Business Disability Forum speaks on disability and recruitment at the 10th truLondon ‘unconference’
Business Disability Forum (BDF) Recruitment Advisor, Tracey Abbott, is keen to share her knowledge of the experience many disabled applicants face. She will be speaking at Bill Boorman’s truLondon ‘unconference’, sponsored by Kelly Services, on Friday 5 September. truLondon provides the perfect platform to discuss how the recruitment of disabled candidates is changing through better understanding of disabilities and the recognition of untapped talent within this area.
Tracey speaks about how the majority of those who work in IT recruitment will have clients with some type of disability. For example those that are on the Autism spectrum may not communicate as fluidly or warmly as other applicants, but may have a superior skill. It is important for those in recruitment to recognise that a candidates being “different” or not warming to someone during the application process should not necessarily equate to them being rejected for the role. It is only through education on non-visible disabilities that this fact can be understood and a more even-handed process can be achieved.
Tracey Abbott, Recruitment Advisor at Business Disability Forum, speaking about the trend of ‘onshoring’ said:
“As it becomes harder to find the right applicant for the job it is important to look beyond preconceptions. I want to give everyone a shortcut to the understanding that I’ve developed in my 30 years of recruitment experience.
Good practice exists, for example a current trend is seeing more of our Member organisations ‘onshoring’ instead of offshoring contracts. The lower price differential between the two means that keeping contracts at home is becoming a viable option. BDF Partners BT and Lloyds Banking Group are recruiting for more IT roles and have ensured that their recruitment processes and premises are accessible to disabled applicants and employees. I want to help spread best practice across the industry.”
Bill Boorman, Founder and Host of #truLondon, said:
“I’m always interested in what Tracey and Business Disability Forum have to say because they speak from a practical rather than a legal standpoint. The key to successful recruitment is being open to every candidate in the marketplace and removing preconceptions about capability from the recruitment process.”
The truLondon HR ‘unconference’ looks at what is happening in recruitment at the moment and what can be done to get people into work. Speakers are discouraged from reading from notes, there are no Powerpoint presentations and no name badges. Instead speakers deliver spontaneous talks about topics that they deal with on a daily basis and have first-hand anecdotal experience of, hence the term ‘unconference’.
Notes to Editors
- Bill Boorman, Founder and Host of the #truMunity has a vision to make recruitment better for everyone. He works towards this by advising talent technology companies on their product road map, with V.C.'s over investments in the sector, with hiring companies on technology and approach, and by hosting #tru events. You can contact Bill Boorman at bill@billboorman.co.uk, http://www.facebook.com/BillBoorman or via twitter: @BillBoorman2
- #tru have hosted over 100 events during the last 12 months, in 65 countries and 5 continents. This has led to conversations with over 2,500 people who work in and around recruiting across the globe and has given attendees great insight into the market, and the technology needed to support it. For more information on truLondon #10 speakers and topics see http://trumunity.com/2014/09/7460/. To purchase tickets for the event please go to http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/trulondon-10-tickets-12413177147.
- BDF represents some 400 organisations that collectively employ 20% of the UK workforce. Disability-smart organisations work with BDF to improve their business performance. We have more than 20 years’ experience of equipping people with the expertise to create confident organisations by improving the understanding of disability in business, removing barriers and making adjustments for individuals. Here is a short video about the forum: http://businessdisabilityforum.org.uk/why-bother/the-evidence.
- For further comment, please contact Zaynab Garba, Business Disability Forum Communications & Marketing Assistant zaynabg@businessdisabilityforum.org.uk.
