The importance of goal setting
Put plainly: setting goals for disability inclusion enables us to recognise when we have achieved them. Not dissimilar to writing a shopping list. We all go to the supermarket now and again without one and how often do we regret that decision?
Generally, we will remember one or two items, forget a lot more and pick up many items that we would not have otherwise.
Whereas, when we write a shopping list, we are more likely to stick to it. We have already spent time thinking about the items that we need to make the meals we want to cook. Many of us will have a budget in mind and this budget provides a guide. We may pick up one or two items along the way that are not on the list. However, these items generally complement the overall shopping list. We can walk away from the supermarket feeling positive and confident that we have what we need to do what we want.
This analogy can be attached to goal setting for disability inclusion: when we understand what we want to achieve, it is easier to achieve it. And, is easier to identify when it has been achieved. As a result, we can then understand where the gaps are and what still needs to be done.
Establishing goals for disability inclusion
The first thing to consider is what you want to achieve. Starting by asking what the barriers to disability inclusion are in your workplace. In the past, clients have identified a lack of information and awareness about what the barriers are. Other clients identify a lack of resources to implement. This blog may offer some ideas to start.
Consider what people will go away thinking, feeling and doing as a result of the service. This creates a visual image of what the workplace looks like as a result. You can then work backwards to consider how to get there.
How to set your goals
Goals setting can be a daunting task if you think you have to do it alone. The great thing is, you don’t! The most effective goals are set in collaboration with other stakeholders: colleagues, co-workers, disability networks, or ERGs. You can also engage Celebrating Disability to help you set your goals! When we talk to you about delivering a service, we don’t just leave you to it. We help you through the process. That includes helping you think about what you want to achieve and setting those all-important goals.
How Celebrating Disability Help
There are many stages where we support you to determine your goals and next steps for disability inclusion:
1. When we have an initial conversation with you, we will ask you some of the questions that are listed above. As a result of the answers you provide, we will tailor content for the service we are delivering to reach that outcome
2. Often, when delivering a talk, we find that many organisations can define their next steps through the content that we are delivering. This is because we provide information about barriers faced by disabled people in the workplace that enable people to think about what the problem is and therefore what they want to achieve.
Within talks, we often use the tool Mentimeter. This provides opportunities for participants to interact anonymously. The data gathered from this interaction will enable us to identify what needs to be done
3. When delivering a talk or a training session, we provide opportunities for participants and delegates to set pledges. We follow up on these pledges a few weeks later to provide you with information about how achievable these pledges have been for participants.
4. Pre and post-session benchmark surveys can support you to understand where knowledge, confidence levels and abilities have developed as a result of the training
5. We can carry out a gap analysis or audit of specific areas within your workplace to understand what needs to happen. We will then provide recommendations alongside quick wins
This sounds a lot, where do I start?
It may sound a lot and it may even sound daunting but it’s very exciting. You’ve made the first step already by deciding that disability inclusion is a priority. You should congratulate yourself on that.
The first thing that I suggest for you to do is to get in touch with us. We can arrange a time and date for us to talk together about your goals for disability inclusion. We’ll talk about your workplace, what (if any) barriers you have identified that exist and then we can suggest to you ideas of where to get started. Ready to do that straight away? Click this link to book a date and time to talk to Esi.
Here are a few other ideas that can get you started when thinking about your goals for disability inclusion:
• Find an opportunity to free-flow your ideas. This could be as a mind map, a bullet list, or anything else that works for you. I find when I talk out loud, my ideas flow more freely than when I purely think about it
• After you have free-flowed your ideas, challenge yourself to think about what else. Repeat that sequence. Keep going like that until you have run out of ideas
• Consult others, this could be inside the workplace but could also be external. If you need to keep specific ideas confidential, talk about them in general rather than the specific
How we’ve helped others
If you’re interested to see how we have supported other organisations to achieve their disability inclusion goals, click here to read some case studies.
Esi (rhymes with messy) set up Celebrating Disability in 2017; offering training, consulting and auditing to support businesses attract, engage and retain disabled people. Having the opportunity to support businesses to see the wealth of benefits that disabled people can bring to business, either as customers or employees is a privilege. She is passionate about disability equality and inclusion and loves nothing more than that “Ah ha” moment with a client when they see what disability equality and inclusion can do for them.
