​Celebrating Disability Confidence in 2020 with RIDI

By Stephen Salmon, Marketing Executive

The 2020 RIDI Awards Ceremony offered the opportunity to celebrate disability confident recruitment and acknowledge those making a difference in the recruitment sector – especially in a time where it may be more important than any other.

The ceremony was held virtually for the first time and the awards provided clear examples of adjustments that can be made to make events more inclusive, with the use of captions and a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

2020 showcased the use of inclusive technology.
When announcing the result for the ‘Making a Difference’ Private Sector category, visually impaired RIDI judge, Robin Christopherson MBE, used smart glasses to read and announce the winner.

Virtual networking followed the awards. It was a chance to share experiences and learn from fellow companies on their disability confident journey. Breakout sessions into smaller groups reaffirmed two points that I feel are particularly relevant.

Firstly, that there is not a valid excuse for not at least trying to work towards becoming an inclusive employer.
Inclusive recruitment doesn’t need to be complicated, mainly because it isn’t. By removing barriers that can exclude, discourage or prevent disabled talent from applying, any business can easily expand its possible talent pool.

The RIDI awards and networking provided many examples of disability confident employers who are benefiting from an inclusive approach and I’m happy to be able to add my own experience with Guidant Global.

This leads onto the second point – disabled workers and the pandemic’s impact.
We now find ourselves at a point when disabled workers are going to face additional barriers as a result of the impact of the pandemic on the job market. In celebrating those organisations who aremaking positive progress, the hope must be that more companies follow in these examples and that disabled job seekers can be confident that the barriers previously encountered will become less common.

I’m proud of the work and progress Guidant continues to make in being inclusive and delighted that our efforts have been acknowledged as Highly Commended for the Most Inclusive Recruitment Campaign.

Learn more about the award and view the full list of winners here.