The case for charter marks the Disability Standard

The case for charter marks – the Disability Standard Diane Lightfoot, CEO, Business Disability Forum NADSN 13 July 2018 1

Who are we? • Business Disability Forum is a not-for-profit member organisation that makes it easier and more rewarding to do business with and employ disabled people • We have more than twenty-five years’ experience of supporting organisations by sharing expertise and advice, providing training and facilitating networking opportunities • Our 300 members employ c. 15% of the UK workforce – and include an increasing number of Higher Education providers • Ultimately, we exist to transform the life chances of disabled people as employees and consumers – students! 2

The Disability Standard 1. Commitment 6. Product and services 2. Know-how 3. Adjustments 7. Suppliers and partners 4. Recruitment 8. Communication 9. Premises 5. Retention 10. Information and communication (ICT) 3

Why do it? • • • Go beyond Disability Confident to become “Disability Smart” Whole organisation approach – not just HR or D&I or CSR Identify barriers for both employees and students Identify priority areas of focus and action plans for improvement We manage what we measure! KPIs and ROI = justify investment Monitor progress – are we on track? How else do you know? Benchmark against – and learn from – others Prove it – create a USP to attracted disabled talent – students and staff Visible and public commitment Transformational 4

Achievable! • Manchester Metropolitan University achieved gold in our Disability Standard – a score of 90+% 5