How does Avalis break down barriers to disability employment?

Avalis breaks down barriers to employment faced by disabled people. We do that by working with input from disabled people to find problems and possible solutions, taking some small measures to improve from the current situation, measuring their success and then starting that cycle again. It seems really easy when expressed like that, but we know that even well-resourced inclusion initiatives at committed companies can have limited results. The key to Avalis' approach is that disabled employees consult on every step of the process. We're able to overcome a fundamental problem for our partner companies: how do you design for people who currently aren't applying to, accepting or starting a role because of systemic barriers?

Avalis was formed from our lived experience of these systemic barriers that face disabled people and the effort and ingenuity and innovation it takes to overcome them within organisations. These barriers are largely unintentional, but highlight a crucial point - the people in your company have successfully navigated the recruitment and onboarding process, so their input can't address what stops people from even applying.

This leaves those on the outside only further excluded, despite best efforts by employers.

We are wholly committed to closing the disability employment gap, and we know that the only way to do this is to consult disabled people who face these barriers - but when you don't have a group represented in your team, how do you ask what could make it easier for them to join and succeed? That is where Avalis makes a difference for companies large and small.

At the core of our model are our teams of trained, supported and highly motivated disabled people ready to fulfil roles that our partners have a need for. This model, where we employ the staff directly, gives lots of advantages to everyone involved.

1. People who may not have had access to stability and longevity in employment previously can enjoy a role that provides this.

2. Avalis have the flexibility to try new ways to prepare and support people who can succeed in your organisation.

3. Larger organisations can see evidence that they would likely not be able to test and prove themselves.

4. Most importantly, it gives companies a source of feedback from disabled people who have direct experience of working in their organisation. That is where real change can start to happen.

Using the feedback we gather, Avalis designs simple measures to try to improve disability employment. We then adjust our approach from what we find and set off on the same cycle again to continuously improve the measures.

If you believe that your company can benefit from this approach of iterative, ground-up inclusivity experiments, then get in touch. If you'd like to see more details on what we offer and how we make a difference, follow us on Twitter (@Avalislimited) and LinkedIn.