Davos, January 18, 2023: Today at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, the Valuable 500 launches its white paper entitled ‘ESG and Disability Data: A call for inclusive reporting’. Their work on inclusive reporting has been co-funded and developed with two of the Iconic members of the Valuable 500, Allianz, and London Stock Exchange Group, in partnership with Tortoise Media.

Disability inclusion is strikingly absent from standardised key performance indicators, metrics or targets through which organisations measure their impact, performance, and the value they bring to society. The exclusion of disability and related topics such as accessibility from investor-grade environmental, social and governance (ESG) data has far-reaching implications across the landscape of global business because of the sheer size and scale of the population with disabilities.

The Valuable 500 has a critical role to play in setting a precedent for disability inclusion in business and providing a means for companies to be incentivised for their contributions to ending disability exclusion. 22% of companies that are members of the Valuable 500 collective disclosed their workforce representation of disability.

Traditionally, financial KPIs have dominated corporate reports. More recently, we observe rising interest from customers and investors in a more holistic view of companies’ health, including customer satisfaction, stakeholder trust and workforce-metrics. Increased disclosure of non-financial indicators – like the Valuable 500 Disability Inclusion KPIs – drives important corporate change and translates reliably into competitive and financial advantage.

Oliver Bäte, Chief Executive Officer, Allianz

With more than 22 million employees represented in 41 countries across 64 sectors, the reach of the Valuable 500 companies is substantial. By adopting and disclosing against the five KPIs proposed in the white paper, the Valuable 500 companies can provide leadership on disability disclosure, acting as a catalyst for the corporate change we need.

David Schwimmer, Chief Executive Officer, London Stock Exchange Group

We are proud to lead the charge alongside our 500 companies to bring standardised investor grade disability data into the public domain. Recognising that disability performance is topical in ARAs & sustainability reports, investor dialogue, and materiality assessments is central to the role the Valuable 500 plays in setting a precedent for disability inclusion in business. We look forward to tracking and measuring the impact of our 500 strong constituency and catalysing measurable change for disabled employees and consumers alike.

Rhiannon Parker, Chief Innovation Officer, the Valuable 500

 

Disability inclusion can only become a priority for companies and their stakeholders when there is greater visibility of the current state. This report encourages the leaders of the Valuable 500 companies to adopt and disclose against five KPIs, creating a consistent and comparable baseline from which to measure progress on disability inclusion.

The Valuable 500 Disability Inclusion KPIs are centred on the following topics:

●      Workforce Representation;

●      Goals;

●      Training;

●      Employee Resource Groups (ERGs);

●      Digital Accessibility.

 

 

The vision set forth in the white paper can help guide companies on their journey towards more inclusive reporting and is supported by Iconic members of the Valuable 500 including EY (Ernst & Young), Microsoft, Mahindra Group, Salesforce, and Sky. Tortoise Media has committed to incorporating the five KPIs into its Responsibility 100 survey of the FTSE 100. The Responsibility 100 Index.

Microsoft is committed to ongoing and transparent public reporting of disability performance which is a necessary step to addressing the disability divide. We support the Valuable 500’s five disability inclusion KPIs and look forward to the opportunity to work with other Iconic companies to bring harmonized disability data into the mainstream of business performance.

Teresa Hutson, VP of Technology and Corporate Responsibility, Microsoft

 

These processes and initiatives will help amplify the substantial contribution of persons with disabilities and drive the cultural change needed in business. According to Return on Disability, only 4% of businesses are focused on making offerings inclusive of disabled people. Moreover, research shows that minority talent faces promotion barricades just below the Executive rung. Therefore, we need to implement palpable schemes and processes to have influence – empty platitudes regarding disability inclusion within the workplace will no longer suffice.

The Valuable 500 collective is acting and innovating together to design and build a new business system and culture that values the disability community. Far too often people with disabilities are regarded as a monolithic group as opposed to the diverse individuals they are. With an impressive membership of 36 of the FTSE 100 companies, 48 of the Fortune 500 and 28 of Nikkei – and with 70% of its members enjoying a turnover over $1 billion and 52% of those employing over 10,000 people – the Valuable 500 has embarked on its transformation programme of embedding disability inclusion within leadership agendas and radically transforming the business system across the whole supply chain for the benefit of all.

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Notes to Editors

About the Valuable 500 

The Valuable 500 was launched at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in January 2019. Today the Valuable 500 is the largest community of Global CEOs committed to disability inclusion in business.

Since its creation, the Valuable 500 has achieved its initial goal of getting 500 multinational organisations to make a public commitment to disability inclusion in their organisation, igniting a historic global movement for a new age of diversity in business. The Valuable 500 and their global impact partner The Nippon Foundation, will be working closely with the World Economic Forum and International Disability Alliance – bringing together a leading philanthropic organisation with the most prestigious global business network and the voice of the global disability community.

By engaging with the world’s most influential business leaders and brands, the network now has a market cap of over $23 trillion, combined revenues of over $8 trillion and employs a staggering 22 million people worldwide. Its members include 15 global CEOs and companies who will be spearheading the programmes and services to be offered under Phase 2 of the transformation programme.

The Valuable 500 is determined to create a community that supports and empowers its 500 members to systematically transform their businesses, so they include the 1.3 billion people living with disabilities worldwide, thereby unlocking their business, social and economic potential.

We believe that if business takes a lead, society and government will follow. Truly inclusive businesses can build truly inclusive societies.