3 December, 2022
Building a culture that actively improves our workplace experience for persons with disabilities
International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPwD) is celebrated all round the world on the 3rd December. The United Nations-observed day aims to drive public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities and to celebrate their achievements and contributions.
In recognition of IDPwD, we spoke with one of our newest Employee Resource Groups (ERG), the Awareness Benefiting Leaders and Employees about Disabilities (ABLED) ERG to take a closer look at their initiatives to date.
Awareness Benefiting Leaders and Employees about Disabilities (ABLED) Employee Resource Group
It is important to us that our employees feel supported and connected. To this end, our ERGs were developed in conjunction with our Inclusion, Diversity and Equity efforts to ensure that all employees feel a sense of belonging, community and support at Medtronic.
Formed in 2021, ABLED is an ERG that helps promote awareness of disabilities to Medtronic’s ANZ staff and to build a culture that actively improves the workplace experience for persons with disabilities, and their carers.
Ash Natesh, Integrated Communications Specialist, said she was inspired by Medtronic’s efforts to include people with disabilities in the conversation of inclusion and diversity.
“For me being a part of ABLED is about fostering a safe environment which allows you to express what you want, and to be your real self. It also provides opportunities to form deeper relationships with colleagues and be part of a community in a safe space.”
As a first initiative for ABLED, an employee survey was rolled out to gain better understanding of where the group needed to focus on to help develop events, programs and learning experiences not only for employees with disabilities, but also those who may care for people, or work with people, that have disabilities.
The survey found there a notable portion of those who identified as having a disability did not share their condition with their managers, said Scott Davis, Senior Global Sales Training Manager (Surgical Innovations).
“The respondents said they were worried about feeling uncomfortable or didn’t know where the conversation with their manager may go.”
The survey results and insights were later presented at ABLED Safe Space Stories, a virtual event to help spark conversations and encourage all employees to create a safe space for all to bring their full selves to work.
Unpacking disabilities and invisible disabilities
The term ‘disability’ is often used to describe an ongoing physical or mental challenge. In Australia, 1 in 6 people have some form of disability, which translates to 18% of the population, or about 4.4 million people. In New Zealand, 1 in 4 households have some form of disability.
Of the 4.4 million people in Australia, more than 90% live with invisible disabilities; these are defined as disabilities that are not immediately apparent or may be chronic conditions that significantly impact everyday activities.
ABLED Safe Space Stories
Since its launch, the ABLED team held its very first event – Safe Space Stories – to help broaden and deepen employees’ understanding of disabilities, and to open a discussion on how to create a safe space for all employees.
The inaugural event, which drew an audience of over 100 employees across the Australia and New Zealand, featured two ABLED members who shared their experiences of navigating their disabilities in the workplace. Their conversations sparked robust and honest discussions around how they disclosed their conditions to their managers and colleagues; what the responses were; and how they managed their conditions throughout the pandemic.
Sasha Simon, Product Specialist, ANZ Neurosurgery Marketing, said that being part of ABLED meant a lot to her on a personal level.
“It’s about fostering a safe environment which allows you to express what you want, and to be your real self. It also provides an opportunity to form deeper relationships with colleagues just like me and be part of a community in a safe space.”
“I also love being an advocate for my condition and hope it inspires others to feel more comfortable expressing themselves.”
On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Medtronic is honoured to recognise the unique contributions of all its employees. Celebrating our differences make us stronger, and better.