Over the last few months I’ve been working with a number of Commonwealth agencies as they explore ways to create more inclusive and accessible workplaces.
The intent is fantastic and the conversations are even more insightful. Many start with disability, adjustments and accessibility, before expanding into discussions about recruitment, technology, workplace design, manager capability, policy and organisational culture.
As these conversations have unfolded, I’ve found myself thinking less about workplaces and more about a tennis court in Canberra.
Inclusion Starts With Participation
Over the years, my son, who has a disability, has benefited enormously from being involved in a local tennis academy. The academy has invested heavily in creating opportunities for people with a wide range of disabilities and support needs. One example is its outstanding wheelchair tennis program, that extends inclusion much further than any single initiative.
What always struck me most was how naturally inclusion seems to occur in an environment where there are rarely any lengthy debates about whether someone should participate.
The conversation usually started somewhere much simpler:
“How can we make this work?”
The Power of Inclusion
As a parent, I have experienced first-hand the power of inclusion. Participation in tennis has made an enormous difference to my son. He has grown in confidence, become physically active, and developed a resilience I’m not sure he would have found elsewhere.
Today, he approaches new sporting opportunities with enthusiasm, balances part-time work and senior high school, and demonstrates an independence and self-belief that I didn’t always know how to picture when he was younger.
Why Workplaces Find It Harder
In a professional services setting, I have observed how much harder these conversations can become inside large organisations. Not because leaders don’t care, but because workplaces operate within a much more complex environment.
A request that sounds reasonably straightforward on the surface can quickly touch multiple parts of an organisation, from human resources policies and procedures to investment decisions that impact technology, security and property.
One of the biggest observations I’ve made is that many managers become, understandably, nervous. They worry about saying the wrong thing, making the wrong decision, treating people inconsistently or creating precedents they don’t fully understand.
The result is often uncertainty rather than resistance and this is where I think sport offers an interesting lesson. The academy I’ve seen up close keeps a relentless focus on participation; and this is not the only sporting organisation where I have seen this level of commitment.
When a barrier emerges, the conversation remains centred on how to remove the barriers to enable someone to participate, compete, contribute and belong.
The answer is not always easy, but the purpose remains clear.
An Organisational Design Challenge
The more agencies I work with, the more I think workplace inclusion is ultimately an organisational design challenge. Disability often brings those challenges into focus, but the solutions rarely benefit just one group.
Better recruitment processes help a broad range of candidates and more accessible technology helps many different users.
Improved workplace design benefits more than people with disability.
Clearer manager guidance helps entire teams.
In my experience, the organisations that get furthest tend to be the ones who start by looking beyond trying to solve individual requirements and instead ask broader questions about how their systems, processes and workplaces operate.
Start With Participation
I don’t think workplaces should try to become sporting clubs, nor do I think sporting clubs carry the same level of complexity as large employers. But I do think there is something powerful in the mindset I’ve observed through sport.
It starts with an assumption that people should be able to participate and the challenge then becomes finding a way to make that happen.
As organisations continue to think about disability, accessibility and inclusion, perhaps that’s not a bad place to start.
Not with policy, processes or governance, but with a simple question:
“What would it take to help this person participate?”
From there, everything else tends to fall into place.
About the Author
Adam Phelan has spent more than 20 years helping people, teams and organisations navigate change, build capability and improve performance.
As a Director at Holan Group and avid tennis player, Adam works with Commonwealth agencies and private sector organisations to design practical solutions that strengthen workforce capability, improve organisational effectiveness and support more inclusive workplaces.
Frequently asked questions
What is workplace inclusion?
Workplace inclusion is the creation of an environment where people can participate fully and contribute their skills, experience and perspectives. It goes beyond compliance and considers how systems, technology, workplaces and culture enable participation.
Why is inclusion often difficult for organisations?
Large organisations operate within complex policy, technology, security and governance environments. Managers often need to balance competing requirements, which can create uncertainty about the best way to support employees.
What can workplaces learn from sport?
Many sporting organisations focus first on participation. The clubs I've seen do this well start by asking what changes are needed to make participation possible. Adjusting the environment, the equipment, the systems; not the person. This mindset can provide a useful perspective for workplace inclusion.
Is accessibility only about disability?
No. Many accessibility improvements benefit a much wider group of people. Better technology, clearer processes, more flexible work practices and improved workplace design often create benefits across the entire workforce.
