Breaking Down Barriers

The Attract and Recruit Workstream identifies barriers to disabled people accessing employment and seeks to effectively tackle them. They have identified that there are a number of areas that are currently providing barriers to successfully attracting disabled applicants, their recruitment and their ongoing retention and development.

Through their research, discussions and reviewing of 18 project proposals initially created, they have refined their list to three project areas which successfully progressed to the Business Case Funding Request stage.

  1. Inclusive Recruitment Model
  2. Digital Recruitment Review
  3. Development work with recruitment agencies (this will follow soon)

Inclusive Recruitment Model Project

This project is being delivered by RNID.

The Inclusive Recruitment Model Project will identify and pilot best practice which Apt, the Centre of Excellence and the Scottish Government can adopt in future strategies and benefit future projects.

The project will also create manageable products and flexible models that employers can commission from the Centre of Excellence.

We will develop a recruitment model which employers can use with confidence to attract and recruit disabled employees to fill vacancies. We will recruit and work with 12 employers and disabled people to develop and pilot the model by March 2022.

At the end of the pilot an Inclusive Recruitment Model will have been identified, tested and proven to promote best recruitment practices, increasing the number of disabled people who are recruited.

Project Outcomes
  • 12 Employers will feel confident in recruiting disabled people (increased awareness & confidence and improved processes)
  • 12 Employers will understand and use practices which are equitable
  • More people with disabilities will apply for jobs (200% increase)
  • More disabled people will be applying for jobs with our partner employers.
  • A measurable qualitative change in the participating employers’ culture and approach to inclusion.

We will add details of the employers we are working with and the staff working on this project soon.

Digital Recruitment Review

This project is being delivered by the Scottish Union of Supported Employment and Cole AD, a Glasgow based marketing and design agency.

The Digital Recruitment Review for Employers will assess the current platforms used by 10 businesses and will develop recommendations and an action plan to make them more accessible and fair for disabled applicants. We are currently recruiting employers will recruit employers and will carry out the reviews in July 2021 when pandemic restrictions allow.

We aim to develop this as fully costed commercial service that will be offered in the Centre of Excellence from Spring 2022.

Project Outcomes
  • At least 50% of the employers will have made improvements to their digital recruitment platforms by March 2022 which make them more accessible.
  • There will be a 20% increase in the number of disabled people who are applying for jobs across the 10 employers from a baseline in March 2021 to project end in March 2022.
  • We will gather evidence of best practice with a view to producing a guide in the future.
  • We will train employment workers to give expert advice to employers.

We will add details of the employers we are working with on this project soon.