, the key services they deliver, the number of employees, how they are funded and their challenges.  Financial stability and a sustainable business plan were the main challenges reported.

It was agreed that there are several catalysing reasons for collaborative actions now.

• Increasingly, multi-national companies are working towards unifying their business process and it’s vital that employers’ networks on disability are able to adopt a consistent message on accessibility.  
• Global companies will maximise benefits and minimize costs and risks by moving from a compliance approach to a best practice approach. 
• The United Nations International Convention on the Rights of People with Disability has galvanised people with disability around the world and built expectations.  
• China is taking a strong lead on disability and is focusing on the Shanghai Expo in 2010 being fully accessible (a US delegation is travelling to China on 26th Oct).
• The UK Employers Forum is seeking to establish a global employers’ forum on disability.

All organisations represented have the common goal of economic and social inclusion of people with disability and the key differentiator is how we relate to our members.  The essence is that we are ‘employer led’ and moving the agenda from charity to investment supported by positive and purposeful people.

We received a great deal of positive feedback about our blend of services, programs and products and our members and team can be very proud of the achievements of our Australian Employers Network on Disability.

Personally, attending the roundtable and conference was invaluable.  It encouraged me to increase focus on encouraging our members to work toward targeted recruitment systems as we slowly recover from the recent challenging financial times.

Conference Highlights

 The International Roundtable delegates and global corporations (IBM, Starbucks, Motorola, Manpower and Suntrust Bank) made presentations to conference attendees.  Many people said how pleased they were that Australia was represented.  Our presence was well and truly appreciated.

I attended sessions on the general direction of the Obama administration relating to people with disability, with October being their Disability Awareness month, their major initiatives were going to be announced after the conference.

I met with Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to President Obama and the highest ranking official on disability in the US.  The main purpose of the conversation was to understand their thinking and direction in relation to employer incentives. 

Whilst our position in Australia is that employing people with disability should be cost neutral, that’s not the position in the US.  They are still at ‘it’s the right thing to do’.  The Obama Administration plans to ‘lead by example’ and has already employed a substantial number of people with disability.

There is a big focus on providing employment to veterans (many who have post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury caused from road-side explosions).

Other really interesting presentations included:

• ‘Marketing Solutions and Consumers with Disability,
• Strategic Marketing with Disability Community = Brand Loyalty, 
• Marketing Solutions and Consumers with Disabilities: Integrating Disability into your Brand 
• Social Networking Venues and Accessibility, 
• Disney’s Commitment to Accessible Services, 
• Will Hope and History Rhyme? Presented by Walgreens.

Attending the conference has  provided me with a fantastic international network and access to supportive and helpful people including global contacts in Lowe’s (partnering with Woolworths to build 1500 new stores in Australia), Wachovia, Scotiabank, CSC, Motorola, US Dept of Labour, Manpower, Starbucks, IBM and Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to President Obama.

It’s also given me new information about outstanding leadership by companies such as Disney and Walgreen’s.

Facts of interest

• In 7 months of office, President Obama has employed more people in the White House than any other president in their entire term in office.  
• There are more than 56 million people with disability in the USA.
• A review of the UK Department of Work and Pensions ‘Access to Work’ program that provides funding for reasonable adjustments found that for every £1 invested there is a £1.40 return.

A big reminder

It’s not organisations that make a difference – it’s individuals!

Suzanne Colbert
October 7, 2009