March 18, 2016

Debra Ruh: Inclusion for People with Disabilities is Not a Charity

39 minutes

Debra explains how accommodating to specific needs of employees can increase the productivity and culture of an organization – just like what happened to Cisco and Cannon.

As a global disability inclusion strategist, Debra discusses how global corporations and governments are taking measures to integrate people with disability into the workforce.

Being a longtime entrepreneur, Debra shares her adventures and misadventures in creating her businesses. Things like building a for-profit organization, learning business principles on the fly and dealing with cash flow problems.

And learn about her daughter, Sara, and how amazing she is and her story of inclusion as a 28-year-old with Down’s syndrome.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The contributions people with disabilities bring to our society.

• What must a company do to effectively include people with disabilities in the business?

• A successful case study about the French government imposing quotas, training and programs to help companies infuse their workforce with people with disabilities.

• When we’re proud, we’re more productive.

Tweetables:

• We can’t have diversity in the workforce if we don’t figure out the inclusion issue.

• Employers should hire people that are qualified to do their job.

• We accommodate employees every day because we want those employees to be productive.

Big Takeaways:

• Just because a person has a disability it doesn’t mean he or she cannot add value to the society.

• It’s proven throughout history that people with disability have contributed greatly to our society. A great example would be English physicist and author Stephen Hawking.

• The government holds the key to making sure companies adhere to the policy of giving employment opportunities to people with disabilities. Some measures are imposing quotas, providing training and offering support to employers.

• Instead of giving labels to employees’ disabilities, gender or race, businesses have got to focus more on the potential of these groups and accommodate their needs.