We know from working with thousands of disabled employees from around the world that there are a myriad of barriers that get in the way of their performance and fulfilment at work. Some of these may be a challenge that is inherent to their disability, condition or neurodivergence, such as the experiences of pain or fatigue.

But many will come about as a result of their interaction with a working world that has not been designed with them in mind.

While it might be expected that an employer or a line manager would have disabled employees’ best interests at heart, it can’t be expected that they will be able to anticipate the requirements and preferences of each disabled individual.

Often it is unhelpful for someone else to propose a solution, adjustment or accommodation, even if they do so with the very best of intentions.

So, employees with disabilities need to take a proactive role in understanding the adjustment/accommodation they need. They can do this through research and experimentation, just as they would with any other challenge encountered at work.

And then there’s the asking. If you need an adjustment, who do you ask? What will make the request clear? How can you adopt the mindset of a strong expectation of a positive outcome?

Fundamental Three in PurpleSpace’s Fundamentals of Building Confidence, explores all of this, and features Toby Burton from Fastmarket and Russel Price from Tesco, who share their own experiences.

The disability ERG/Network has a key role to play; the lived experience of others, the research and experimentation done before, and the solutions the ERG/Network know the organisation has adopted already, all pave the way.

Additionally, the disability ERG/Network can help build the confidence of disabled employees to ask for what they need, not as a favour or special treatment, but with the expectation that an organization will want to enable the performance of their people.

This month we invite you to consider:

• How do you help your ERG/Network members to identify what they need to perform and thrive at work?

• How can your ERG/Network support them to ask for adjustments/accommodations without apology?

• What is the role of the ERG/Network in supporting the organization to improve the provision of workplace accommodations/adjustments?

Peer Leadership Roundtables

One of the most valuable aspects of PurpleSpace membership is the opportunity to build your leadership capability via quality conversation with other disability ERG/Network leaders.

Each month we convene groups of disability ERG/Network leaders to stimulate discussion on the monthly leadership lesson.

Connect with your peers during these interactive one-hour sessions for disability ERG/Network leaders. These sessions are a great way to share good practice and challenges, swap ideas and build your ERG/Network leadership capacity.

In April, we have two Peer Leadership Roundtables to choose from to explore how we help our ERG/Network members to identify what they need to perform and thrive at work, and how to ask for it without apology.

• 20 April 10:00 – 11:00 GMT

• 23 April 16:00 – 17:00 GMT