Organisations with a diverse workforce perform better but how can you tell if a business is truly diverse or just ‘purple washing’?*

‘Disability inclusion in business: Is it just purple washing?’ considers what is meant by the term ‘purple washing’ and whether businesses are using such tokenism around disability inclusion to deflect attention from poor practice.

‘Purple washing’ can be when businesses publicly claim a commitment to disability inclusion but do not back this up through their practices or actions.

The discussion paper and podcast also consider the role of ‘purple hushing’ – the practice of not publicly promoting good practice around disability inclusion. BDF considers why businesses choose to stay quiet and the impact this has on employees and customers.

BDF’s CEO, Diane Lightfoot, is joined on the podcast discussion by two guests. Peter Torres Fremlin is author of the ‘Disability Debrief’ and a consultant whose work focusses on disability employment and mainstreaming disability. Birgit Neu is an award-winning senior DEI professional and former Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at HSBC.

Together, they debate controversial topics including:

• Does it matter if businesses are making themselves look better, if they are achieving positive change?
• How do we encourage businesses to take meaningful actions on disability inclusion?

Should businesses wait until they are ‘perfect’ to share good news?

On defining purple washing and understanding its impact, Peter Torres Fremlin said:

“We need to look at it in the sense of disability being used to boost a business’ reputation when other elements of the business are not so positive. And we also need to look at purple washing in the sense of commitments made but not backed up by reality on the ground. As disabled people, we know that our experiences can be very different from what people have promised.”

On business authenticity, Birgit Neu said: “Businesses need to demonstrate they have the kind of all year- round basics in place, whether that’s policies and practices, training, employee resource groups or community engagement. And you also need to reinforce that idea of leadership commitment across the organisation.”

Diane Lightfoot, spoke about the importance of businesses taking action on disability inclusion rather than doing nothing or remaining silent. She said:

“I always like the expression, ‘don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good’, and building on that, ‘focus on progress, not perfection’. Too often businesses are nervous about saying or doing something if it isn’t perfect and as a result do nothing. At the same time, rather than saying, oh, we’ve ticked that box and now we can leave it and move on, we still need to keep improving. We still need to get better, and we still need to move forward.”

The impact of purple washing and purple hushing

The discussion paper accompanying the podcast highlights the impact of ‘purple washing’ and ‘purple hushing’ and the value of disability inclusive policies to businesses and employers. It highlights that:

• Purple washing can make businesses look inauthentic and can mean the needs of disabled people are overlooked. Purple hushing can prevent disabled people from accessing good services and apply for jobs. Both can negatively affect the productivity and revenue of a business.
• Disability-inclusive organisations achieve 28% higher revenue on average. Source: Getting To Equal: The Disability Inclusion Advantage (Accenture, 2023).
• More than 3 out of 4 job seekers prefer companies that have a diverse workforce. Source: What Job Seekers Really Think About Your Diversity and Inclusion Stats (Glassdoor, 2021).

How can businesses avoid purple washing and purple hushing?

The discussion paper and podcast offer advice to businesses on how to avoid unhelpful practices around disability inclusion. Business Disability Forum advises Businesses that want to be able to demonstrate that they are more inclusive and accessible to:

• Start with action not promotion.
• Employ disabled people in all areas and make workplace adjustments that mean disabled people can work at work at their full potential.
• Share what they are doing once they have robust policies and practices in places, even if there is more to learn and do.
• Be transparent and authentic.

*This is the subject explored by Business Disability Forum (BDF) in its latest discussion paper and podcast launched today (19 September) as part of its ‘Disability Today’ series.

Access all the podcast episodes and accompanying papers on the Disability Today page