The future of work, disability and imagining what’s next

With two possible shots on the horizon, we can see light at the end of this tunnel. The days of living under the cloak of the coronavirus pandemic will eventually fade and life will return to a certain sense of normalcy. However, the damage done to businesses will take some time to recover. However, in these days of transition, it is critical that the global business community take a moment to reflect on the lessons learned and the lessons yet to be learned in order to find more effective ways to create a strong work culture that meets challenges. of the digital economy for today and tomorrow.

Is Mindset matters will be the preamble to a series of columns exploring not only key strategies for the future of work, but also why corporate recognition of the disability experience becomes even more valuable in a post-pandemic world. The great bard William Shakespeare in his play “The Tempest” wrote: “The past is prologue.” It is this sentiment that we must harness to truly understand the key distinctions that will help define the future of work and shape corporate identity. The coronavirus pandemic provided an opportunity for corporate executives and business owners to recognize the challenges that people with disabilities have faced across the business ecosystem for years. Physical immobility, anxiety, fatigue, and social isolation are just some of the aspects that have become part of the collective consciousness of the global workforce during this pandemic. As companies were forced to adapt or reinvent themselves on the fly, there is now this potential for greater appreciation around disability that offers key insights to foster new ways of thinking about the future of your business. It can be argued that extracting the disability narrative will not only be imperative but essential for future business growth.

This week marks the United Nations’ celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Businesses large and small should consider the fact that leveraging the ideas and concepts that define a comprehensive disability-inclusive strategy is critical to a business’s long-term growth and value proposition. The coronavirus pandemic is providing a rationale that disability inclusion should not be strictly about employment, but rather an expansion of ideas to collect powerful messages that can be adopted and implemented as part of a larger corporate plan.

As companies begin to explore the question of what follows, they must be free of obstacles to connect with their imagination and explore new ways of thinking. In the coming weeks, each new column will feature a specific topic around disability and how it connects to the broader issues of the current climate that has redefined the world of work. The business ecosystem needs greater recognition of the disability experience on a much larger scale. We are in a time of crisis where innovation is more necessary than ever. It is time for companies to realize that the disability experience, by definition, is innovation personified. Organizations need to think more broadly about what their current needs are and do a serious audit of the potential dividends that the disability experience can offer for future success.

Some of the critical issues that will be discussed in future columns will be embedded in the idea of ​​what can only be described through the impact of Corporate alchemy. This concept is a combination of corporate commitment and corporate health and wellness. This notion of organizational change management will be even more advantageous in the years to come. However, as the business community begins to become familiar with this concept, it will be the input of the disability narrative that will serve to strengthen these ideas and allow a new culture of work to flourish within the digital economy.

As we celebrate the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities, it is important to recognize that the role of disability is undergoing a transformation. The role it plays in the culture of work is increasingly profound. The disability narrative offers corporate culture a cornerstone of learning that will become a cornerstone in its strategic evolution. In a post-coronavirus era, companies must be acutely aware of the responsibility disability will take in shaping the nuances of the future of work. The next few columns will illustrate the growing effect the disability community is having by changing the rules of the game and shaping our future in the process.