Network Affinity Groups: The Disability Perspective

I recently spoke and attended at a conference in New York City devoted to Affinity Groups/Employee Network Groups. The two day conference was truly an eye opening event because it allowed me insight into the inner works of how Affinity groups work within various corporate cultures. Looking at both the strengths and weaknesses I was able to think about how we can leverage this to meet the needs of workers with disabilities.
Affinity Groups were initially developed as small, informal, self started employee groups for people with common interests and issues. Now they are developed to help not only members but the companies they are part of to look strategically of how to utilize them to benefit the organizations.
What I have realized is that disability affinity groups are mostly small in size and comprise of some members with disabilities but also those that are family members. What I came to realize is something that has coincided with my philosophy for a while – disability is much more than a diversity issue – but a human one! In thinking about how to grow a Network Affinity Group around disability there are some challenges, the major one being self identification. How does one do it? Should one do it? There are some obvious answers because many with more profound disabilities can’t hide their disability but others with more “invisible” disabilities can stay away from it. The argument has been it will hide them from the stigma and possible ridicule if people knew. Secondly, it may give them some more job security.
While there is certain logic to that argument my answer is that disability is part of the human experience. For business to avoid this issue it is essential for them to see Network Groups as value added services than can help them with issues of human capital, retention to market innovation. Business must see disability as a cornerstone to their overall business strategy. The role that affinity groups can play are twofold, one create a central resource for employees to a variety of resources about how they can deal with their disability which will in turn increase workplace efficiency but also see themselves as a conduit to building larger coalitions with other groups to how to serve the issue of disability in their communities. It can be a win/win for all!