This week Michael Bach (Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at KPMG) spoke with Matt Galloway on Metro Morning. In 7:19 minutes he covered a lot, but the thing that struck me most was in the first minute.
Hats off to you Michael, for astutely pointing out that workplaces accommodate everyone.
As ‘Diversity in the Workplace’ has increased in awareness and practice, it amazes me how often accommodation is still seen almost as a dirty word – synonymous with inconvenience. I smiled when I heard Michael say “lights are an accommodation for sighted people. If you are blind you can work even with the lights off”.
Woot! How many times have we thought of that?
The fact is that the Canadian workplace has been structured with certain people in mind – meaning that the accommodations required for the Canadian worker of the past are already (conveniently) built in. Think about it – why doesn’t the work week start on Sunday, for example?
There was much more to this conversation, so it will likely be fodder for a few more blogs. But thanks Michael, for not letting that one go by.
See more.
copyright 2012 Annemarie Shrouder
author, speaker and facilitator on issues of Diversity and Inclusion
www.beeing.ca
Leave a Reply