User Guide

• What is the goal of the Framework and how is it structured?
  General users

  The Widening Inclusion of Disability in Employment or WIDE Framework supports organisations to hire, retain, and promote more disabled people and create a more inclusive workplace.

  The Framework consists of 6 Domains, each one featuring a number of “Areas of Effort” containing related “Actions”.

  • Domain 1 – Policy and Strategy
  • Domain 2 – Environment
  • Domain 3 – Training and Development
  • Domain 4 – Recruitment and Selection
  • Domain 5 – Workplace Supports
  • Domain 6 – Performance and Progression

  In total, there are 6 Domains, broken into 16 Areas of Effort and 53 Actions. Every Action comes with practical guidance, resources, and links to relevant legislation.

  This interactive, feature-packed WIDE platform and self-review tool is designed to be a road map to an inclusive workplace for organisations who want to systematically improve in this area. But the framework can also serve as a place for employers to dip into for specific guidance on a particular area of disability-inclusion in the workplace as they need it.

• What other features does the platform have and do I need an account?
  General users

  The platform is designed to be used in different ways by employers of different sizes. Some smaller employers for example will simply wish to dip in to get guidance on specific topics, while others will sign up for an account and use the organisational self-review tools to systematically evaluate themselves against all 53 Actions.

  Without setting up an individual account or organisational profile, anyone can access:

  • The 53 Actions that make up the framework, including the practical guidance, supporting resources, and links to relevant legislation that accompany them.
  • The WIDE Library of external resources, and the Supplier Directory where you can find suppliers providing services on the island of Ireland which support a disability-inclusive workplace.
  • A quick guide to key related pieces of legislation.

  If you are an organisation with a base on the island of Ireland, and you set up a free account and organisational profile, you can also access the suite of self-review features including:

  • Ability to invite colleagues to join the organisational profile and contribute to your WIDE Review.
  • Permission settings to distinguish between company Administrators (full control) and Reviewers (can see summary data and only edit Action scores they are assigned to).
  • Action review assignment to individual Reviewers who use the self-scoring tool to measure your current performance against each Action, provide a rationale for the given score, and suggest how the organisation can improve the score.
  • An Organisational Dashboard to control the review process, view progress on the review, see scoring across the Actions and get summary insights on areas of strength and improvement.
• I want to use the self-review tools to review my organisation – can you give me some tips to get started?
  General users

  Here are some top tips on how to effectively utilise the WIDE Framework and its self-review tools.

  1. Try to live the concept of ‘Inclusion is Everyone’s Business.’ That means that the review process should be collaborative. Looking at the Domains in the framework, think about who you might need to get involved (see Who Should Be Involved below) to meaningfully engage in a review. It is useful to create a working group of the individuals in your organisation who have a role to play in the review process and ask each to reflect on their role in the review process.
  2. Don’t sweat the scores – this is a self-review tool designed to encourage meaningful reflection and greater engagement by key functions in your organisation in the area of disability-inclusion. The self-review scoring method is not scientific and that is not the point. The rationale for your scoring, and the ideas you present to improve your performance against the Action, alongside the discussion this generates, are more important than the score itself.
  3. The review will take time – don’t rush it. We consider this a disability-inclusion governance tool, and to make the review meaningful, people will need time to gather and input information. Setting tight deadlines will only diminish the quality of the outcomes and result in less buy-in on the topic from colleagues involved. Be sure to schedule check-in conversations with colleagues involved, as this inter-departmental engagement on the topic will pay dividends.
  4. Periodically review – inclusion is a process, not a destination. The purpose of this framework/tool is to help you reflect as an organisation and identify areas for improvement. It is useful to think of periodically coming back to the tool to update the scoring and reflect on progress made and areas still to address.
• Who should be involved in the WIDE review process?
  General users

  This is very much dependent on the size and structure of your organisation. In small organisations, 2-3 people might take responsibility for the entire review as they will have responsibility over more areas of the business. In larger organisations, the Review Team you put together might need to be significantly larger.

  For example, the Environment Domain contains Actions regarding the physical workplace and the digital systems in your organisation. In smaller organisations, a CEO or Operations Manager might have the knowledge and information required to input and take action on this, whereas in larger organisations, you might require input from people in positions such as a Head of IT, Head of Facilities and/or Head of Estates.

  Depending on your size and scope, to meaningfully engage in the review process, you might need to get colleagues with senior responsibilities in the following areas involved:

  • Human Resources
  • Organisational Strategy
  • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
  • Estates/Facilities/Building Management
  • IT Services
  • Procurement
  • Learning and Development
  • Leads of Large Departments

  It is useful to create a working group of the individuals in your organisation who have a role to play in the review process and ask each to reflect on their role in the review process. Communication within this group can be assisted by setting up a shared communication channel such as a WhatsApp group or Teams channel.

  When you are ready to proceed, the coordinator of the process should set up an account and an organisational profile to begin.

• How do I set up an account and an organisational profile?
  General users

  Once you have gotten your team together and are ready to get started, the coordinator of the process should:

  1. Register for an individual account – Note that an individual account is only beneficial when it is connected to an organisation profile, and individuals can only be linked to one organisation.
  2. Create an Organisational Profile – Once you have created an individual account, you will have the option of creating an organisation. Input the details requested including your organisation name, industry, size, and type. Note that these features are only available to organisations on the island of Ireland, and so you will be required to verify this by inputting a postcode for your HQ on the island.
  3. Invite colleagues in your group to join the company profile as fellow Administrators or Reviewers as appropriate.

  See below for details on how these various actions are done.

• What is the difference between a WIDE Administrator and a WIDE Reviewer?
  General users

  It is important to understand the difference between Administrators and Reviewers when organising your WIDE Review. Here is the difference:

  • Administrator: Admins have full permissions – they can edit/review all Actions (regardless of whether they are formally assigned to them), invite or remove people to/from the organisation profile (including other Admins), and assign Reviewers to particular Actions.
  • Reviewer: Reviewers are assigned by Admins to review particular Actions (by themselves or with others). They can see who else is involved and access the overall company scoring but cannot add/remove people or edit Actions not assigned to them.
• How do I invite others to join my organisational review?
  Logged in Administrators

  To invite colleagues into the review process, take the following steps:

  1. Go to the ‘Organisation Profile’ page, in the bar just below the main navigation.
  2. In the ‘Invite Reviewers’ pane (bottom left), enter the email addresses of colleagues you wish to invite to join the organisation profile.
  3. They will receive an email inviting them to join the organisation’s WIDE review, and the link in the email will bring them to the individual registration page.
  4. Once they register, their individual account will be automatically associated with your organisation profile.
  5. After they have registered, as a company Admin you can promote them from Reviewer to Administrator or demote them from Administrator to Reviewer as required.

  Note that in small organisations with a close trusted working group of 2 or 3, those working on the process might decide that it is beneficial to assign everyone Admin status so that control is shared and not much time is spent assigning particular individuals to particular Actions.

  In larger organisations it is more sensible to have a core group of Administrators who decide which colleagues have responsibility as Reviewers for which Actions and assigning them accordingly.

• How do I assign Reviewers to review an Action and control the review process (WIDE Dashboard)?
  Logged in Administrators

  To assign Reviewers to review particular Actions, you must visit the ‘Dashboard’ (found on the bar just below the main navigation) – your control centre for the review process. To assign individuals to review Actions across the framework:

  1. Scroll down the page to the Domain bars and open out the dropdown menus so you can see the Areas and Actions in the Domain.
  2. To the right of each Action in the ‘Reviewer(s) assigned’ field, you will see a list of colleagues associated with your organisation, each with tick boxes to their names.
  3. In this area, simply tick the colleagues you want to assign responsibility to for the review of each Action, ensuring colleagues are assigned to review Actions related to their roles and responsibilities. You can assign multiple people to contribute to the review of single Actions if you wish.
  4. Since we opted not to bombard users with notifications every time they were assigned an Action, once you’ve assigned all Actions, it’s important to notify your colleagues to visit the Dashboard and check which Actions they have been assigned to review, and to get started. On the Reviewer view of the Dashboard, Reviewers can see (but not edit) which colleagues have been assigned to review which Actions, and their own names are bolded so they can easily spot their assignments.
• How do I see which Actions I have been assigned to Review?
  Logged in Reviewers

  Once the organisational Admin has gone through the list of Actions and assigned colleagues to review them, you should visit the ‘Dashboard’ – your organisation’s control centre for the review process.

  To see which Actions across the framework you have been assigned to review:

  1. Visit the ‘Dashboard’ (found on the bar just below the main navigation).
  2. Scroll down the page to the Domain bars and open out the dropdown menus so you can see the Areas and Actions in the Domain.
  3. To the right of each Action in the ‘Reviewer(s) assigned’ field, you will see a list of colleagues associated with your organisation assigned to review each Action. Note that the Administrator can assign multiple people to contribute to the review of single Actions if deemed necessary.
  4. Since we opted not to bombard users with notifications every time they were assigned an Action, once you’ve assigned all Actions, it’s important to notify your colleagues to read this user guide, visit the Dashboard and check which Actions they have been assigned to review.
  5. Note: On the Reviewer view of the Dashboard, Reviewers can see (but not edit) which colleagues have been assigned to review which Actions, and their own names are bolded so they can easily spot their assignments.
• Logged in Reviewers
  

  Once you have been assigned to review an Action, here is the steps you should take:

  1. When logged in, visit the Action page in question – this can be accessed through the main website navigation (Framework>Domain>Action) or by clicking the Action title in the Dashboard view.
  2. Spend some time reading the Action guidance and examining the ‘Key Indicators of Progress’ below the guidance.
  3. Go to the review window below the Key Indicators of Progress pane at the bottom of the Action page. Here you can find:
     • Review Information pane: See who else (if anyone) has been assigned to contribute and get quick access back to the Dashboard.
     • A scoring scale: You must self-score against the scale from 1 (Initiating the Action) to 4 (Action is Established) – use the drop down below the scores to get more information on what each score means and help you to decide where your organisation is at in relation to the Action guidance/Key Indicators.
     • An area to provide evidence/rationale for the score given so your colleagues can understand your thinking and gain awareness of what is and is not in place already e.g. I scored 3 because we have X policy in place, but it is newly established and not yet well embedded.
     • An area to suggest changes/initiatives to take to move your organisation up the scoring scale and improve your practice.
  4. You may or may not already have the information you need to score yourself against the Action/Indicators and complete the review of the Action. Regardless, press the Save button to ensure your changes are saved each time you edit/add content.
  5. Final step – when you are satisfied and fully happy that your review of the Action is complete, tick the box marked ‘Is your review of this action complete?’ followed by ‘Save’ to change the review status to Complete. This ensures your Admin can see the completed status indicator on the Dashboard and count the score as final.
• What else is the WIDE Dashboard for?
  Administrators and Reviewers

  The Dashboard gives both Admins and Reviewers a comprehensive overview of:

  • Progress in the Review process – with Review Status icons indicating which Actions are complete (meaning scores are finalised), and which remain incomplete/in draft. Note that if an Action score has a grey background, it visually indicates that a score has been entered and saved in draft but not yet marked as fully complete. If an Area/Domain score has a grey background, the score shown is an average of the submitted scores to date, but the grey denotes that some Actions within are not yet marked as complete.
  • Scoring across each Action , and summary of Area and Domain average scores. Note that if an Action score has a grey background, it visually indicates that a score has been entered and saved in draft, but the Action is not yet marked as fully complete. If an Area/Domain score has a grey background, the score shown is an average of the submitted scores to date, but the grey denotes that some actions within are not yet marked as complete.
  • Insights at a glance located at the top of the Dashboard which include:
    • Your WIDE Score – a score out of 24 calculated as the sum of the 6 Domain scores – themselves averages of the Area of Effort scores within each Domain. This score is particularly useful for comparison over time.
    • Your Radar Chart – which visually highlights which Domains you are performing best in, and where you have most room to improve.
    • Your Top/Lowest Areas of Effort, highlighting where you are strongest and where the most energy/resources are required for improvement.
• I am a Supplier – can I add my organisation to the Supplier Directory?
  General Users

  Yes. If you are a Supplier providing services/products related to disability inclusion in the workplace on the island of Ireland, you can apply to be included.

  Visit the Supplier Directory and scroll to the bottom of the page to submit your entry for consideration and we will review it within 60 days. If your organisation is deemed to be a legitimate entity, providing services related to workplace inclusion to businesses on the island of Ireland, we will add your organisation to the Supplier Directory after the review process.

  At this moment, no automated email is sent following the addition of suppliers, so please be sure to check the library in 60 days to see if your organisation has been added.

• Can I propose a resource to be added to the WIDE Resource Library?
  General Users

  Yes. If your organisation has produced a resource that might support the implementation of the WIDE framework, you can submit it for consideration.

  Visit the Resource Library and scroll to the bottom of the page to submit your entry for consideration.

  We will aim to review the submitted resource within 60 days. If it is deemed appropriate, accessible, and of sufficient quality, as well as ensuring it does not overly duplicate the function of existing resources in the library, we will add it to the Library after the review process. At this moment, no automated email is sent following the addition of resources, so please be sure to check the library in 60 days to see if your resource has been added.

Explore the framework