Celebrating Disability Blog

Communication in the workplace for disabled people

Disabled employees do not want to be treated ‘differently’ to others.

However, if other members of the team do not understand how best to communicate or an employee with a disability feels inhibited in communicating his or her needs, problems can arise.

There are several ways in which an employee with a disability can be supported to provide a solution. All of the options available will generally include good communication skills as a key element.

The benefits of good communication at work for disabled people: 

  • The advantages of good communication in the workplace about disability issues, are widespread.

  • Businesses, organisations and individuals will all gain from better awareness of needs, and a sense of enlightenment, resulting from the learning experience.

  • By working alongside managers, with their colleagues and employees, to implement positive changes, advice and guidance about best communication around disability can be provided in an uplifting, informative way.

  • Access to a support network of experienced professionals

  • Disability at work coaching, disability mediation and disability awareness training are all great tools to help alleviate mental and physical stress, isolation and lowered time management for disabled people at work

  • Increased levels of self-esteem, confidence, an ability to sustain work at optimum standard and take less time off, are all excellent benefits of having good communication strategies about disability issues, which can be a sensitive topic.

Teamwork spirit

When there is effective communication with a person with disability at work, the emotional support it provides gives a sense of empowerment as well as independence. This helps to create a more inclusive working environment with a more upbeat, diverse and cohesive workforce. Members of an organisation will feel relaxed, working alongside one another in a stronger, united team.

Support for a disabled member of your workforce

You can also discover some of the financial assistance that is available for disability workplace adjustments and adaptations.

By supporting people with a disability in a working environment, it allows them to become more fulfilled at work and feeling at ease. This leads to an atmosphere of contentment for all employees as well as for management. Increased harmony will also transmit to higher staff performance.

A recognised force

As a result, organisations often report increased productivity, and positive customer or public recognition for the company.

There are several ways in which an employee with a disability can be supported. Disability at work coaching is led by trainers with knowledge and experience of disability issues and best working practice.

Ryan Compton – Director of Centre for Resolution

Ryan currently works across the public, private and third sectors, providing coaching, mediation, training and disability support. In its essence Ryan supports organisations in being inclusive, accessible and helps them to maximise performance within individuals and teams. Ryan’s passion and expertise are in communication, equality and diversity and he brings this to those he works with. Centre for Resolution is based in Worcestershire but provides services across the UK. For more information about Centre for Resolution’s disability services please visit their website. They also have a Facebook Group called Everything Disability that you may wish to join, where best practice and knowledge is shared about disability. Email: info@centreforresolution.co.uk Telephone: 01905 21717

Disabled toilets – getting it right for your customers

In this blog: When engaging with disabled people, the strategy and design of your disabled toilet will make a massive difference to your success

Disabled toilets are not only about extra space

Disabled toilet (or accessible toilet – distinction of language can be found at this category).

For many of us who are disabled, the availability and accessibility of public toilets present a daily barrier. You will have heard about the ever growing popularity of Changing Places: a Changing Place is an evolution of an accessible toilet. A place where there are facilities within to support somebody who needs more than the basic facilities when going to the toilet. They provide facilities to get changed, to lie down in order to do so and to move seamlessly from wheelchair to toilet to the changing area.

Small changes

Although not all facilities are yet in a position or have the capability to change their disabled toilet into a Changing Place – accessible toilets are still essential. Along with having these essential facilities for a disabled person to be able to utilise however and whenever they need to, championing these facilities in your venue will help disabled people to understand that they are welcomed and valued. And as we know, when customers feel welcomed and valued, they will return.   Moreability have written an article outlining the regulatory specifications of an accessible toilet as set out in Doc M of UK building regulations.  Below are our 7 top tips for your toilet:

 Disabled toilet facilities: 7 top tips

1. Clear signposting

Roland eloquently discusses the barriers caused by inadequate signage in his interview with me.  Surprisingly, it is not always easy to find the accessible toilet in a venue. Often, they are hidden around the corner or in a non-obvious spot behind the door. This can make it very difficult for a disabled person to locate. Think about your signage. Think about the different forms of signs. Providing visual signage as well as verbal signs can help somebody to quickly and easily locate the toilet.

2. Clear passage to and from

It should seem obvious but accessible toilets are often in hard to get to places; behind several doors, at the far end of the venue, past the chairs and tables in a restaurant and sometimes even at the top of the flight of stairs (yes really). Ensure your accessible toilet is always accessible to get to for those who need it.

3. Ease of entry

Accessible toilets are often locked. The thinking behind this is to prevent a non-disabled person from entering. However, this creates barriers to some people. People with limited dexterity as part of their disability may struggle with keys and locks. Having a locked accessible toilet prevents a person with this impairment being able to access the toilet unaided. A person in this situation must always make somebody aware that they are using the toilet. Therefore taking away entitlement of privacy that others take for granted.

Along the same lines, think about the door. A person in a wheelchair may struggle to open and close the door behind them. Large, heavy doors are especially difficult. With this in mind, the best accessible toilet doors are the ones where there is an automatic entry, lock and exit system. A bit like on trains.

4. The space within

Ensuring that a disabled person has enough space to manoeuvre when inside is imperative. So many accessible toilets are too small on the inside and do not allow for turning space or access to the facilities within. Ensure that all the boxes and other items that we see stored in these accessible toilets are never there. This does not only create a health and safety risk but is completely unwelcoming for any person who goes to use the facilities and is greeted by a box and a vacuum cleaner.

5. Emergency call buttons

Every accessible toilet has them: the facility to call out in an emergency. However, the emergency call button is often not accessible. Often in the top corner of the room or else, in one specific spot. Making it hard to access at the best of times.

The emergency call button must be located in an area where it is accessible to reach for the majority of people. As discussed above this is not often the case. This alone, renders the emergency call button useless; unless a person falls over in a very specific area where the call button just happens to be, it will not be reached anyway.

“A person could shout” I hear you say “and we would hear them”. Imagine a busy restaurant: clattering cutlery, voices, music, glasses, a cocktail/coffee machine. Would you be able to hear somebody calling for help?

6. Help on hand

Not every disabled person has somebody accompanying them for support and as we discovered accessible toilets are not always as they should be. Offering a discrete service to your disabled customers that will put their mind at ease if something happens in the toilet may be an idea. For example, a discreet service where a staff member knows to knock after a certain amount of time (agreed by the disabled person and the person checking). This would also help a disabled person who has problems opening and closing door behind them.

7. Procedure, procedure, procedure

It is so important that you have the correct procedure in place to support somebody who has fallen over or in need of assistance in the accessible toilet. Not only will a procedure reassure a disabled person that your staff are competent to support if anything goes wrong, it will also reassure your staff.

Once you have the procedures in place, don’t forget to communicate them with all current and new staff. Update their awareness of the procedure on a regular basis with refresher training, seminars and talks.

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Disabled Customers – Don’t Ignore Them

The importance of web accessibility to disabled customers

I received an email the other day from a person I met at an exhibition.  We had been talking about how, when attracting disabled customers, how important web accessibility and tone of voice is.  This person was interested in commissioning services of Celebrating Disability to advise on the overall accessibility and engagement of their new website.  However, the email suggested that after thinking about it, they had decided that they did not need their website to be accessible from the very beginning.

Celebrating Disability has been in business for a year now.

When I talk about Celebrating Disability, I am becoming more and more aware that it is quite often not the social impact that helps people to understand why they should be inclusive of disabled customers but the sheer volume of potential custom that being inclusive and aware can bring.

On the surface, this view of people only doing things if they can see something in it for themselves is rather cynical. However, it’s not quite as simple as that: half the time people do not realise the volume of disabled people.

As we know, disability is it more often than not, invisible. Meaning that the disabled customers (including employees, candidates and consumers) that are coming to your business,  will not be easily spotted but will still need adjustments and adaptions in order to participate in, use and access your products and services. The disabled customer who does not have their needs met has also already left to go somewhere else.

91% of customers that are unhappy will never complain but will simply never return. 

Back to the email:

I responded and explained why I felt that this was not the case and that by not making every possible effort to make a website accessible and engaging for disabled customers, they would not only be discriminating but doing their business a dis-service by making it virtually impossible for millions of people to use the business.

If you’d like to discuss the ways your business can attract disabled customers and employees, get in touch.

Disabled person vs. person with… The debate continues

The Context

Over the last few months and throughout my career, there have been many conversations about whether the term “disabled people” should be utilised over the term “people with disabilities”.

Whilst this is a personal choice, most people don’t fully appreciate the differentiation between the two. They therefore believe that it is just a turn of phrase and supports the construction of a sentence.  So, I’ve decided to write an article to put some context to each term.

The social vs medical model of disability

The social model of disability states that disabled people are only disabled because society constructs barriers to prevent complete inclusion. For example;

  • The lack of step free access could prevent a physically disabled person entering a building

  • The lack of access on public transport,​

  • Disproportionate amounts of accessible accommodation for disabled people

  • The lack of fully thought out integration in education meaning disabled people are disempowered at an early age 

So the social model states that in order to compensate for that society needs to change in order for the world to be more equal for disabled people.  The medical model, in direct comparison states; that it is the problem of the disabled individual alone. The impairment is a “problem” that needs to be solved.

However, without the medical model there cannot be a social model: in order for us to recognise that there is a problem surrounding equality and inclusion, we must recognise the impairment.

Back to the debate

Do we use the term disabled person, or do we stick to a more traditional, perhaps outdated term; person with a disability? For those people who still might think that it is just a phrase in a context, try this:

Thinking back to the social model: We said that the social model of disability believes that it is society that stops disabled people from fully participating. If we use the term disabled person in the same light we are recognising through language that the only disability are the barriers constructed within society. “Person with disability” suggests nothing needs to change.

As usual, share your thoughts by getting in touch. Talk to us about how your business can engage disabled people through language.

Harnessing the Experience of Disabled Employees

New Year: New Start

After the New Year, there a many things that people have intentions of doing differently. These are commonly known as New Year Resolutions.  With all the best intentions, many of us will not stick to these much past 31st January. However, one business resolution that could benefit your whole business would be to make your workplace as inclusive as possible for disabled employees.

We have explored in blogs such as: “The Accessible Workplace” and “Does My Business Really Need To Be Accessible?” how to create inclusive workplace environment.  This blog looks at harnessing the experience that already exists in your teams. As you will have no doubt already read several times in Celebrating Disability content, disabled people are in every work environment, whether we are aware of it or not. You may not be aware because an employee has a hidden disability such as mental health or a muscular related impairment. They may not, for many reasons, disclose their disability. You may have physically disabled employees that have more obvious requirements.

The ideas below are general because as we know, what may help one person, may not help another. However, in my experience, the ideas I am offering here have been useful for others in the past.

1. Create disability forums

This is beginning to be quite popular in bigger businesses but they could also work in smaller business. A disability forum can be a place to share good practice and develop inclusion policies across the organisation but they could also be a place where people with similar experiences come together.

Offering a place where disabled employees can talk to people with similar experiences can be incredibly beneficial; if properly structured, people will be able to provide support to one another and advice on how to manage in the workplace should be a natural progression.

Your disability forum can also act out useful resources when developing your disability inclusion strategy.

2.  Experience of managing personal assistants

Disabled employees often manage their own personal assistants in the workplace and in personal lives.  The informal experiences gained from managing employees is invaluable.  Expertise may have been developed in:

  • Time management/shift patterns
  • Conflict resolution
  • Contracts
  • Recruitment
  • Budgets 

3. Out of the box thinking

Many disabled people face a variety of barriers on a daily basis that need to be overcome. The knowledge that is built out from overcoming daily barriers The knowledge that is built out from overcoming daily barriers can you add an advantage in the workplace for approaching a project/challenge in a new way.  These new and diverse ideas can help you to innovate for your clients.

4. Help your employee to plan ahead.

Due to the extra barriers that disabled people may face and some extra support that may be needed, planning ahead can be helpful. An off site meeting or an influx of Friday afternoon customers may mean some prior planning.

Have the conversation with your employee and be as transparent as possible about what is expected of them as early as possible. That way, the employee has all the necessary information to get everything they need to excel.

5. Get feedback.

Don’t be shy to ask your employee for feedback on the support you are offering. You may be right on track, in which case you can use your learning to support others in the future. There may also be other things your employee needs but isn’t confident to ask for.

The 30 day package could help you to plan where to start. Book a chat.

Is the Best Person Getting The Role?

At networking meetings, events and workshops, people ask me about how to make a recruitment process accessible. The dos and don’ts and the application process. I think sometimes these processes can sound a lot more complicated than they actually are. The word “Disability” can prohibit people from thinking outside the box. But a disabled applicant is an applicant like any other. When recruiting, you want to get the best out of your applicants to make sure the candidate you recruit is the best possible person for the role.

Below are 5 top tips for ensuring that the above takes place.

​1. Find out where applicants hang out and go there.

In marketing, it is a well known strategy that in order to get to your target audience and sell them your product/service, you don’t wait for them to find you, you actively search for them. By understanding your audiences characteristics and personalities, you can tailor your sales and marketing strategy to what they can relate to. The same can be said for recruiting. Disabled people are no different. There are several places online where disabled people may research job opportunities. These may be the same but may also differ from your usual advertising efforts. Research these and advertise there.

2. Engaging and transparent job ads.

When I say engaging, I don’t necessarily mean pretty pictures and bright colours – although these can help. What I mean is using language that engages your potential disabled applicants and candidates. Understanding language and tone of voice that helps disabled people feel valued can make all the difference.

Talk about your organisational values, beliefs and mission when it comes to equality and inclusion. Explaining why these are important to you as an organisation.

3. Arranging the interview.

Often, a disabled person may not be confident to tell a potential employer about a disability. This may be due to fear of rejection, discrimination or that they simply do not see it as relevant. Similarly an employer may not know to ask. I would suggest that the employer takes ownership of this. There is nothing worse than a candidate turning up for an interview and finding that they cannot access the building, that there is no hearing loop or that there is a computer provision test for a person who requires assistive technology.

However, asking if somebody is disabled would not be appropriate. An appropriate alternative to this would be:

“Are there any access requirements you would like to make us aware of?”

This way, the candidate has the opportunity to inform you of anything they need without disclosing their disability. A personal example for me as a wheelchair user would be; a room that has step-free access and an accessible toilet.

If possible, offering several possible dates for a candidate to choose from will help ensure that any support that needs to be sorted by the candidate can be arranged in advance. My series of 12 Inclusion Videos take you through these steps.

4. Non-traditional interviewing methods.

The traditional route of interviewing is not always the best for getting the most out of potential candidates. Many organisations have adopted different styles in order to test their candidate’s strengths. This may include psychometric testing or assessment centres.

Whichever method you choose, this should not only reflect the role that is being recruited but also allows for varying disabilities. For example, if you are interviewing an autistic person, asking situational questions may present a challenge but offering them a task based interview may demonstrate what the candidate is capable of.  In her podcast interview, Natalie talks about this.

5. Suggested Dos & Don’ts.

Do                                                                         

  • Be open minded
  • Be empathetic
  • Be as clear as possible

Don’t

  • Ask about workplace adjustments at the interview
  • Make assumptions
  • Change the interview format at the last minute

Making Your Shop Disability Accessible

In This Blog: Making sure that every disabled shopper finds your shop accessible will mean that they stay longer and spend more money. Here are some ways for you to make that happen

Accessible Shopping

Even though they may want to, many disabled people struggle to shop in High Street shops due to a lack of sometimes very basic accessibility. As highlighted in the #PartofMe Podcast, many disabled people would still prefer to shop in High Street outlets. However, they struggle to due to lack of design, awareness, space and sometimes attitude.

The spending power of disabled people is over £250 billion per annum. However many businesses do not understand how to attract disabled people and support them to buy their products. Because of this, the majority of the Purple Pound (the disability spending power) can be spent with a minority of businesses.

With regular disability awareness training and knowledge, businesses can develop the skills required to engage and support disabled people. Examples of awareness development may include: understanding the barriers faced by different impairment groups. With developed awareness a business could confidently develop a customer contact centre that is mindful of the physical limitations brought on by one’s disability.

Barriers to businesses and services can prevent disabled people from feeling confident that a business will meet their needs. A survey carried out by Papworth Trust revealed that the following  are main reasons for disabled customers tending to swap to a business’ competitor:

  • Inaccessible premises
  • Inaccessible websites
  • Poor customer service
  • Lack of awareness
  • Poor communication
  • Inaccessible telephone systems
  • Inaccessible printed information

The survey also suggested that a disabled person would stay with the supplier if the supplier showed willingness and flexibility.

Below are 5 pointers to help you ensure you get your piece of the Purple Pound in 2018:

Shop Website Accessibility

There are many ways that you can make your website accessible for disabled people. These tasks do not have to be long winded. Nor do they have to be arduous or make your website look “boring”. What they will do is say to you disabled customers that they are valued and that you are making an effort to ensure they have a good customer experience.

Developing content that will attract disabled people is also helpful. For example, if you are a gym, you may have clientele who typically use specific gym equipment. A disabled person may not think they can access your equipment. By promoting that other disabled people have used your gym and showing relevant testimonials, you are engaging your disabled audience.

Accessible Customer Service Phone Systems

 With modern technology, customer service phone systems are developed to be intuitive and efficient. However this is not always the case for a disabled person and can cause unnecessary barriers. For example, I cannot use more than one hand at the same time so if I call a contact centre that tells me to press 4 to place an order, this is impossible unless I have someone to support me. The phone systems that require voice instruction are equally as inaccessible for anyone with a speech impairment.

Developing alternative methods for people with access requirements can support a customer to still buy a product from you without much difficulty.

Staff Attitude

In a physical shop, the attitude of your front of house staff is imperative to supporting a disabled person to feel welcomed, supported and willing to buy. Ensure that your staff have disability inclusion training that covers areas such as language and etiquette, disability confidence and a general awareness of the difficulties of moving around a shop floor in a wheelchair. Ensure these, and the above will be a no brainer.

Low Shop Counters

 Now all your staff are trained and equipped with the tools and resources. Ensure that when it is time to make the purchase, all of this hard work is not undone. The shop may have step free access and offer support to any disabled customer but the payment experience should be equally as rewarding. One thing that could ruin this experience is if your disabled customer cannot reach the counter. If possible, consider building a lower counter for a person in a wheelchair to reach. Granted, this is not always possible and in these situations, a demonstrated empathy towards the customer can go a long way. Consider keeping objects behind the counter such as a folder for a customer to lean on when signing and ensure that your card machines can be removed from its holder.

The Shop Floor Plan

All of the above is not relevant if a disabled customer cannot enter your premises. Ensuring that your shop is wheelchair accessible is imperative. If I see a shop that I cannot enter, even if its selling exactly what I want, I will go elsewhere and so will the majority of disabled people.

Once in the shop, ensure that a person in a wheelchair can easily move around and see everything on offer. Do not store items in the accessible changing room and try to have clear access to every part of the shop.

Not sure where to start?

Disability Inclusion Audit

Ensuring your Christmas Party is Inclusive for All

Yes I know…

it’s only October and I’m already dropping the “C” word. Believe me – I’m not happy.  There’s a good reason though and as December is fast approaching, the shops are beginning to stock Christmas Trees and stockings and the bars and restaurants are advertising bookings for Christmas parties, it’s a perfect time to offer you some hints and tips that will ensure your workplace party is inclusive for people in wheelchairs.

It can be all to easy to get excited and carried away with finding the perfect venue, arranging the punch, circulating, then ordering the set menu and organising Secret Santa but in all this confusion, it can be easy to forget to ensure your disabled colleagues can have the same experience as everybody else. 

I have been to many Christmas parties where, although I can get in the building, I cannot get to an accessible loo (or quite often a loo at all), there has been no way to get to the bar and the table legs are so narrow that my wheelchair cannot fit comfortably under.

Now I’m not suggesting that all your venues in the past have been inappropriate but I would like to share some tips that will hopefully help you to ensure your venue is inclusive so that everyone can enjoy the festivities. 

1. Physical accessibility of the venue

This might sound obvious but having an accessible venue is the most important factor. If somebody is a wheelchair user, they will need step free access into the building, around the building and to the accessible loo. I recommend that you confirm the access for yourself as a lot of venues only think of access as far as the room you are ending up in is concerned. Ensuring that there is adequate parking outside the venue is imperative, especially if the venue is of driving distance away from any public access.  

2. Noise and atmosphere

 Imagine a loud venue with lots of music and people.  There may even be a coffee machine or cocktail shaker in the background.  Then imagine that you are sitting on a chair whilst everybody around you is standing.  How much can you hear?  My assumption would be not very much.  This will probably be the case for your guests who are wheelchair users.  This may be tricky but finding a venue that is slightly less crowded with less surround sound will support your guests in a wheelchair to fully interact. If you have any guests with sensory disabilities, anxiety related disabilities or neuro-diverse disabilities, (i.e. autism) they will also struggle with overcrowded, overstimulated situations. 

3. A variable menu selection

By this, I am not suggesting that you have anything ranging from foie gras to crab sticks but a menu that is mindful of dietary requirements. Booking a pizza place and then finding out that you have a guest with coeliac disease will cause some issues. An easy way to get around this is by checking the dietary requirements of your guests before seeking a venue. 

4. Enough space to move

Earlier, we touched on venue accessibility for accessing the building. Another thing to consider is whether your guests in wheelchairs can move around the space once in it. Rustic floor tiles, whilst looking authentically old can cause problems for wheelchair wheels.

If there is not enough space for your wheelchair user guest to move around, they are stuck with whichever guests are nearest – and vice-versa. Many a time I have been stuck at the dud end of the table and not been able to move. Ensuring that a person in a wheelchair can fit comfortably under the table will also improve their experience and support them to feel included in conversations. 

The 30 day consultancy audit will support you, your department or your business to ensure any events you put on are accessible for all. To find out more, visit our consultancy page or get in touch

Celebrating Disability Training Style

I’ve spoken to and witnessed many training styles over the years. Being a participant in training and seminar events has opened my eyes to different styles and models that a trainer can use to deliver a message to the people in the room. As a self confessed impatient person, I need constant stimulation from the people around me to keep me focused and engaged in the room.

Of course this is easier when I am receiving information about a subject that I am interested in but this is not always possible. As a business owner and a general professional, it is not always possible to only attend the events that excite me. I, my PAs and hazarding a guess, you, have to attend events on a regular basis that are necessary to our role but not always exciting. These can be meetings, CPDs, conferences, learning and development sessions to name just a few.

Due to my experience and knowledge of myself, I have tried to develop a training style that takes into account all of the above. Because, although disability equality/awareness fills me with excitement and joy, I do have to submit to the fact that it will not do this for everyone.

So what do I do to ensure that people in my training sessions have a good time and can leave the room with some useful information and ideas to implement?  I have a clear understanding of why I train as I do.  Below are my 5 rules for a successful training session:

1.  Minimal PowerPoint

As I mentioned before, I am impatient and have a low attention span so, for a start I try to avoid too much PowerPoint presentation.  It is useful however to use some PowerPoint.  Feedback from participants has led me to understand that it can be helpful to have slides to embed information. For example, using slides to embed facts can help. (It also helps me to remember where I am without constantly having to look at my agenda).

 2.  Discussion and debate

My sessions concentrate heavily on “soft skills”. By this I mean the skills utilised to engage, value and support people. Due to this, I encourage all participants to challenge themselves and each other. I don’t mean being argumentative. I would not encourage anyone to negatively confront or do anything to make another person feel uncomfortable. By creating an environment where people can be open and honest with each other, they can discuss thoughts and perceptions in a safe, supportive environment.

3.  Activity and exercise

I think this is my favourite part. Mainly because its fun. The games I create are designed to be informative. Going back to my low attention span, I believe that we learn when we are enjoying ourselves and it doesn’t seem as though we are straining ourselves. It is also another good opportunity to learn from each other so participants have a break from listening to me but they can lean on each other to find the answers.

 4.  Group work

This almost echoes the above. Its an opportunity for participants to learn from each other but on top of this, if I ask a question that is touching on a subject that hasn’t been covered before, it gives people in the room the opportunity to think about the answers in a non confronting setting. Sometimes it can seem confronting to be asked a question in a wider group. It is easier to explore the answers with a small group of people where the discussion can happen away from the facilitator who is perceived to know all the answers. At the end of any group work session, if appropriate, feedback will be shared with the group as a whole for everybody to gain the knowledge.

5.  Individual reflection

It is all very well for learning to happen in the training room. But as we all know, when we go back to the office, priorities return to what is facing us at that moment meaning any learning is buried in everyday work. Having five minutes at the end of a training session to individually reflect on one’s own progress and set personal goals to implement is crucial. These goals will then be gathered up by me and sent to participants a few days after the session as a reminder and to keep the learning fresh.

Obviously every training session must be adapted to the group learning outcomes and styles. To discuss your training needs and goals in the area of disability awareness and inclusion and to start creating your disability inclusive workplace, get in touch or book a chat with Esi

Flexible Working – Thinking Outside The Box

The Business Case

Many employers and managers miss out on having a diverse and experienced workforce because they don’t understand the potential benefits that come from hiring a part-time employee or one with a flexible working pattern.
 

These are just a few of the comments that can be heard when people are talking about part-time employees and workers. Many employers believe that staff members can only be productive if they’re working between the hours of 9 – 5 with a 30 minute break at lunchtime. For many employees this is impractical and nearly impossible. A few reasons preventing a potential employee from working conventional hours may include:

  • Having children

  • Caring for a family member or friend

  • Approaching retirement age and wanting to wind down

  • Barriers faced by public transport preventing people from reaching the workplace for a conventional time

  • Having a disability

In this blog I will concentrate predominately on disability. However, the points that I will cover can be utilised amongst the rest of your workforce.

 

Flexible working patterns.

As well as offering physical and emotional support to an employee in the workplace, employers also have an opportunity to offer flexible working patterns in environments that are accessible to the individual. For example, an employee with back related issues may not be able to sit at a desk for long amounts of time due to pain. Therefore, the workplace may offer the person the flexibility to move around the office whenever necessary.

A person with an anxiety related disability may struggle to travel in rush hour therefore they may be offered the opportunity to start and finish an hour later.  In particularly busy times of the year, they may be allowed to work from home.  It may be as simple as offering somebody the ability to wear headphones in the workplace in order for them to cancel out noise. An employee with a physical disability may be limited to some extent by the support they rely on to carry out their role; I rely on such support and if my PA is ill, I cannot go to work.  An employer or manager may negotiate with the employee the ability to work from home or extend deadlines in the event of such occasions.

Part time workers.

Just like above, the barriers faced by disabled people may prevent an individual from being able to work full time.  These barriers may be caused by fatigue, lack of outside support, lack of transportation or barriers caused by physical disabilities to name just a few.  This however does not prevent a person from being a valuable member of a workplace.  By working part-time, an employer can still utilise the experience and skills of the employee. As above, part-time workers do not necessarily equal conventional hours. The part-time hours negotiated can be unique to the job role and what an employer agrees upon.

It is always advisable to talk to your existing and potential employees about their individual needs. Like everyone, no two disabled people’s needs will be identical therefore constant communication should always be the priority. Without the right support, an individual can struggle to achieve so always try to create an open environment.

#PartofMe talks to disabled people who have overcome such barriers. Hear advise they offer to line managers and other disabled people.

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