BETA worked with the Australian Public Service Commission across two projects to improve communications provided to APS employees about disability information collection.
All government agencies collect employee data, including disability information, in HR systems. The decision to share disability information is a personal one and there are organisational, systemic and personal barriers to doing so.
Guidance materials
We consulted with APS employees with disability and HR professionals, to develop guidance materials for APS HR professionals.
The materials include recommendations for communications about disability data collection.
Email reminders
We designed and tested four different email reminders encouraging APS employees to update their diversity details in their agency HR systems.
An email highlighting the ease of updating HR details was more effective at encouraging employees to update their disability, or other diversity, information compared to the simple control email, and emails based on social and attractiveness principles.
Clear and complete information about data collection and data use can reduce employees’ uncertainty to share their information, while preserving autonomy to decide what is right for themselves.
Highlighting the ease of updating HR details is an effective way to encourage employees to update their details.