Jaid is a member of Look Ahead's staff DisAbility Network.
It’s National Inclusion Week (23rd – 29th September), and this year’s theme is ‘Impact Matters’.
This message reminds us that we all have the power to make a positive difference to the environment around us – at work, at home, or in the community – if we are willing to try. To that end, I want to share four top tips based on my own experiences at Look Ahead to highlight how we can all do just that.
1. Give people opportunities to engage.
Colleagues may not know this about me, but I first joined Look Ahead as a volunteer during the Covid pandemic. I started out by helping at a local mental health service. I learned a lot and most importantly, gained the confidence to apply for my first job at one of our West London learning disability services.
After two fantastic years of supporting customers across specialisms, I became a team leader. It was a huge achievement for me, one of my proudest.
I want you to think about the bigger picture for a moment. If Look Ahead didn’t offer me a volunteer opportunity, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and I wouldn’t have been able to support so many customers either.
So, my advice is, whatever your circumstances are, if an opportunity to have an impact presents itself, take it. If you feel you can provide an opportunity, to a customer, a volunteer, or a member of staff to leave a positive mark, offer it. You may be surprised by what can be achieved.
2. Don’t hide your skills.
Never shy away from using a talent or skill you have just because it isn’t written in your job description. At Look Ahead, we believe in bringing your whole self to work, your culture, your background, your abilities.
For instance, I have South Asian roots and speak fluent Bengali. I currently work at a mental health service in East London, so my language skills reflect the wider community that we support there. It works fantastically, and I’ve seen many customers who don’t always feel confident expressing themselves in English become far more engaged during one-to-one and support sessions and making great strides in the process. Seeing inclusive approaches like this have an impact on the people I support is truly humbling.
3. Think about how to be inclusive towards your colleagues too.
Extending your inclusive outlook to colleagues is key to having a powerful impact at work. I remember once when I was team leader at another service, a colleague confided in me that they were struggling with IT and wanted to improve. So, I supported them to attend different training programmes. This made my colleague more confident, and directly improved the quality of their work as well, impacting our customers for the better too.
4. Team up with like-minded people.
Lastly, collaborating with colleagues with similar experiences and values is a great way to encourage an inclusive work environment. After finding out Look Ahead has a staff DisAbility Network, I decided to join. I’m so happy I did, I love being part of the group. We have frank and confidential conversations about issues, and how to resolve them, then we act.
Being a network member has meant I have been able to have reasonable adjustments put in place that help me to do my job while ensuring my personal needs are met. I couldn’t ask for a better team.
I hope you enjoyed reading my top tips, my challenge to you this National Inclusion Week, is to start thinking about how you put them into practice. Remember, impact matters!
