Robert M. Hensel, a Guinness World Records holder for the longest non-stop wheelie in a wheelchair, famously said, “We, the one’s who are challenged, need to be heard. To be seen not as a disability, but as a person who has, and will continue to bloom. To be seen not only as a handicap, but as a well intact human being.” When we focus on someone’s disability, we overlook their abilities, beauty and uniqueness. Through this arrogant and biased approach we become the actual losers, ignorantly wasting much of the gifted human resource. Once our own disabled approach learns to accept and love them for who they are, we subconsciously learn to love ourselves and our work unconditionally. The best example that supports this point is of Dimitri Kanevsky, a Russian genius, who in spite of having hearing impairment developed IBM’s voice recognition product in ‘70s. It is a USD 5 million business for IBM today, growing at 22 per cent on an industry level.
To quote Fred Rogers, “Part of the problem with the word ‘disabilities’ is that it immediately suggests an inability to see or hear or walk or do other things that many of us take for granted. But what of people who cannot feel? Or talk about their feelings? Or manage their feelings in constructive ways? What of people who are not able to form close and strong relationships? And people who cannot find fulfilment in their lives or those who have lost hope, who live in disappointment, bitterness and find no joy and love in life? These, it seems to me, are the real disabilities.”
The need, therefore, is to make a corporate commitment to include persons with disabilities and make the workplace disability friendly. But before we do that there are a number of questions that need to be analysed for self-assessment of our approach towards hiring and then retaining the disabled workforce. Is the CEO committed to a disability friendly workplace? Is there a written document to all staff that affirms this commitment? Do corporate policies, procedures and practices specifically mention disability? Do persons with disabilities serve on board? Are workers with disabilities employed at all skill levels in the workforce, including senior management positions? CEO commitment means senior leadership will embrace disability policies and that the organisation will walk the talk. Employers who include disability issues in corporate diversity policies enrich and enhance workplace benefits, which include diverse leadership, innovation, increase in overall morale and the ability to cast a wider recruiting net.
Developing disability friendly strategies for the workplace is essential. Formal and informal support, in the form of schemes, actions, financial benefits or work changes that did not stem from the individual disabled worker, from both inside and outside the workplace becomes important. Along with these we need to remember a few major behavioural aspects, as there is a danger of the disabled person ending up becoming the passive victim of other people’s attitudes. It is strongly believed that disabled people need to empower themselves, for equality is never given; rather it has to be asserted in a way that is positive and not aggressive. This assertiveness usually takes the form of workers raising their demands and sometimes resisting job changes or unwanted developments, including promotions. Empathy is another aspect that is commonly seen among the disabled people, particularly if they are colleagues. Empathy and acceptance of difference is an important part of any workforce. Mutual support and advice are important for all workers, but for disabled workers it is more crucial, as it helps them to keep pace with their daily work
These brief insights into the strategies and support mechanisms which allow disabled people to survive and thrive at work could help to inform and improve employment practice and support strategies. The work context and culture, time spent at the workplace and presence of other disabled workers are all important factors in deciding on how to make the most of work. There is still a long way to go in understanding and responding systematically to disabled workers’ needs. Trade unions or social welfare organisations are seen as the final rather than the first option in seeking support. The support system has to be an individualistic approach that grows into the organisation and eventually becomes its backbone.
Employing people with disability enhances corporate citizenship – integrating people with disability into the workforce is not only ethical for the business but also brings a sense of fairness. To organisations and companies, this showcases their commitment to equity which is an opportunity to brand themselves as good corporate citizens. It means compliance with legal security. Based on any law, it is unlawful to discriminate individuals in employment on disability grounds. There are immense benefits which companies stand to gain by integrating people with disability in their workforce. There are no keywords which can be better used to give insight into the need for including people with disability into the workforce than an old adage ‘disability is not inability’, which underlines the fact that physical limitations is not a constraint to productivity of individuals
