Two out of three UK businesses losing out on £80 billion spending power of disabled customers

29th October 2009

Results of 2009 Disability Standard benchmark of over 100 UK companies and public sector bodies published today.

10 million disabled people in the UK have an estimated annual spending power of £80 billion. The Disability Standard results show that even those organisations that have shown their commitment to getting it right on disability are missing out on this market:

• Only 44% ensures products and services are accessible for millions of disabled customers.
• Only 21% ensure that they act on the results of market research with disabled people – 8% less than in 2007.
• Only a third ensure customer facing departments consider the needs and preferences of disabled customers.
• Only 44% are confident that disabled customers can transact with them online.
• However, senior management at 58% have a clear public commitment to valuing disabled people as customers - 18% more than in 2007.

The Disability Standard, run by Employers' Forum on Disability (EFD), is the only business-led benchmark that measures an organisation's performance on every aspect of disability as it affects a business. It is a biennial, self-assessment with around 150 questions and supporting evidence that is validated by experts.

More than 100 private and public sector organisations from a range of sectors took part in the Disability Standard 2009. These include BT, BBC, Bradford & Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust, Hampshire Police Force, Lloyds Banking Group and Sainsbury’s.

Susan Scott-Parker, EFD’s Chief Executive, said: “The good news from the Disability Standard 2009 is that, overall, organisations are improving.  We congratulate all those who have shown their commitment to getting it right on disability by voluntarily taking part in this benchmark assessment.

“The Disability Standard is a rigorous process that helps organisations work out where they are on disability, where they want to go and how to get there. In such challenging economic times, all organisations should ensure they are reaching out to disabled and older customers and harnessing the talents of disabled employees.

“Given one in three people are disabled or close to someone who is, organisations that meet the needs of disabled customers win more business.“

Ends

Notes to editors

For a summary of the report, spokespeople and case studies, please contact: Liz Nightingale, Communications Manager, Employers' Forum on Disability, email liz.nightingale@efd.org.uk, tel 020-7089-2482, mobile 07971-671482, textphone 020-7403-0040 or Ann Stirling, Furner Communications, tel 01273-202980, email ann@furnercommunications.co.uk

What is the business case for disability confidence?

By improving their disability related performance, organisations profit from better talent management, enhanced productivity, higher customer satisfaction and enhanced brand reputation. They also become better employers and/or service providers, and reduce their legal and reputational risk.

Benefits of good practice

The benefits of ensuring that employees meet their legal obligation, include reputation management and reduced legal costs and damages. Disability discrimination cases have resulted in six figure payouts, with the legal costs  incurred in fighting cases much higher.

'Disability confidence' however, raises the organisation out of the legal risk zone; best practice enables the organisation to anticipate the needs of disabled employees and customers much more effectively than can be achieved through aiming for mere compliance.

Media briefing: Disability Standard 2009

Key findings of the Disability Standard 2009

1) Legal risk:

• Public sector organisations are not confident they meet their legal obligations in nearly two-thirds of the questions covering legal risk
• Only 45% of public sector employers build the needs of disabled service users into the design brief of new services – despite the legal obligation to undertake impact assessments in every case.
• 50% or more of private companies are not confident they are meeting nearly 80% of their legal requirements.

2) Accessibility:

• Employers are getting better at making their buildings accessible.
• Accessibility is not just about buildings: disabled customers and job-hunters need to be able to use websites too yet only 44% of organisations are confident that their websites are
accessible.

3) Private v public: some differences

The public sector outperforms private sector companies in major areas.   Notably, in valuing disabled people as customers; embedding disability equality within individual departments; and taking a planned, senior management-led approach to becoming disability confident.

• 86% of public sector employers have an effective disability equality scheme as required by law.
• 68% of public sector organisations, compared to 41% of private sector organisations, have made a senior level commitment to valuing disabled people as customers.
• Private sector employers are twice as likely as public sector organisations to have made an effective economic and ethical case for disability equality (41% to 20%).

4) Recruitment and retention:

• It’s good that two thirds of employers track how successful they are in retaining disabled employees.
• Yet only around half monitor the number of disabled people who apply for jobs and then monitor their progress through the recruitment process to appointment.
• Only 49% of participants ensure that training and development is accessible for disabled staff.

5) Employee communication:

• Disability is not just an ‘HR-diversity issue’: all employees need to understand their organisation’s business case for disability confidence.
• Employees need disability specific training and skills.
• Only 19% of organisations have a communications strategy to help build understanding and support for disability related business objectives.

6) Top performers are repeat benchmarkers

• Employers that persevere with benchmarking year after year and act on the results improve their performance.
• 15 organisations that have benchmarked more than once are among the top scorers this year, achieving average results of 80% or more.
• Organisations that have benchmarked three times are 12% more confident on average than first timers.

About the Disability Standard

EFD Disability Standard is the world’s only disability benchmark: it enables participating companies to:
• Communicate who needs to do what across the entire business.
• Compare their performance with competitors and other sectors, and
• Make systematic improvements by implementing a tailored, cost effective action plan.
• The average score in 2009 was 63%, an increase of 6% on 2007.

It is an online, biennial, self-assessment with around 150 questions and supporting evidence validated by external experts.

Media enquiries, please contact:

Liz Nightingale, Communications Manager
Employers' Forum on Disability
Email: liz.nightingale@efd.org.uk
Telephone: 020 7403 3020

About Employers' Forum on Disability

Employers' Forum on Disability is the employers' organisation focused on disability as it affects employers and service providers. With over 400 members, EFD represents organisations that employ around 20 per cent of the UK workforce.Since its establishment in 1991, EFD has worked closely with government and other stakeholders, sharing best practice to make it easier to employ disabled people and serve disabled customers.

www.efd.org.uk