‘We fail disabled people when we fail to meet the legitimate needs of business’ – discuss!

I want to start 2025 with something a little different: my ‘Master Class’ for some Canadian disability organisations who were beginning to suspect that their traditional relationship with business did not help disabled people find meaningful jobs and careers. Some also sensed that their traditional messages aimed at the private sector as ‘the problem’, even ‘the adversary’ which needs to be educated and policed- just isn’t working.

To be honest they struggled to accept my initial premise: that just as business needs, without doubt, to become more ‘disability confident’- so the disability sector needs to become more ‘business confident’…and must begin to position people in the private sector as valued stakeholders, valued service users, and potential partners.

I explore the need for modern business engagement and communications strategies (and not just in Canada) – as disability organisations stop generalising about more than a billion people as they set out to prove that ‘they’ are employable…and begin to explain that it’s a jolly good idea for any employer to learn how to recruit everyone based on their capabilities and potential.

Imagine a campaign aiming to persuade employers that 38 million people labelled Canadians are ‘employable’…everyone knows you can't generalise about 38 million human beings: some can do this job- some can’t- some don’t want the job- some would need flexitime- some would not…… why on earth do so many campaigns targeting business still generalise about more than 1.billion people labelled ‘disabled’?

Hence the need for “the new business and ethical rationale for best practice.”

You can tune in via :

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIbq9GIPtBI (THIS EPISODE - AUDIO ONLY)

It’s also available on my website - https://www.businessdisabilityinternational.org/podcast/

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

Today, I am happy to release Episode 6 of Scott-Parker Goes Live!

In this episode, we speak with none other than the extraordinary Kate Nash OBE – a force of nature and a self-proclaimed ‘agitator’ who has dedicated her career to reframing how the world views ‘disability’.

Kate founded PurpleSpace in 2015 to empower Disability Employee Networks/ERGs worldwide. PurpleSpace is no small mission – it’s a movement, built to amplify the voices and the leadership potential of millions of disabled people in work –all through the art and the science of NETWORKOLOGY! After the release of her first book, Secrets and Big News, Kate’s vision took on a life of its own.

Then, in 2017, with one tweet, she sparked #PurpleLightUp – now PositivelyPurple – a global movement, uniting employees with disabilities and their executive allies and colleagues around the world, to showcase the power and talent of disabled people and their contribution to the global economy.

In this inspiring episode, Kate shares insights on positivity, perceptions, and the new chapter she’s ready to lead. Don’t miss this compelling conversation.

You can also access the podcast video YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@businessdisabilityintern-zs8iz/podcasts or on my website https://www.businessdisabilityinternational.org/podcast/

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

Episode Five of Scott-Parker Goes Live features Dr Nancy Doyle and is particularly well timed, as October marks ADHD Awareness Month with the theme "Awareness is Key!"

Dr Nancy Doyle, Founder Genius Within, is always absolutely fascinating: she must surely be one of the world’s leading authorities on neurodivergence and its impact on human beings in work and on the impact of work on human beings. A distinguished Occupational Psychologist, her scientific, lived and business experience could not be more relevant as she advises employers on how to liberate everyone’s contribution.

Two headlines for me from our conversation:

• ‘we need to focus most decidedly not on clinical diagnosis but on making it easier for people to do well on the job’ – and
• ‘neurodivergent people are canaries in the mineshaft for all us’

And do check out her answer to my question: ‘if neurodivergence is a disability, why do so many organisations talk about ‘disability and neurodiversity’: they would never say “disability and paraplegia”.

You may be interested in Dr Doyle’s upcoming book 'Learning from Neurodivergent Leaders', available for pre-order ahead of its release in February 2025

Pre-order here https://guardianbookshop.com/learning-from-neurodivergent-leaders-9781805011422/

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.