As part of our 2021 inclusion strategy, we committed to improve the accessibility of our recruitment and business processes to better attract and retain diverse and disabled talent. The strategy set milestones for achieving the three levels of the government scheme, Disability Confident.
We are proud to have achieved each of these milestones, most recently becoming a Disability Confident Leader in October 2024. We submitted over 150 unique pieces of evidence, which were validated by the Business Disability Forum as our third party reviewer as meeting 100% of the mandatory criteria.
Continuing our accessibility progress
We recognise that we still have more to do to make Costain a fully inclusive and accessible workplace for everyone. We will act on the feedback on our submission, with the support of our disability and wellbeing network and will continue our membership with the Business Disability Forum to maintain progress in this area.
As part of our achievement of Disability Confident Leader, we are committed to disclosing against the government Voluntary Reporting Framework going forward. This is our first step towards equality, alongside the implementation of a new HR system, which will enable us to utilise a more structured approach to collecting and analysing data on all stages of the recruitment and employment experience for disabled individuals. This will lead to a better understanding of any potential disability pay gap, the impact of workplace adjustments on employee performance and retention, and our continuous improvement in digital accessibility.
Photo credit - Business Disability Forum
Actions taken to become a
Disability Confident Leader in 2024
We have made the applicant experience of our recruitment process more accessible by:
- proactively offering adjustments at every stage of the recruitment process
- offering an interview to any candidate who applies under the Disability Confident Scheme
- providing Disability Confident training to our hiring managers
- prioritising accessibility in our digital presence, such as introducing the accessiBe tool on our external website and
- providing work opportunities for young people through partnerships with organisations such as WorkFit and DFN Project Search.
We have empowered our employees to manage their own and support others’ disabilities and health conditions by:
- creating an internal workplace adjustments hub, with resources specific to enable employees, line managers and hiring managers
- improving employee access to workplace needs assessments and workplace adjustments through our occupational health offering and
- becoming a member of the Business Disability Forum, providing our employees with access to their knowledge hub and our line managers and people team with access to their specialist advice service.
We have made our development programmes more accessible by:
- converting our existing e-learning to more accessible formats
- working with our e-learning provider to deliver new training in accessible formats and
- offering adjustment throughout the application process and delivery of our in-house development programmes (including the emerging leaders programme and Empower programme).
We have upskilled our suppliers with knowledge about Disability Confident through:
- reasonable adjustments training at framework supplier days and
- Disability Confident awareness sessions at meet-the-buyer events.
“We were particularly impressed in the steps Costain have taken to embed inclusivity throughout their recruitment and onboarding process, which will lead to more applications from disabled candidates, whilst ensuring recruitment and onboarding processes are barrier free. Furthermore, we commend the work that Costain has done in the digital inclusivity and accessibility space, from their website being developed in collaboration with accessiBe, through to accessible and screen reader friendly work on job adverts.”
Natalie Leister Head of Practice, Business Disability Forum