Balfour Beatty have become the first company within the construction sector to offer its support to the Disability Confident campaign.

The Department for Work and Pensions’ campaign is working with employers to remove barriers, increase understanding and ensure that disabled people have the opportunities to fulfil their potential andrealise their aspirations.

The support reflects a commitment from Balfour Beatty to become more accessible for disabled people and increase understanding and support for employees and potential employees who have a disability so they do not feel isolated or disadvantaged.

As part of Balfour Beatty’s commitment to the aspirations of Disability Confident, the company will develop a training initiative to help employees understand unconscious bias, the subconscious preferences people can have for certain types of people, and how overcoming or understanding unconscious bias can help build a more inclusive culture. This material will then be shared with the company’s supply chain and across the construction sector.

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"1.3 million people within the disabled population want to work and we want to access the widest possible skills and talent," Balfour Beatty Construction Services UK Chief Executive Officer, Nicholas Pollard said.

Adding: "To achieve our full potential as a business we need to make sure we have open-minded and inclusive leadership that embraces the opportunities a diverse workforce offers.

"By challenging our unconscious bias we will also support our existing employees, some of whom are working with challenges such as dyslexia or dyspraxia. We want a culture that encourages people to seek the support or flexibility they need to fulfil their potential because ultimately this will benefit our business."

The company is driving a number of diversity initiatives across its UK business and supply chain:

• This month, Balfour Beatty and Parsons Brinckerhoff’s UK businesses became members of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions Programme [www.stonewall.org.uk], Britain’s leading employers’ forum on sexual orientation and the largest non-governmental intervention of its kind in the world which helps businesses develop inclusive workplace cultures.

• Also in March, a new Parent to Parent mentoring scheme was rolled out to encourage employees entering parenthood to access trained mentors within the business who are parents themselves and can provide support, advice and encouragement.

• Earlier this year Balfour Beatty became a signatory to the 5% club [www.5percentclub.org.uk], an industry initiative which reflects a commitment to 5% of its UK workforce being graduates, apprentices or sponsored students in five years’ time.

• Also this year, Balfour Beatty became a signatory for The Business Exchange, [www.greatbusinessexchange.co.uk], a collaboration between Government and Enterprise Nation to encourage increased opportunities between big business and SMEs.

(MH)