PODIUM PLACE

BY ROSALIND TULLOCH

The unavoidable shift to home working that the country has experienced over the last few weeks, has had a positive effect on the way employers and businesses see flexible working situations. It has firmly cemented that working from home is a viable option, that working flexible hours is a realistic request and that the need for office-based work is not as important as they once thought.

This in turn opens up a much wider talent pool of potential employees to businesses, and allows employers to focus more on a candidate’s skill set, rather than getting hung up on where they need to work from or what hours they need to stick to.

Liz Johnson is the former Paralympic champion behind the disability consultancy The Ability People (TAP). TAP works with companies in the UK to improve the recruitment and retention of disabled talent in order to close the disability employment gap and to educate workforces on inclusivity to help change the culture in the workplace.

Liz has now launched a new jobs platform to empower the disabled community and connect disabled workers to freelance job opportunities. The new website, called Podium, is the UK’s first jobs marketplace designed to cater

for disabled talent.

The platform is unique, free to use and open for freelancers to create profiles, helping to showcase the untapped skill sets of the disabled workforce all in one place. When a disabled freelancer creates their profile they will also be asked to nominate a charity or community organisation that will receive 20% of any fees accrued through the site.

The Podium marketplace allows companies to advertise projects and search for professionals within the community of disabled freelancers who can take on the work. Likewise, freelancers can search for roles which suit their needs and set their rates through bespoke profiles. They can also contact employers directly about available roles, providing increased agency in the job hunting process.

Liz, Paralympian and founder of TAP, comments:

“The mass transition to remote working has finally killed off many of the arguments that have long prevented disabled people from securing meaningful paid work. Namely that businesses couldn’t accommodate someone with a different working style or workplace requirements that deviated from the norm.

“Working remotely has challenged the status quo. Businesses are fundamentally rethinking how they hire and how they operate. It’s proven that, if the majority depend on it, it’s quite possible to cater for a workforce with different needs. Now that we’re beginning to transition out of lockdown, it’s essential that we use this as an opportunity to tackle our shocking track record of disability employment in the UK and embrace a new approach to hiring disabled talent. That’s why we’re launching Podium.

“The disabled community is teeming with untapped talent and skill - all that’s left is to bring it to light. That’s where Podium comes in: connecting hiring managers and disabled freelancers via one, easy to use platform. We believe it has the opportunity to transform how disabled people find jobs and will enable our economy to benefit from the immense contribution this community is poised to provide.”

Adil Ghani, consultant at TAP and disability campaigner, comments:

“Podium puts the power back into the hands of disabled people when it comes to job hunting. Too often in the past I’ve found that the onus is on us to try to accommodate the employer’s needs, rather than the other way around. What’s so important about this platform is that it recognises the value disabled workers have to offer. It’s not charity, it’s business, and it allows disabled freelancers to work whenever, wherever and however we need to.”

The disabled community is teeming with untapped talent and skill - all that’s left is to bring it to light. That’s where Podium comes in

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