… Worldwide there are over one billion people who have some form of a disability — both physical and mental — in which 75% of these disabilities are invisible. At Accenture, we’ve modified our offices and equipment using technology and AI to support our people with disabilities. We use technologies such as natural language processing, computer vision, and other applications that extend human capabilities by sensing, comprehending, acting, and learning, thereby allowing people to achieve much more than they could on their own.
As we all know, over the past several years there has been a great deal of discussion about inclusion and diversity in the workplace. One aspect of inclusion that is not discussed enough, is how businesses can be inclusive of people with disabilities. We know that the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. What exactly does this look like in practice? What exactly are reasonable accommodations? Aside from what is legally required, what are some best practices that can make a business place feel more welcoming and inclusive of people with disabilities? To address these questions, we are talking to successful business leaders who can share stories and insights from their experience about the “How Businesses Make Accommodations For Customers and Employees Who Are Disabled “.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Barbara Spitzer.
As a Managing Director and senior leader in Accenture’s Global Board and CEO Advisory practice, Barbara’s work centers around delivering meaningful and lasting change and transformation. Barbara helps organizations realize their full potential by developing leaders and talent utilizing technology and data insights to deliver experiences that drive growth.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you ended up where you are?
During my college years I wanted to be a clinical psychologist focusing on helping people thrive in life but fell in love with the business world after an internship with a software start up. I combined my interests in both psychology and business to receive a master’s degree in organizational psychology at Columbia University where I also took courses at the business school.
Prior to graduating, my professor, the renowned father of organizational psychology, Richard Beckhard, told us that we have two career choices — we could go into consulting or internal HR. I took a role in consulting so that I could use my skills to help companies become places where people could learn, grow and thrive. After serving as an SVP and global practice lead at Capgemini, I started my own consultancy, Two Rivers Partners spending half my time advising the board and President of National Organization on Disability in building out a professional service capability to help businesses be more disability-inclusive. While there I discovered my passion for disability inclusion and working in a way that has purpose and impact.
After a few years I realized that I missed the energy and hustle of consulting as part of a larger organization, thus prompting my move to Accenture, one of the largest consulting firms with over 770,000 employees. In my role, I help leaders and organizations reimagine their workplace cultures to become more purpose-led, prioritizing people and the health of the planet while remaining profitable. Additionally, I am proud to be a co-sponsor of our New York Disability ERG where I feel I can make a difference for our people.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
- Relationship building. As an executive and practitioner, it is all about building relationships, which is one of my superpowers. My father was in the military and as a result we moved around a lot, so I learned to build relationships quickly and early on. The key to a successful relationship — whether it be a client, my team or a personal relationship — is listening and being focused on others’ needs. I bring this same level of relationship intensity when it comes to my colleagues and peers, which makes work a lot more fun!
- Problem solver. I tend to experience anxiety a little more than the average person and, while it can be a struggle, I know that it’s fueled my success. I am a deep thinker; my active and curious mind produces strategic and creative solutions to problems that I drive into action. These three things combined are what makes me a visionary who gets things done.
- Human-first leader. I work every day to treat everyone with respect and it has not been easy during the pandemic. Leaders are tired and I had a rough year last year with the loss of my mother, so I had to stay diligent to focus on others’ needs first as well as being in touch with my own mental and emotional state. I wasn’t always successful (which is truly human), but I am the first to admit and apologize when I am short with others or show frustration. I truly care about my colleagues, team and clients and want to see them succeed. I feel things deeply — I am a bit of a sensitive soul — and much of it pains me whether it’s senseless gun violence, racism, inequality, it all hurts my heart. So, when my friends and colleagues are hurting, I hurt with them. I believe in fostering an environment that supports a transparent, two-way dialogue and encourages constructive feedback but that also allows my team to feel a sense of belonging where they can be themselves no matter what they are facing.
Can you share a story about one of your greatest work related struggles? Can you share what you did to overcome it?
Recently I took a leave of absence. The trigger was the death of my mother, which impacted me harder than I anticipated — it didn’t help that I worked on a large deal that took a year to close while in turn I was caring for my ailing mother. During this time, I received a diagnosis of anxiety and sought help. As someone who has succeeded in the consulting business for more than 30 years, this took some time for me to explore and come to terms with. Instead of seeing my diagnosis as a challenge, I decided to use it to help others by being open about my own life experience. Whether you have been formally diagnosed or not, we are all human and at some point, have suffered from anxiety. It is natural.
I have written about and presented my story of living with anxiety for several reasons but the most important is to de-stigmatize mental health issues in the workplace with the hopes that others would feel comfortable in disclosing their challenges — and getting the help and support they need. Research has shown there is a hidden cost associated with not disclosing health issues — it creates more stress where individuals must try to compensate or hide, impacting productivity, engagement, and well-being.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
Given the nature of my work, a lot of what I do is confidential, but I can tell you what I love most is that my work centers around helping organizations reimagine their work, workforce, and workplaces to meet today’s rapidly changing world. I work with Boards of Directors, CEOs, CHROs and other members of senior leadership to deliver large scale transformations fueled by purpose, which includes dedication to responsible leadership, sustainability and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Fantastic. Let’s now shift to our discussion about inclusion. Can you tell our readers a bit about your experience working with initiatives to promote Diversity and Inclusion? Can you share a story with us?
Because of family members with disabilities and my personal experience combined with my work with the National Organization on Disability (NOD), I am a passionate advocate for disability rights and inclusion. Currently, I am working with several Accenture clients, a major retailer, a software platform and a well-known oil and gas company, to formalize and embed their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion across their enterprises. As a sponsor of Accenture’s New York Disability ERG, we run panels on disclosure, cook up wayfinding experiments with Spot, our robot dog and engage with our Accessibility Center to help Accenture be a leader in solving for disability inclusion.
Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for a business or organization to have an inclusive work culture?
There is a real return on investment (ROI) when you have a workplace and culture that actively works to create inclusion, diversity and equity for all. Our Accenture study, Getting to Equal revealed that companies that embrace best practices for employing and supporting more persons with disabilities in their workforce have outperformed their peers. Organizations that proactively hire those with disabilities and have well-developed disability inclusion practices were found to have double the net income, 28 percent higher revenue, and 30 percent higher economic profit margins over a four-year period. Some studies suggest that people with disabilities and their families have over $8 trillion in spending power. Disability inclusion is not merely a social issue or a philanthropy issue, it is a business issue with a hard ROI. Speaking of the current labor shortage, there are millions of people around the world who can and want to work but struggle to get hired because of systemic barriers to technology, accessibility, culture and practice.
The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what this looks like in practice? What exactly are reasonable accommodations? Can you please share a few examples?
I read a great article written in the Stanford Social Innovation Review called The Curb-Cut Effect which talks about how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ushered in the era of city sidewalks with ramps so that a person using a wheelchair can get around on their own. Low and behold curb cuts helped everyone, the elderly with bad knees, parents with strollers, delivery people, skateboarders, etc. JAN, the Job Accommodation Network, found that the average cost of a reasonable accommodation is just $500! It’s not always that easy. Putting an effective accommodation practice into place involves multiple stakeholders inside and outside the organization. Inside the organization it takes a team of people across talent management, facilities design, legal and technology to create an accommodating workplace. Outside of the office, you need the support of policy makers, advocates and academics.
Aside from what is legally required, what are some best practices that can make a business place feel more welcoming and inclusive of people with disabilities?
Accenture’s new office at One Manhattan West was built for all types of abilities — physical, mental and cognitive. It’s a thing of beauty and inclusion. Here are few examples: we have quiet rooms for people who may need a few less people around them; all our desks are standing desks with little treadmills or wobble boards; our accessibility center offers a range of assistive devices for sight or hearing or otherwise impaired individuals. At the end of the day, it’s all about creating a real sense of belonging. Diversity makes companies smarter and more innovative, and, in turn, it is a magnet for the very best talent — people with the best skills and expertise who feel empowered to contribute to fulfilling the mission of the company.
Change starts at the top, from the board of directors to the C-Suite to senior leadership, and must go beyond the workplace and include hard actions such as requiring a certain percentage of people with disability in candidate slots, it requires training to foster understanding and awareness of how to interact with people with different abilities and it requires a culture of tolerance, kindness and support.
Can you share a few examples of ideas that were implemented at your workplace to help promote disability inclusion? Can you share with us how the work culture was impacted as a result?
Worldwide there are over one billion people who have some form of a disability — both physical and mental — in which 75% of these disabilities are invisible. At Accenture, we’ve modified our offices and equipment using technology and AI to support our people with disabilities. We use technologies such as natural language processing, computer vision, and other applications that extend human capabilities by sensing, comprehending, acting, and learning, thereby allowing people to achieve much more than they could on their own.
This is our signature question that we ask in many of our interviews.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started My Career”?
- J(Joy)OMO over F(Fear)OMO — you don’t have to be at every table if you are delivering value and impact.
- It’s okay to disconnect to re-connect in a better way, be it for an hour, a day, a month or more.
- Prioritizing my own well being.
- Be yourself, everyone else is taken (Oscar Wilde).
- Treat your peers just like you would treat yourself (and your clients).
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story about how that was relevant in your own life?
“Whatever you choose to do, leave tracks… don’t do it just for yourself…leave the world a little better for you having lived.” — Ruth Bader Ginsberg
If we have learned anything over the last couple of years, it is the importance of developing a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace in which people feel a sense of belonging and are left net better off by their employers, as described in Accenture’s Care to Do Better research. There are still too many people who mask their disabilities, which over time is exhausting for the individual and costs the organization in lost engagement, productivity and wellbeing.
Does anyone really want to live in a world or work in a place that is standard and uniform? I certainly don’t. My colleagues and I want to continually create and celebrate an environment that is vibrant and diverse across every dimension. Because that will make us better — as individuals, as a company and as a society.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
An issue that concerns me most is senseless gun violence. It is out-of-control and needs to be addressed now. I recently reached out to be a volunteer, advocate and supporter of the March for Our Lives organization, which was founded by the survivors of the school shooting in Florida at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school. I want to help the movement drive change by getting to the number one motivator — money.
We need to put pressure on corporations and elected officials to make a difference. There are solutions, but currently in our gridlocked, partisan government, elected officials are blocking change. I believe that we as a corporation and as corporate citizens should not give money to any politician or political group until they promise to be a part of creating change through action, legislation and measurable results.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
- I am active on LinkedIn and I don’t just post others’ research. I share stories that are both my own as well as those of others who are making an impact to change our world.
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbaraspitzer
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!