Title: Internal Communications Manager

Department: Customer & Brand

Joined TAL: May 2023

Living with an often dynamic disability comes with a range of challenges, often requiring flexibility at work. This might be having time for attending medical appointments, but also just to manage my energy and avoid interactions that could lead to me getting sick, like getting approval for more days working from home than the office. At previous organisations, my disability is something that I’ve only disclosed to an immediate manager. Whereas at TAL, over the past 18 months, I’ve felt empowered to be more open about my lived experience as a person with a disability.

When I started at TAL, I already felt confident it was an organisation that cared about its people. But then I heard about the introduction of the Disability and Inclusion Stream. I decided to reach out to the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Manager, I’m now more involved as part of the Working Group.

I was the first person with a disability to join the Working Group. We’re in the beginning stages of setting up a Disability Employee Network and encouraging people with lived experience, whether that’s as a person with disability or as a carer, to join. I know how hard it is to be open. There’s so much potential stigma and barriers to revealing your personal challenges. But I’m so glad that I’ve taken this step for the first time at TAL, as I co-create a safe space for others.

Through my role in internal communications, I’m able to draw on my lived experience to shape how we talk about disability and inclusion and share what we’re trying to achieve with the Working Group. The more we speak about it openly, the more confident people will feel to share their own stories. By raising awareness, we are helping managers and team members gain a better understand of how to approach conversations.

I’ve also helped to shape the guidelines for requesting workplace adjustments, placing more emphasis on the person who is asking for adjustments and how this makes someone feel. My feedback has helped to create a more compassionate approach that focuses more on the individual than the process—something that can often be overlooked in workplace documents and forms.

The way people and society think about disability is changing. A lot more people, including those like me with invisible conditions, are choosing to identify as a person with a disability. At TAL, we’re making sure that this wider perspective of disability is factored into the language we use and creating a workplace where everyone feels supported.

At TAL, we’re making disability and inclusion a year-round conversation, not just something we only talk about on awareness days.

Interested in applying?