By Simon Blockley, Managing Director of Guidant Group
Guidant Group have been involved with the Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative (RIDI) since their inception in 2014, as we want to do more to proactively promote disability confidence, not only within Guidant but through our client programmes and influence in the wider recruitment industry.
Being a Managed Services (MSP) and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) provider, offering unique contingent and permanent hiring solutions for large employers, we are in a prime position to spread disability confident awareness through leading by example.
Becoming Disability Confident
I was immensely proud when in December 2015 Guidant Group achieved the ‘Proud to be Clear Assured’ status – a nationally recognised standard in inclusive recruitment. This programme provided a framework for us to identify and remove barriers for disabled people and educate our team.
Growing our connection with RIDI
2016 saw Guidant and RIDI forge an even closer relationship, with the appointment of my predecessor Mel Forbes to the RIDI executive committee.
That year also saw Guidant picking up two RIDI awards, the ‘Disability confident’ and the ‘Audience choice’ awards, for our work with the Disability Confident campaign which further increased disability confidence within our staff.
These awards meant a great deal to us all at Guidant, as it was independent recognition of our success in this area and marked another checkpoint that shows our commitment to disability confidence.
Disability awareness training for every Guidant employee
Our efforts to grow disability confidence within Guidant continue, with each and every one of our employees receiving disability awareness training, through a series of e-learning modules on disability inclusion.
This is of increasing importance when you consider Guidant’s own disclosed, disabled employee rate is just below 10%.
First MSP to achieve Disability Confident Leader status
2016 was a big year for us, as we also became the first Managed Service Provider (MSP) to be awarded a Level Three Disability Confident Leader status by the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP).
This unique achievement gives us the platform to influence positive change in the wider recruitment industry, through both becoming disability confident “in name” but primarily through our deeds – helping our supply chain and clients to make their recruitment process and their own organisations more disability confident.
Since I became Managing Director of Guidant Group, Disability Confidence has remained a key business initiative at Guidant; with me joining RIDI’s executive committee and cementing our involvement with the initiative for the future.
Leading by example in Accessibility
I feel it is our responsibility to educate our employees, partners and clients to increase disability confidence in the workplace. This responsibility includes making reasonable adjustments where we can.
One such adjustment is ensuring our digital information and services are accessible to the widest possible audience.
Recite Me added to Guidantgroup.com
Adding Recite Me to our website has been a key practical step for us. It ensures that disabled people can access our website in the way that best works for them, which is crucial in the recruitment process, as ultimately we want to open doors for them.
Making our website more accessible is a small, but crucial step to creating a more disability confident and inclusive recruitment environment, and once again I am proud to see Guidant leading by example in this regard.
Act now to make sure your organisation doesn’t miss out on disabled talent
You can get involved with RIDI to become a disability confident recruiter. You can also sign up to the Government’s Disability Confident employer scheme to help and support you in employing more disabled people.
Hundreds of organisations already use Recite Me to make their websites more accessible to everyone. Recite Me can help start your journey to digital inclusion through their knowledge and free trial offer.
