Section Seven: Trust and Inclusion in the Workplace

Trust in colleagues

“My work group is highly inclusive and is a safe space for me as a person who lives with a physical disability and mental health challenges. I know that I can be my authentic self safely at work.”

Trust in work colleagues to do what is right was reasonably high for disabled public servants in Te Taunaki (68%) but still lower than non-disabled people (79%). This matches a finding by Stats NZ that disabled people reported lower levels of trust in other people and in public institutions.

Inclusion

While most disabled public servants felt comfortable working with people from backgrounds other than their own, they also reported significantly lower feelings of inclusion based on an index created from key inclusion measures.[1] This was also consistent across the full range of inclusion questions individually. For example, 70% of disabled employees felt comfortable being themselves at work compared to 83% of non-disabled employees. 

Table 17: Proportion of disabled/non-disabled public servants by level of agreement with inclusion statements

 Some themes in the open-ended comments help explain more about why some people feel lower levels of inclusion. These include issues with the culture of the organisation not creating a positive and safe workplace, issues with immediate and senior management, as well as colleagues needing more training/understanding about disability, and a lack of consistency in application of policies, process and rules. These are explored briefly below.

Culture of the organisation.

Some respondents noted issues with harassment, bullying and other unwanted behaviour.

“[Agency] is slowly undergoing a cultural change of being more inclusive of all people but it's a work in progress. I still encounter sexism and feel my disability is seen as an 'issue' rather than something that connects me with a sector of our community that, historically, [Agency] has not included in its customer base.”

 “There are some racist, ableist and homophobic attitudes lingering which make me uncomfortable at times. This is from other staff, not management, whom I can see are making significant efforts to be as inclusive as possible (often incurring the mirth of some staff).”

Immediate and senior management.

Capability and attitude of immediate and senior management was important in helping people feel included. For some people, there was a desire expressed for their manager/ supervisor/ team leader (or organisation) to have an increased awareness of a particular impairment or disability to improve their comfort in being themselves. For example, there is an increased need for awareness of neurodivergence and an appreciation that not all disabilities are visible. Some respondents also noted that management differed in application of policies and sometimes would not follow published or agreed policies.

“Provide a workplace that feels safe to be open about having a disability and seeking support and accommodations. Provide managers (and all staff) training and support to understand disability (including invisible disabilities and neurodiversity) and how to not just support staff that have disabilities but to value their unique strengths and contributions. Teach staff to respect all staff regardless of their job title and appearance.”

Accessibility.

While not collected explicitly in questions in Te Taunaki, a number of disabled participants commented on the challenges of physical accessibility in the workplace as well as information accessibility.

“Considering the needs of people with disabilities e.g. access, toilets, venues without making those people feel as if they are making special concessions. It's a legal right and a human rights issue.”

“Make my building wheelchair accessible. I am a wheelchair user....None of the doors have electric assist to open the doors, meaning I am unable to traverse the building independently and have to ask members of my team to assist me. This reduces their ability to stay on task at work because they have to take additional unneeded time away from their desks. Prioritise wheelchair accessibility.”

“Accessibility is an issue. Not a disability friendly building which surprised me as I thought [Agency] would have consideration for people living with disabilities. This is my experience with all the government departments I have worked in over the last eight years whether it be the building, the recruitment process or the questions you are asked when identifying a disability. Lack of support for disabilities and lack of visibility is all too common in the public sector.”

“Information is often provided in formats that are not accessible. There is a reliance on people being able to see and usually I need to ask for accessible versions. However, there are people who are being more proactive and asking what I need. This makes me feel valued and included. This is not as widespread as it could be though.”

Unique knowledge, skills, and understanding.

Many public servants discussed needing only minor accommodation to be able to be productive in their role (e.g. desk set up, ability to work from home during health flare ups, increased understanding from colleagues). In addition, a few participants raised how their work is improved because they bring special knowledge or skills that non-disabled public servants would not have.

“I clearly think very differently to others which is part of why I'm good at my job - I see things others just don't, and can push through tough problems better than a lot of people."

[1] See Inclusion Deep Dive Overview and Approach - Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission for more information about this analysis.