Today, it’s important that every workplace has policies in place to ensure disabled employees are welcome and included in the workplace environment. When they’re not supported and don’t have the infrastructure in place to help them adapt to their new workplace, they’ll be more likely to be unsatisfied in their role and move on faster. So here’s more about the factors that matter most when helping disabled employees adapt to a new workplace environment.
Making All Parts of the Workplace Accessible
It’s obviously important that employees can actually get around the workplace and find it accessible. If it’s a struggle to even reach their desk in the morning, that’s a sign that the workplace is not as accessible as it should be and that it’s falling short. So ensure that there’s wheelchair access in place and all parts of the business are as accessible as they should be.
A More Flexible Approach to Working
It might be the case that someone with medical conditions might need to attempt doctor’s appointments and things like that. Of course, this can apply to able-bodied and disabled people alike, and that’s why it makes sense to allow a more flexible approach to working throughout your business. That way, people can balance their work with their other important priorities in life.
Adaptations to Equipment and Furniture
If you don’t have furniture or basic equipment in place that’s wheelchair-friendly, you might want to take a look at that. There are plenty of modern office furniture solutions that work for everyone, whether they have disabilities or not. And if you want to make the workplace more inclusive and accessible, those are the kinds of furniture solutions you should probably opt for. If an employee has particular requirements when it comes to office equipment such as keyboards and mice, you should try to accommodate those needs too.
The Right Technology
Technology makes working processes faster and smoother, and that goes for everybody, not just people with disabilities. As a result, it can be even more impactful for people who have disabilities and who might struggle with certain tasks. Automating processes and supporting your entire workforce with the right technology, therefore, makes sense. Whether that means investing in a new credit card terminal for customer interactions or software to automate repetitive tasks.
Training for Inclusivity
Training for issues such as inclusivity is something that you’ll definitely want to do as well. When you do that, you can make sure that your team understands how to help and respond to the introduction of disabled employees to the workplace. And you can root out any examples of unconscious bias that might exist in the workplace at the moment.
There are many factors that matter when it comes to making sure that employees with disabilities are able to feel welcome and included in a workplace environment. Unfortunately, lots of workplaces are still not ticking all of these boxes, so there’s plenty of work that needs to be done.