Giving Compass' Take: 

• Nestlé Purina is building a more inclusive workplace for people with disabilities by following best practices and guidance from the Starkloff Disability Institute. 

• What are the pathways for employees with disabilities that do not have an inclusive workplace?

• Read about the businesses that are creating more access to their online tools. 

The two years Sarah Schwegel, a lifelong advocate for people with disabilities, spent at Nestlé Purina were hugely beneficial for both Sarah and the company. Sarah, who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type II and uses a power wheelchair, worked in Purina’s human resources department, helping us to bring the best people to our company. She put forward suggestions detailing how Purina could better support employees with disabilities, and we acted on her ideas and saw what a difference they could make.

Today, our work with Sarah to make Purina an inclusive workplace for people with disabilities continues, but in a slightly different form. Sarah is now a full-time employee with one of our partner organizations, the Starkloff Disability Institute (SDI), which is dedicated to helping people with disabilities participate fully and equally in all aspects of society.

For us, creating an inclusive workplace is a vital business decision, as much as it is a moral one. We know our ability to innovate and grow depends on having diverse voices — including people with disabilities — in the room.

With insight from Sarah and her coworkers at SDI, we’ve made our workplace more disability-welcoming. We’ve lowered elevator buttons, created signage with braille characters and improved entrances and doors.

SDI also identified a few easy steps all employees can take to develop more inclusive workplaces:

  • Offer help, respectfully.  Many people with disabilities are bombarded with questions like, “Do you need help with that?” While help can be appreciated, respect a person’s ability to do things for themselves.
  • Be mindful of time. People with disabilities are aware, and sometimes self-conscious, about how long it takes them to do tasks compared to able-bodied people.

Our partnership with SDI extends beyond supporting Purina employees and into the broader community. Our Purina Ability Advocates, a group of employees who work to support pets and people affected by disabilities, host the Starkloff Disability Institute’s “Dream Big Summer Career Camp.” At the camp, high school and college students with disabilities explore job opportunities in a variety of fields.

Read the full article about disability-friendly workplace by Laura Lee at TriplePundit