What is one way that employers can best celebrate NDEAM?
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), and it’s a great time to implement new policies and take action to strive for an equitable and fair workplace. Below, 13 diversity experts and HR professionals weigh in on how you can take initiative to celebrate NDEAM in your workplace.
Organize a Game of Trivia
Many folks tend not to be as familiar with this awareness month which is dedicated to individuals with disabilities in the workplace as they are about occasions like Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Black History Month, or Mental Health Awareness Month. One way to educate employees during the occasion is through trivia. You can package information about the disability rights movement and disability employment as a fun team game. To make the competition more meaningful, allow the winning team to choose an on-theme charity in which to donate a company contribution.
Michael Alexis, TeamBuilding
Host Lunch & Learns
Another way to recognize NDEAM is to host a lunch and learn, or a series of lunch and learns. You can invite expert speakers to enlighten and educate employees on various topics including invisible disabilities, allyship towards disabled coworkers, and how to make accommodations for disabled clients. The topics could also be broader and non-work-specific, for instance, “the bold voices of the disability rights movement”.
To set up your sessions, select a topic, identify a speaker or subject matter expert, and invite your staff to expand their horizons over the lunch hour. And who doesn’t love free food? Best of all, this type of programming is easily hosted virtually, as well as in person.
Tasia Duske, Museum Hack
Adopt a Formal DE&I Policy to Create More Opportunities
Celebrating important days and months makes more sense when employers and employees alike use these opportunities to create real change in their organizations. One way to truly make this NDEAM count is to adopt a formal disability inclusion policy or make actionable improvements to the existing one so that your company can provide more employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Such a policy change will not only bring to the forefront the company’s commitment to making a difference, but will also help eligible candidates recognize your organization as one that is truly committed to an inclusive, equitable workforce.
Riley Beam, Douglas R. Beam, P.A.
Participate in Disability Mentoring Day
Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) is a broad, national initiative established by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) to advance the careers of students and job seekers with disabilities. This effort offers support through mentoring relationships and hands-on career exploration. Volunteering your time to help mentor people with disabilities in your community is a great way to spread awareness, build your culture, and celebrate NDEAM.
Disability Mentoring Day is recognized annually on the third Wednesday of October, which is October 19th this year.
Alex Wang, Ember Fund
Support True Equal Opportunity Businesses
There are some companies and businesses that go above and beyond when it comes to equal opportunity for the disabled. Employers like Walgreens and Goodwill make extra effort to give individuals with disabilities a chance at quality employment. As such, one way employers who lack the ability to have such comprehensive disability initiatives can help to raise awareness for disability employment is to support other businesses who do
If your company isn’t large enough to offer such resources or programs, piggyback off of others. Give your business to these companies, and let your employees know why. Give employees a Walgreens stipend for the month, or Goodwill gift cards. Let them know you support the disability employment efforts of these other businesses and appreciate them for that. This will help raise awareness among your team as they also earn some cool perks.
John Ross, Test Prep Insight
Revamp & Revise Your Disability Benefits
Another great way to celebrate NDEAM is to show your employees you appreciate them. This is the perfect time to revise and revamp your company’s disability benefits. You might consider increasing the income provided to injured or recovering employees. Another option would be to create additional benefits to support their families should the unthinkable happen. These changes may seem small at the moment, but they make a world of difference to people facing disability employment.
Patrick Casey, Felix
Give Your Social Media Accounts an Accessibility Makeover
Social media is one of the most overlooked areas when it comes to accessibility. The easiest way to make your social media profile more accessible and inclusive is by considering how posts will be interpreted by assistive technology such as screen readers for those who are blind or have low vision, and including closed captioning on videos. Other considerations include being mindful of fonts in imagery, color contrast, and alt tags on images. Also consider using camel-case on hashtags to prevent screen reader issues and misunderstood terms.
Stephan Baldwin, Assisted Living Center
Display Support with Posters & Inclusive Marketing
Prominently display #InclusionWorks posters from the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) to your team and customers, acknowledging and showing year-round support for persons with disabilities. Order them through their website or print them yourself. Beyond in-house support, it’s time to overhaul your marketing policies.
Bring in a disability consultant to ensure your DEI&B initiatives include persons with disabilities and build marketing campaigns that offer disability inclusion in a way that doesn’t tokenize or utilize them solely for medical models that require a “fix.” Individuals with disabilities likely use your products daily—acknowledge and include them in your marketing!
Marina Vaamonde, HouseCashin
Share Inspirational & Informational Quotes
One easy way employers can celebrate NDEAM is to share quotes by disability advocates and trailblazers. Cultural occasions like Black History Month and Women’s History Month have no shortage of quotes. However, many folks are unaware of the notable names of the disability movement, nevermind being able to recall significant sayings. Employers can include these quotes in emails, presentations, and on social media to help educate their workforce about the individuals behind the occasion.
Carly Hill, VirtualHolidayParty.com
Offer American Sign Language Classes
Add American Sign Language (ASL) classes to your roster of learning and development (L&D) offerings. Doing so will not only strengthen communications with deaf employees, but will also open the door for recruiting more candidates who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Most employees will be excited at the prospect of learning another language, and classes are often conveniently offered both online and at local colleges and universities. There simply aren’t any downsides!
Jeff Goodwin, Orgain
Connect with Social Security’s Ticket to Work Program
Encourage your team to introduce interested individuals to Social Security’s Ticket to Work Program. The program is for people aged 18-64 who currently receive disability benefits and want to work. Spread the information company wide so that your employees can help unemployed individuals with disabilities in their lives find meaningful employment.
Erin Banta, Pepper
Pursue Volunteer Opportunities
I believe that wise employers realize the advantages of employee volunteerism, which include increased team participation, leadership development, and other perks. In the spirit of NDEAM, why not arrange for your employees to volunteer at local groups that prepare persons with disabilities for employment?
Opportunities to analyze resumes, stage mock interviews, and provide advice on how to dress for success is common nationwide. Encouraging your employees to pursue these possibilities is an excellent way to give back while also spreading awareness. These activities may also have the added benefit of helping you find talented job candidates for your business.
Vincent Amodio, Icon Medical Centers
Bring Students in for a Tour
Employers can offer students in non-traditional classes or those who participate in community workshops a chance to tour the workplace. Managers can talk to them about what happens on the job and even let them take on a couple of small tasks, depending on the company, the product, and of course, safety. Afterward, the company can treat them to lunch.
This would be a great bonding time for students, managers or even executives and is a great way to promote disability awareness and diversity. In return, students are exposed to how a company works through the process or how teams handle project work. It would also allow managers the chance to see what types of jobs could be available to individuals with disabilities and lead to future hiring efforts.
Amruth Laxman, 4Voice
Have internal efforts you’re promoting during NDEAM? Comment below to share the programs or initiatives you are working on to promote the employment and advancement of individuals with disabilities.
This article was authored by by Terkel to help spread awareness for the 2022 National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) campaign.
