We’re proud to have recently been awarded Disability Confident Leader status through the Department for Work and Pensions. We’ve listed below a few of the changes we made as a small employer to support and attract disabled staff.
We’ve streamlined our recruitment practices to make it easier to apply – Only CV and cover letter. Our job descriptions are more concise, use no jargon, and are provided in Word or HTML format for ease of use with assistive tech.
We now share details of ‘Access To Work’ within the job description so candidates are aware of extra support they could receive because of a disability or health condition.
If travel is required, we share alternative methods and don’t make a driving license a requirement.
We aim to be transparent; we always share the salary and stick to closing dates and interview dates. Postings are never closed early; we know some people may need more time to apply and consider the role.
None of our roles require a degree or formal qualifications unless it is specific to that role.
We try to make the roles as flexible as possible by offering, home working, hybrid, or office based. Some positions can be term-time only or flexible part time hours within the week.
For job interviews, we share the questions prior to the interview. We are not here to catch people off-guard. We want to know if they are the right person for the job.
Interview process details are all shared in advance: location, who is interviewing, how long it will take, how to get there (if not online). We also share when we will get back to them.
We offer genuine feedback and for those that are not in employment, we offer to link with partner organisations for extra support in finding employment.
We’ve amended some of our positions to be more entry level, giving disabled people who have not been in employment before an opportunity. 1 in 4 blind and partially sighted people of working age are not in employment. We want to tackle this by providing genuine opportunities for people to gain work experience.
Our aim is to build a culture of inclusion and acceptance where we value everyone’s differences and uniqueness. We are constantly learning, listening, adapting our processes to ensure that lived experience of sight loss and disability are at the core of who we are.
We’re 1 of 7 employers in Oxfordshire who are Disability Confident Leaders. We want to encourage others to join the scheme, learn from each other and share experiences.
You can find out more about Disability Confident via the link below:https://tinyurl.com/yta8ejen
