The Disability Equality Index: A Disability Inclusion Game Changer

Presenter: Leslie Wilson, M.S., USBLN Director Going for the GoldOctober 12, 2017

• The US Business Leadership Network® (USBLN®) is a national non-profit that helps business drive performance by leveraging disability inclusion in the workplace, supply chain, and marketplace.

• The USBLN® serves as the collective voice of nearly 50 Business Leadership Network affiliates across the United States, representing over 5,000 businesses.

• It is the nation's leading third party certification program for disability-owned businesses, including businesses owned by service-disabled veterans.

• The USBLN Conference is the premier event for business and provides the best and brightest in disability inclusion with cutting-edge educational sessions, enhanced networking, exciting interactive programming plus high-profile speakers. The USBLN conference in 2018 is July 9-12 at the Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, Nevada. Conference website: http://conference.usbln.org/2018_conference/

GFG engages 17 corporations with the similar goal of increasing their inclusion of people with disabilities into their workforces and meeting federal compliance requirements.

The DEI is a collaborative partnership between the

American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) www.aapd.com

and the US Business Leadership Network

(USBLN) www.usbln.orgIt is an annual benchmarking tool for

disability inclusion within Fortune 1000 companies.

The DEI is a non-punitive tool that builds a partnership between the

disability and business communities to ultimately lead to more

opportunities for people with disabilities as employees, customers and suppliers.

Companies scoring 80-100% on the DEI

are annually honored as DEI

Best Places to Work.Show DEI Video

The DEI educates the American business community on

disability inclusion best policies and practices and guides people

with disabilities in choosing businesses that are authentically

committed to providing a supportive work environment.

Why should sourcing organizations and

government agencies know about and understand the

Disability Equality Index (DEI)?

In employment there are 2 equal

customers: Supply Side & Demand Side

THE AIM OF MARKETING

is to know and understand

THE CUSTOMERso well the product or service fits him and

sells itself.

- Peter Drucker

Community Engagement & Support Services

Culture & Leadership

Enterprise‐Wide Access

Employment Practices

Why the DEI?

• Compelling Disability Statistics: o Third largest market segment in the U.S. with 57 million people – 1 out of

5 Americans with disabilities (U.S. Census);o More than 1 in 3 American households surveyed had at least one

member who identified as having a disability (Nielsen 2016);o There are more than 1 billion individuals with disabilities in the world,

representing 15% of the world’s population (United Nations Enable);o More than 9 out of 10 Americans view companies that hire people with

disabilities more preferably and 87% would prefer to give their businessto such companies (Journal of VR, “Survey of Consumer Attitudes”)

o Consumers with disabilities and their families/friends represent a $1trillion U.S. market segment; globally individuals with disabilities and theirfamilies/friends control over $8 trillion in annual disposable income (FifthQuadrant Analytics).

Why the DEI?Fortune 1000 companies realize environmental, social andgovernance factors impact their management, culture, brand andfinancial well-being. While many companies have identifiedmethods to advance their disability inclusion, companiesrecognized current benchmarking tools were inadequate inevaluating disability inclusion as part of their company’s diversityand inclusion efforts. The DEI is unique in its comprehensiveness.

• Benefits:o Recognitiono Industry Data and Analysiso Benchmarking Insighto Network Connectionso Customized DEI Consulting Services

Culture & Leadership: •Culture: Formal statements, Employee Resource Groups, Hiring Goals•Leadership: Internal Advocacy and Support, Executive Sponsorship, Public Statement and Performance Metrics

Enterprise–Wide Access:•Emergency Procedures, Physical Accessibility, Electronic Accessibility, Off-site Meeting Accessibility, Training and Support for Accessibility Requests

Employment Practices• Benefits: Counseling services, Short and Long-Term Disability Benefits• Recruitment: Outward Statements, Recruitment Accommodations, Proactive Efforts• Employment, Education, Retention & Advancement: Awareness & Supervisory Training, Self-

Identification Processes• Accommodations: Formal policies, Communication Practices, & Funding

Community Engagement & Support • Community Engagement: Supplier Diversity, Philanthropy, & Public Impact• Internal/External Support Services: Communication Support Systems, Accessible Formal

Training, Online Communication Accessibility, Feedback Programs

To view all of the DEI Questions: https://www.disabilityequalityindex.org/DEI_survey_intro

The DEI scores each company on a scale from zero to 100,with 100 representing the most disability inclusive.Companies scoring 80-100 are announced as“DEI Best Places to Work.”• In 2017, 110 corporations participated in the DEI.• A record 68 earned 100, with an additional 28 scoring between 80-

90.• The participating corporations had a total U.S. workforce of roughly

7.2 million workers and $6 trillion in market value, a significantinfluence on American and global economies.

• The industries most frequently represented in 2017 were: FinancialServices (15%); Technology (10%), Healthcare (9%) & Insurance(9%).

3M CompanyAccenture LLPAetna IncAmeren CorporationAmerican Airlines IncAmerican Electric Power Company, Inc.American Multi-Cinema INC.Anthem Inc.Aramark CorporationAT&TAXABAE Systems, Inc.

Bank of America

Biogen, Inc.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

BMO Financial Corp.

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Booz Allen Hamilton

Boston Scientific Corporation

Brown-Forman Corporation

Capital One Financial Corporation

Cargill, Inc.

Centene Corporation

Cigna

Cisco Systems, Inc

Comcast NBCUniversal

CVS Health

Deloitte

Delta Air Lines, Inc.

DTE Energy

DXC Technology (Formerly CSC)

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company

Entergy CorporationErnst & Young

Express Scripts

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

Florida Blue

Freddie Mac

General Motors

GlaxoSmithKline plc

Goldman Sachs & Co

Health Care Service Corporation

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

HP Inc.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated

Link to the 2017 DEI Best Places to Work: https://www.disabilityequalityindex.org/top_companies

Intel Corporation

JPMorgan Chase & Co

Kaiser Permanente

KPMG, LLP

Lincoln Financial Group

Lockheed Martin Corporation

M&T Bank Corporation

Manpower Group

MassMutual Financial Group

Mastercard International

Mayo Clinic

McKesson Corporation

Meijer

Merck & Co., Inc.

MetLife

Microsoft

Nielsen (Corporation)

Northern Trust

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Oracle Corporation

Pacific Gas and Electric Company

PNC Financial Services GroupPricewaterhouseCoopers LLPProcter & GamblePrudential Financial, Inc.QualcommRaytheon Company

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Sodexo, Inc.

Southern California Edison

Southern Company

Southwest Airlines Co.

Spaulding Rehabilitation Network

Sprint Corporation

Starbucks Coffee Company

Synchrony Financial

TD Bank N.A.

The Boeing Company

The Dow Chemical Company

The Hartford

Thomson Reuters Corporation

T-Mobile

United Airlines, Inc.

United Technologies Corporation

UPS

USAA

Verizon

W.W. Grainger, Inc.

Walgreen Co.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Wells Fargo & Company

Whirlpool Corporation

Link to the 2017 DEI Best Places to Work: https://www.disabilityequalityindex.org/top_companies

95%98%98%90%

Have external recruitment effortsspecifically geared to hiring individualswith disabilities.

Have Employee Assistance Programsavailable to full and part-time employees.

Provide financial support for externaldisability related events or organizations.

Have formal programs in place tounderstand how to address the needs ofthe disability community.

76%

88%

37%

More than three-quarters of the DEIcompanies have an internal and externalOnline Chat Function for people withdisabilities.

Nearly 9 out of 10 DEI companies have Disability-Focused Employee Resource Groups (ERGS); up from 66% in 2015.

Over one-third of the DEI companieshave Employee Engagement Surveysthat specifically record engagementinformation for employees withdisabilities; up from 28% in 2015.

2017 Areas of Marked

Improvement

51%29%39%26%8%

Half of the companies have disabilityincluded in their 2017 Supplier DiversityPrograms.

Fewer than one-third have Retention &Advancement Policies that specificallyinclude/mention disability.

Fewer than 4 out of 10 make all candidatesaware of the option to request anAccommodation for the Interview.

2017 Opportunities

for Improvement

Just over one-quarter have InternalWebsite Auditing, while 57% of the 2017DEI respondents audit external (public-facing) website accessibility.

Fewer than one in 10 2017 DEIcompanies cover Personal AssistanceServices (PAS) in their benefitspackages.

A Sample of 2017 DEI

Best Practices

• A Dedicated Requisitions Program that allows hiringmanagers to set aside job openings sourced viadisability-focused organizations.

• Company-wide accessibility center that providesresources for design, development, testing & educationwith a focus on accessibility for people with disabilities ineach phase of program or product’s life cycle.

• Self-nominated ambassadors who share their personalstories of being a person with a disability or an ally toraise disability awareness, deliver presentations and spurconversations.

• Center that focuses exclusively on workplaceaccommodations for all employees.

A Sample of 2017 DEI

Best Practices

• A disability employment outreach program that strives to“level the playing field” and improve access tocompetitively paid, guest-facing, benefits-eligiblepositions by identifying & eliminating barriers.

• Regional Talent Acquisition disability champions reachout to sourcing organizations and advocate for theemployment of individuals with disabilities.

• Cross-functional team meets regularly to tackle policyand procedural issues related to serving customers withdisabilities from the first point of contact to finalinteraction.

Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act for Federal Contractors • Goal of 7% across job groups for the employment of individuals

with disabilities• Self-Id of applicants pre and post-offer, within 1-year & then 5-

year intervals for current employees• Pre-offer: invitation provided to each applicant when they apply or are considered

for employment. Invite may be included with the application materials but must beseparate from the application.

• Post-Offer: any time after the offer, but before the applicant begins their jobduties, invite applicant to inform the contractor whether they believe they have adisability.

• Extensive Outreach & Recruitment• Training:

• All personnel involved in the recruitment, screening, selection, promotion,disciplinary, and related processes shall be trained to ensure that thecommitments in the contractor's affirmative action program are implemented.Show Unconscious Bias Video: https://vimeo.com/235977773

https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/section503.htm

Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act for Federal Self-ID Form Contractors

"Outreach is more than just marketing your organization through diverse job boards – the OFCCP is now looking for the relationship you have built with each recruitment source to allow each of them to understand the specific

and unique qualification requirements of your available jobs.

OFCCP believes that these personal and more engaged relationships make you more effective in your search to

hire qualified protected veterans and individuals with disabilities."

OFCCP Statement on Outreach & Recruitment

RESOURCES

• USBLN Website: www.usbln.org• Job Accommodation Network: http://prod.askjan.org/toolkit/• Poses Family Foundation DIY Guide:

http://workplaceinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/08-Disability-Employment-Inclusion-Guide-Additional-Resources.pdf

• Professional Safety: Journal of the American Society of Safety Engineers, “Creating an Inclusive Workplace, Engaging the Strengths of the Special Needs Community” ; J. Kaletta, D. Binks, and R. Robinson. June 2012, page 62. www.asse.org

• Association of People Supporting Employment First: www.apse.org

• Mental Health Works, American Psychiatric Association Foundation, Partnership for Workplace Mental Health: www.workplacementalhealth.org; http://www.workplacementalhealth.org/Case-Studies#list

Presenter: Leslie Wilson

USBLN Vice President

ofWorkplace Initiatives

Email: leslie@usbln.org