Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting
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Introduction
In August 2021, Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting became the 2nd company to come on board and join our Accessible Cities South Africa platform, thereby setting a trend for other companies to work with us to promote accessibility and inclusivity in South Africa. DiSA would like to congratulate and thank Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting for joining our "Accessible Cities South Africa (AC - SA) " platform and for becoming an "Access Warrior" and for then renewing their Membership in 2022 and again in 2023.
Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting is a valued member of DiSA and are recognized leaders in Disability Inclusion. They focus on sourcing, identifying, developing and retaining diverse talent within your organization. Through their range of Disability Awareness Campaigns, Stereotype Busting Training, Strategic Consulting, and On the Ground support services, Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting leverage the benefit of their extensive network and experience in Disability Inclusivity to create enabling and flexible business environments.
Their significant contribution to internationally recognized Best Practice principals of disability inclusion is making impact in South African organizations, with large focus being placed on Transformation and Scorecard objectives in the space of Disability Inclusion. Bradshaw LeRoux helps businesses and people to create productive, enabling and inclusive futures.
In June 2017, Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting joined Disability info South Africa (DiSA) and became an active member of DiSA by not only assisting us with various queries that we received through our website, but also by supporting us financially through advertising with us in 2017 and then renewing their yearly adverts to date. Renewing their advert in 2023, Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting has supported DiSA for the 6th year consecutively, ensuring that they play their part in supporting the free information and support service that we supply to assist persons with disabilities. Joining our Accessible Cities platform, Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting has also shown their commitment to work together as "Access Warriors" to create awareness and inclusive environments for persons with disabilities, removing barriers one step at a time and converting our current environments into Accessible Cities for All."
DiSA and Bradshaw LeRoux Partnership
Disability info South Africa (DiSA) was started in 2015 by Alan Downey when he realised that there was still an urgent need for a free information service to assist and support persons with disabilities and their families. Through the support over the years from various organisations, companies and clubs such as Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting, we have been able to create a link between persons with disabilities and the companies, clubs and organizations that are available to assist them. More recently, DiSA has identified a need to become more than an Information and Support Service but to also provide platforms to help Identify, Address and Remove barriers to an inclusive, accessible South Africa. By creating a link with other reputable like minded companies clubs and organizations, we aim to create a better accessible future for all.
With this in mind, we have approached various current members of DiSA including Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting who were excited to join us and other Access Warriors in this journey to "Light a way to an Inclusive Society!" With assistance from all Access Warriors who have joined our Accessible Cities South Africa (AC-SA) platform, we aim to become a stronger force working together to help break down barriers, creating a level playing field - to enable all persons with disabilities to be able to participate equally in society.
By promoting the services supplied by Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting below and working with them through our AC-SA platform with other Access Warrior - Service Providers, we aim to ensure that all the pieces of the puzzle are in place to provide a complete Accessible Solution for the benefit of all. Please read the information below to find out more about the services that Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting can provide and contact them or DiSA through the contact form below, should you require any further information and assistance.
Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting Services
Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting was established in 1998 and are recognized leaders in Disability Inclusion. We focus on sourcing, identifying, developing and retaining diverse talent within your organization. Through our range of Disability Awareness Campaigns, Stereotype Busting Training, Strategic Consulting, and On the Ground support services, we leverage the benefit of their extensive network and experience in Disability Inclusivity to create enabling and flexible business environments.
Our significant contribution to internationally recognized Best Practice principals of disability inclusion is making impact in South African organizations, with large focus being placed on Transformation and Scorecard objectives in the space of Disability Inclusion. In order to realize and sustain these inclusivity objectives, organizational cultures and environments seek to become more disability confident, and recognize the value of this form of diversity to their businesses and in their service offerings. Bradshaw LeRoux helps businesses and people to create productive, enabling and inclusive futures.
For companies seeking to employ talent, our role is to assist you in creating an accessible work environment that provides equal opportunities for employment of people with a disability. In a nutshell, we represent both job seekers with a disability, and assist companies with including and developing people with a disability by creating a disability inclusive environment. We also offer SETA Accredited Learnership Programmes and various other services including:
Environmental Accessibility Audits
Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting conduct Environmental Accessibility Audits designed to identify environmental barriers that could hinder access for Persons with a Disability. Our consultants will review your site, note potential barriers from a functional and safety perspective, and propose cost-effective solutions which can be actioned within short, medium and longer term time frames. Our reports are practical in nature, specific in the solutions offered, and allow for ease of use by all. Relevant to all environments, from corporate offices, manufacturing or industry sites, education facilities or hospitality environments, we can assist.
Disability Awareness Training / Equity Training
Disability Awareness Training or Equity Training is provided by Bradshaw LeRoux in order to develop and create awareness in the organisation for persons with a disability which aligns to the organisation’s D&I strategy, Bradshaw LeRoux have proposed a focused training approach aimed at raising awareness about disability as a value adding form of diversity. Facilitated by Lesa Bradshaw, who is a recognised international disability inclusion specialist with over 24 years experience, these practically applicable courses focus on the critical success factors needed to create a transformative, inclusive and safe environment in which persons with a disability feel confident to compete and succeed. Our training is designed to equip organisations and their stakeholders with relevant tools to drive the disability inclusion agenda with impact and effectiveness.
Communications Campaign
Communicating the right messaging on Disability as a form of Diversity, and its value to business and society, is a key success factor in promoting Inclusion and building a culture of respect. The aim of any Disability Communications Campaign is to ‘normalise’ disability, shift perceptions which form barriers to inclusion, and create a culture of trust in which employees feel confident to disclose a disability in order equalize opportunities for success. Paramount to the success of changing perceptions around disability is the use of the correct ‘language’ and messaging content. This campaign includes a brand/logo design and 5 digital communications including context and design work.
Empowerment Training for Persons with a Disability
Empowerment Training for Persons with a Disability is designed to teach persons with a disability about their rights and responsibilities within the workplace, these training sessions assist those individuals who have a newly acquired a disability, or who are new to the work environment, to understand the potential barriers to equal and dignified access to, or advancement in, employment and how to become change champions in creating an inclusive culture. Empowering by design, this practical and motivating training approach prepares individuals for their work journey and equips them with the skills needed to ‘get the job’.
Bursary Management Programme
The bursary management programme is an excellent alternative for your company to invest in the Skills Development of Persons with a disability. The programme provides benefit to the Bursary recipients as they receive ongoing mentorship and assistive support during their years of study and beyond into their careers, creating future empowered, skilled talent with a disability. The programme benefits the Sponsoring company by building a talent pipeline aligned to its future needs whilst enjoying Skills Development objectives and positive brand recognition for respecting the value of disability as a form of diversity in the workplace.
ODIN: Online Disability Inclusion Network
ODIN: Online Disability Inclusion Network is a web-based diversity and inclusion platform which supports the transformation of an organisational culture towards being disability inclusive.
ODIN Recruit matches talent with a disability to your vacancies
ODIN Learn supports your learners with a disability, whether on or off site, to promote retention.
ODIN Recruit Provides you with a cost-effective, fixed cost, ‘budget friendly’ solution in the form of a subscription-based service.
If you are a job seeker with a disability, please take a look at our Current vacancies page on our website, and Upload Your CV.
For more information, please feel free to send any queries to lesa@bradshawleroux.co.za or take a look at our website www.bradshawleroux.co.za Address: 4 Ironwood Way, Simbithi Eco Estate Contact number: 031 765 2547
Tips to finding the right job
Finding it difficult to secure employment as a person with a disability? Here are a few tips on how to increase your chances:
- Know your rights! Understand how the labour legislation and Employment Equity Act support your applicant and employee rights – with particular emphasis on what constitutes Reasonable Accommodation which are the steps taken to remove any barriers to the role that may result from your disability.
- Be the expert in your own disability inclusivity journey. You are the expert on your own abilities and how to manage your disability where necessary in the workplace. Think about your requirements in the workplace realistically – for example, would you require a larger screen if you have a visual impairment, or do you need to manage your stress carefully if you have a psychiatric disability, and how would you manage this in the role. Being aware of this, and being able to confidently communicate this to an employer, will help them understand your abilities, given reasonable accommodation, rather than relying on their stereotypes.
- Use select agencies that ‘get’ disability as a form of diversity, and can focus on marketing your Ability! Make sure that the recruitment agent dealing with your application is well versed on how to sell your abilities and reasonable accommodation needs professionally, and gets a good understanding of the role and environment for which you are being considered, so that you can decide whether it is suitable.
- If you can …. GET YOUR MATRIC or NQF Equivalent!! Many companies have a policy whereby all potential employees, no matter what the role, must have a minimum of a matric qualification. This also applies to most learnership opportunities.
The challenge: Our schooling system in SA is not inclusive of learners with a disability, and many special needs schools are under-resourced and not able to support learners until Matric. We need to challenge this, and promote inclusive education as much as possible – but in the meantime, look for bridging programs, entry level NQF Learnerships that offer a matric equivalent, or home study to try and get this matric.
- Always be reliable, punctual and well presented for interviews – like any job seeker, the quickest way to miss out on a job opportunity is to be late for the interview! If you have any reasonable accommodation requirements – such as wheelchair accessibility, the need for extra time in the interview should you have a communication problem or require a sign interpreter etc – tell the company in advance.
Current and Future Plans
Only through inclusive environments can some persons with disabilities take part equally in society. "An impairment is any temporary or permanent loss or abnormality of a body structure or function, whether physical or psychological"
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) "Disability is imposed by society when a person with a physical, psychosocial, intellectual, neurological and/or sensory impairment is denied access to full participation in all aspects of life, and when society fails to uphold the rights and specific needs of individuals with impairments."
With this in mind, DiSA aim to make it a priority to create awareness for the creation of inclusive environments, from the 3rd of November to the 3rd of December, we celebrate Disability Rights Awareness Month, with the 3rd of December celebrated as National Disability Rights Awareness Day in South Africa. As South Africa’s premium and free disability information portal, we at DiSA believe that we should create awareness of disability issues all year round, not only one month of the year. To help drive this awareness, we plan to officially launch our Accessible Cities South African Platform and partnership with Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting during the month of November 2022, whereby we promote their services that they supply and the importance of creating accessible environments.
Through the partnership between DiSA and Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting, DiSA pledge to continue to promote Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting and the services that they supply to companies and individuals who contact us needing assistance, as well as through interviews and webinars, whereby we highlight the various benefits of employing persons with disabilities and in collaboration with Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting and other Access Warriors, identify how companies and employers can go about creating environments in which the employee can succeed, while also benefiting the company, other employees, as well as the community at large.
Accessible environments are so much more than just a ramp, only through the services that companies such as Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting provide, can we truly create more opportunities for persons with disabilities to succeed, which ultimately changes peoples perceptions of persons with disabilities. Creating access to venues, environments, information, products and services, enable persons with disabilities to break free of their barriers and comfort zones and experience success. No company, organisation or person is an island, we all need to work together to promote real change for this to happen - This is our goal as Access Warriors!
Contact DiSA
If you, your Company, Organisation, School or Sports Club require any assistance with regards to any of the services listed above, or would like to support DiSA and other Access Warriors in their journey to "Lighting the way to an Inclusive Society", please contact Alan Downey on Email: info@DiSA.org.za, Cell: 084 504 9176 or preferably via the Contact Form below.