Progression and TDCI team up to bring practical disability solutions to business
Most organisations would agree that Disability Equity is a fundamental part of good corporate governance in South Africa, but when it comes to practical implementation, many struggle to find the right solutions.
This is according to Beth Cook, CEO of Progression, an equity-owned company, aimed at successfully integrating more people with disabilities into the workplace.
“What Human Resources Managers really require are some practical ideas and workable solutions that they can implement in their organisations immediately,” says Cook.
With this in mind, Progression has teamed up with TDCI, one of South Africa’s leading Training and Development Service Providers to host a one-day conference, aimed at Human Resources Managers and Transformation Managers that will equip them with the practical tools for Disability Equity.
The Building Blocks of a Successful Disability Equity Strategy Conference has also been endorsed by the Office of the Premier and Zain Bulbulia, Acting Deputy Director General, Special Programmes – will join the event as the keynote speaker.
The conference is taking place on 24 July 2012 at the Sandton Convention Centre.
“Not only will this forum help delegates to learn more about statutory requirements and how to meet these requirements, but more importantly, it will actually leave them feeling inspired about the future of Disability Equity in South Africa,” says Cook. “We’ve seen so many success stories over the years from our learnership programmes, as well as some of our major corporate clients who have reported on the highly positive experiences that they have had when successfully integrating people living with disabilities into their organisations.”
Marius Pretorius, Managing Director of TDCI says that recent studies have shown the importance of having an integrated strategy and policy on the attraction, placement and retention of people with disabilities in the workplace.
This is further supported by the Department of Labour’s Code of Good Practice on the Employment of People with Disabilities (Republic of South Africa, 2002) and the Technical Assistance Guidelines on the Employment of People with Disabilities (Republic of South Africa, 2005).
“It’s important that all Human Resource Management practices are aligned to the recommendations outlined in the policy and strategy documents,” adds Pretorius.
Pretorius goes on to say that some of the issues that should be covered in strategy documents include: classification of disabilities, proactive recruitment strategies, dealing with attitudes towards disability as a form of diversity in the organisation, linking disability equity targets to the performance contracts of line managers, empowering managers to deal with the particular challenges associated with employing people with disabilities, as well as effective and efficient monitoring processes.
Aimed at Employment Equity Managers, B-BBEE champions, Transformation Managers, CEOs and anyone involved in human resources – this conference will address topical issues such as fair and non-discriminatory access into the workplace for people with disabilities, how disability impacts a company’s scorecard, and how to create a sustainable disability strategy. The speaker sessions will be followed by a training workshop where delegates will get real practical solutions, which they can take back to their organisations and start implementing immediately.
“We look forward to hosting what I believe will be a highly successful conference that delegates will find useful, practical and inspiring,” says Cook. “I believe that this will be the start of many similar and successful equity solutions workshops and conferences in future,” she concluded.
