Each year, the Disability Equality Index (DEI) helps capture best practices from top-scoring companies that receive the recognition Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion™. These best practices enable a culture of inclusion that promotes increased self-identification, employees feeling truly welcomed to be their authentic selves, and innovation sparked by disability inclusion being built into participating companies’ products and services.
We also encounter practices throughout the year, from presenters at the Disability:IN Annual Conference to companies participating in the Inclusion Works Community of Corporations, best and promising practices are being shared as we work together to advance disability inclusion in the workplace, supply chain and marketplace.
In order to share more practices to help businesses learn from each other, Disability:IN has produced the Best Practices Collection, a new resource of over 170 practices as reported by DEI participating companies and captured through our consulting and conference experiences. This new collection is a compilation that showcases leading examples and promising practices and is designed for all companies – from the company that is just starting their disability inclusion journey to leading practitioners. The collection also includes the ability to sort via industry.
Thanks to our over Corporate Partners, we are pleased to share and annually update the Best Practices Collection.
The first section of the DEI focuses on businesses and their commitment to and demonstration of a sustained, visible cultural commitment to disability inclusion throughout the organization. For this section of the Best Practices Collection, practices include having a company-wide written statement of commitment to Diversity & Inclusion, an officially recognized disability-focused Employee Resource Group (ERG) or Affinity Group, company-wide external hiring goal(s), annual diversity report publications, and more.
For the Leadership section of the DEI, practices focus on businesses and their commitment to and demonstration of visible leadership commitment to disability inclusion. This includes having a Diversity Council inclusive of disability, a Senior Executive’s public support of disability inclusion, and inclusion of diversity and inclusion element in Senior Executive individual performance evaluations.
Enterprise-wide Access is a comprehensive section to capture how businesses commit to and demonstrate commitment to workplace accessibility. This includes emergency preparedness, building and facilities, digital accessibility, digital product accessibility, use of accessibility experts, and more. Explore this section of the Best Practices Collection to discover leading practices driving access across the enterprise.
Employment Practices, one of six categories in the DEI, covers the critical areas of Benefits, Recruitment, Employment, Education, Retention and Advancement, and Accommodations. This Disability Inclusion Employment Best Practices Report provides employer best practices and initiatives, showcasing the companies that are DEI top-scorers who are prioritizing key employment practices.
Businesses that demonstrate public-facing engagement practices that celebrate and support individuals with disabilities are more likely to have more inclusive cultures and practices. In this section of the Best Practices Collection, discover leading practices around philanthropic support, public support for disability inclusion initiatives, use of focus groups and/or consultants in disability or accessibility, and policies to all of their contractors and subcontractors earn at least Local, State, or Federal minimum wage – whichever is highest.
As more corporations and government agencies integrate supplier diversity as a key component within an overall diversity and inclusion strategy, progress continues to be made in recognizing and elevating disability-owned businesses within supplier diversity programs. The DEI results and supplier diversity entire in the Best Practices Collection not only highlight leading business practices but illustrate the opportunities to further advance disability inclusion.
Businesses with international operations that take the DEI are asked to respond to a set of questions on the inclusiveness of their global operations. This section the Best Practices Collection highlights the global best practices of international companies.
While the Best Practices Collection offers company and industry insights, other times it is important to examine cross-sector learnings and practices. These reports and tools do just that. Want to learn more about where to get started, check out the Getting Started Checklist in this section. Want to take a deep dive into Self-ID or Mental Wellness, explore those specific reports. As more reports and tools are created, they will be added to this section of the Best Practices Collection.