The Enabler Program by Microsoft is a program to increase employability for people with disabilities (PwDs) in the Asia-Pacific region, by partnering with six non-profit organizations (NPOs) and 14 employers for the initial launch in five markets.

The program aims to pioneer disability-inclusive workplaces across the region by removing barriers for a more diverse workforce. Wipro has embarked on the program in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. At Wipro, inclusion has always been about integrating diversity effortlessly into everyday working, and celebrating diverse ideas and experiences at the workplace, guided and supported by our ‘Spirit of Wipro’ values.

We celebrate and learn from diverse ideas, backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. As a company, we’ve been committed to inclusive growth and the latest milestone in this journey has been our partnership with the Microsoft Enabler Program to drive inclusive hiring across Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. This first-of-its-kind initiative will specifically focus on improving accessibility and increasing employability of persons with disabilities (PwD).

Wipro has been hiring employees with disabilities for over a decade now. We’ve built a six-pronged approach for holistic growth of PwDs. These six pillars  include:

1. Career: We offer growth opportunities through role rotation, career mapping, and annual progress tracking.
2. Recruitment: We have partnerships with various NGOs to source candidates. We also offer training for recruiters, alternative methods of assessment, exclusive job fairs, and walk-in interviews to suit the specific needs of this group. Through Winspire, our quarterly hiring drive, we have successfully hired 268 I&D candidates globally.
3. Engagement: We have focussed engagement programmes for PwDs which include town halls, leadership connects, panel discussions, online collaboration sessions, and knowledge sharing through Yammer and the Winclusive community on Twitter. On the last International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we hosted Wipro’s second inclusive walkathon. More than 1,220 Wiproites, across multiple locations, walked the talk and pledged their support for disability inclusion.
4. Accessibility: We’ve made investments in building accessibility and infrastructure such as WCAG 2.0 compliance, digital accessibility trainings to make internal platforms accessible, sign language learning portal, updated versions of the JAWS software (for the visually impaired).
5. Talent transformation: We offer internship opportunities and regularly sponsor events such as the ability fest.
6. Enablement: We create active and targeted communication through sensitisation workshops, opportunities to network and connect beyond their peers at the workplace, and the Disability Forum Connect for PwD employees and their managers. We also have special policies to ensure that communications intended for all employees is easy to read and accessible.

In addition, we have several programs running to improve the overall I&D quotient at Wipro with initiatives focused on gender and ethnic diversity and our commitment to hiring local within the communities that we operate in. At Wipro, we place our talent above everything else to ensure that the best potential in any individual doesn’t go unrecognized.

I encourage you to read more about the Enabler Program here.

I am excited about this inclusive culture we are building in ASEAN and globally, and look forward to your ideas and efforts to make this program a success.

References

ⁱ https://www.pwc.in/assets/pdfs/publications/2016/making-diversity-work-key-trends-and-practices-in-the-indian-it-bpm-industry.pdf