Ensuring a Positive Work Environment For Employees With Disabilities
The above picture shows 3 people working on their laptops at their respective workstations with a man and a woman looking at each other and smiling. Image Source: Pexels
Employees with disabilities are a valuable
part of any organization. Like their peers, they have significant skills to
bring to any project they’re a part of. Not to mention that the challenges they
live with offer them unique perspectives and often a sense of resilience.
This makes it more than a legal and ethical
imperative to support employees with diverse needs. When your company takes the
time to ensure a positive work environment for employees with disabilities,
everyone stands to benefit.
We’re going to explore just a few of the ways
you can create the type of workplace that employees with disabilities want to
continue being a key part of.
Regularly
Assess the Workplace
Some businesses pride themselves on opening a
workplace that is inclusive. However, it’s important to recognize that
accessibility isn’t a one-and-done activity. Needs and circumstances evolve
over time, as will your workforce. Therefore, to ensure a positive work
environment for employees with disabilities, you must commit to regular
assessments.
This starts with arranging company-wide workplace safety inspections.
Plan well in advance for this assessment, mapping out every component that
should be inspected and the resources you’ll need. Communicate with your
employees about when inspections will take place and that these are intended to
ensure employee safety. Importantly, make certain that you design inspections
to consider hazards for people with a range of challenges and abilities. This
can send a message to employees with disabilities that you’re committed to
keeping them safe.
It’s also wise to schedule regular
accessibility assessments. Work with consultants who have a background in addressing
a variety of accessibility challenges. Don’t just consider physical
disabilities but also the needs of people with neurodivergent traits and mental
illnesses. It’s vital that you arrange for assessments of the digital aspects
of your workplace as well.
Minimize
the Unnecessary Mental Load
There are few jobs that don’t have at least a
little stress associated with them. However, when this goes beyond reasonable
levels, there are significant consequences. Alongside the mental health impact,
excessive stress is known to take a physical toll on the
body. It can trigger hormonal activity that leads to heart
palpitations. There may also be long-term effects, like cardiovascular disease,
high blood pressure, and a weakened immune system.
This makes it particularly important to
prioritize the psychological safety of employees who are
already living with disabilities. The last thing you want is to run operations
in ways that exacerbate their wellness challenges or trigger difficulties.
Some of the elements you can use to achieve
this include:
●
Mental health resources: While stress isn’t
entirely unavoidable, you can ensure your staff has the resources to manage it.
This may include subsidized access to telehealth therapy, even during working
hours. Wherever possible, provide therapists who have experience with assisting
people living with disabilities. Training on stress management techniques can
be valuable, too.
●
Open communication channels: Sometimes, the
most useful tool in minimizing the mental load of a workplace is for employees
to know they can seek help from leadership. Make it clear that yours is a
judgment-free workplace and that employees can approach managers when they feel
the workload is too much. Make sure the response is solutions-oriented and
employees get the help they need.
It’s also wise to be realistic about what your
company expects of its staff. Certainly, keeping your expectations of employees with disabilities high
shows a respectful level of confidence in their skills. Yet, you should be
mindful about overloading them with more work than is sustainable for a single
person.
You need to strike a balance here. Your human
resources (HR) department should regularly connect with team supervisors to
monitor working levels. This enables you to adopt proactive hiring practices
that mitigate unfair levels of pressure that disrupt the mental wellness of
staff with disabilities.
Keep
Employees with Disabilities Involved
Putting a range of generally accepted
accessibility measures in place is a good start. That said, the key to creating
a more positive work environment for employees with disabilities is
empowerment. Be open to giving your employees the tools they need to make a
safe space for themselves and others who may be facing similar challenges.
This begins by accepting that you’re likely
not to have nuanced knowledge of all disabilities. Be active in involving your
workforce in making improvements to your business environment. You could create
a task group composed of a diverse range of employees. This group could be
responsible for identifying and designing improvements that result in a more
inclusive culture. Make sure this team has a budget that gives them the agency
to make meaningful changes. Reward their participation, too, with bonuses and
paths to progression.
Additionally, accessibility should be a key
part of your regular employee engagement surveys. Don’t just ask quantitative
questions where they assign a score to how supported they feel. Use qualitative
questions that invite detailed responses about what isn’t working for them at
the moment or which benefits may be more impactful. This
gives you actionable information led by people who have genuine and relevant
insights into the issues.
Conclusion
A positive work environment for employees with
disabilities is one that empowers them to thrive. Your business needs to commit
to regular accessibility assessments and stress reduction measures. Perhaps
most importantly, you must involve a diverse range of employees in driving
improvements. Bear in mind, though, that positive workplaces must go beyond the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines. Meaningful investment in a
holistically supportive culture will be the key to maximizing the experience
for employees, the business, and consumers alike.