New report launched: Disability Management in the UK Civil Service
Following on from Global Government Forum’s UK Government Leadership Survey, Microlink plc have published a new research report ‘Disability Management in the UK Civil Service’.
The report contains exclusive data from independent research carried out by Global Government Forum, as well as key case study data from Lloyds Banking Group and analysis of data published by the UK Civil Service. Together the data shows the current landscape across the 400,000-strong UK Civil Service, and provides six key recommendations to increase workforce productivity, cost effectiveness and wellbeing.
In 2011, Microlink plc helped Lloyds Banking Group to re-engineer their ad hoc ‘reasonable adjustment process’ to create a carefully designed ‘workplace adjustment service’. Over 3 years approximately 18,893 employees used the service from a total staff count of over 100,000 (approximately 19% of the workforce). The results have been significant for the group. 100% of managers and employees at Lloyds using the service would tell any organisation to do the same.
Key facts include:
- Less than half of UK civil servants that say they have a disability or long term health condition currently declare this and receive help in the workplace.
- UK Senior Civil Servants are more than three times less likely to have a disability than Executive Officers.
- Of those civil servants that indicate that they have a disability, less than half have asked their manager for help or assistance.
- Supporting staff with disabilities is a high priority for the majority of departments, however, less than a third (30%) of senior managers would recommend their department’s disability programme.
- UK Civil Service staff are almost three times more likely to have encountered some form of bullying, harassment or discrimination if they are disabled or suffering from a long-term limiting condition, than if they did not.
- The cost of disability discrimination employment tribunals can be higher than £388,000, and the average award in 2011 was £27,000, whereas the average cost of a physical reasonable adjustment is just £300.
- Achieving absence rates similar to the private sector “would save £40 million a year for the taxpayer.”
The report demonstrates how other organisations have improved work performance and workforce productivity through effective disability management, including:
- How Lloyds Banking group achieved a very significant 89% reduction in absence due to their process change.
- Why 85% of the employees using the service at Lloyds Banking Group reported a significant improvement in their work performance with 77% reporting a dramatic improvement.
- How formal grievance cases can be significantly reduced. In the case of Royal Mail Group, who implemented a similar approach in 2008, formal grievances dropped by 51% during the period of transformation.
Launching the report, Nasser Siabi, CEO of Microlink plc said: “this report shows that it is counterproductive to promote disability management as being important simply to meet legal obligations. The fundamental aim of the process should be to empower your workforce to move towards a modern civil service, reflective of society, whereby everyone has the opportunity to excel in their chosen careers. This report demonstrates the substantial and wide benefits that can come from changes to the way the civil service manages disability across its workforce.”
Fill out the form below to for a free copy of the report, titled: ‘Disability Management Across the UK Civil Service: Six steps to significantly increase workforce productivity, cost effectiveness and wellbeing’
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