Our thinking

You can’t manage what you don’t measure

27 January, 2023

16% of the global population experience a significant disability, and yet their representation and experiences within the workplace are largely unaccounted for. Despite a growing culture of non-financial KPI reporting, data on disability inclusion remains notably absent from the conversation, either because companies don’t have the data, or because if they do, they’d rather not publish it.

A White Paper on disability inclusion, published last week at the World Economic Forum by Value500, responds to this issue, emphasising the consequences of obtuse workplace policies that exclude disabled employees, as well as the significant lack of data provided by companies on disability inclusion. And it showed how the two feed each other; if an employer doesn’t know how many disabled people they employ, or what their experience is like at work, then it makes implementing effective change difficult.

The White Paper suggests 5 KPIs that companies should begin to implement, ranging from the provision of disability inclusion training for employees, to publishing workforce representation data. The intention is that by publicly disclosing their performance, companies would be benchmarked across a comparable baseline that would hold them accountable to action. It would also mean that the topic would feature more heavily in investor dialogue, which would highlight commitment toward disability inclusion.

Employing over 22 million people, the companies that make up the Value500 hold vast potential to drive change and set the tone for disability inclusion in the workforce, and more broadly, across society. But providing transparent and comparable data forms the first step to pushing forward change.

You can access the full White Paper here.

By Rosie Serlin