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Like other
employees that you hire, it is in your best interest to maximize the
contribution that your new employees with disabilities can make to your
company - including the duration of their employment with you.
There seems to be some evidence that, in positions that
traditionally have high turnover rates, people with disabilities tend to
remain employed longer than non-disabled employees. For more
professional positions, however, many large companies find retention of
employees with disabilities to be a concern.
There are some disability-related issues that can impact
on the long-term job satisfaction of your employees:
ACCOMMODATIONS
Effectively accommodating an employee with a disability
is not necessarily a one-time event. It is often necessary to change or
upgrade accommodations as time goes by. After hiring, the employee may
later experience changes to their disability that may require more, less
or different types of accommodations in order to maintain their
effectiveness on the job. Accommodations that are based on technology
need to be reviewed regularly - as, like any technologies, more
effective and sophisticated accommodations are developing all the time.
Employees with disabilities may be reluctant to "make
waves" by bringing up their need for better accommodations - unless
their employer's policies and practices are clearly supportive of
providing the most effective job accommodations. It might be advisable
to do an annual review of each employees accommodation needs - including
an effort to check in to any recent advances in accommodation
technologies.
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ADVANCEMENT
People with disabilities need to be groomed and
considered for advancement opportunities just like any other employees
in your company. As part of this, they need to have equal access to all
the same internal communications and educational opportunities as other
employees. Sometimes additional accommodations will be needed to
accomplish this.
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SAFETY
Employees with disabilities may require additional
considerations in your company's emergency preparedness plans. Policies
and procedures might need to be adapted to ensure the safety of your
employees with disabilities.
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SUPERVISION
Effective supervision is a key factor in the success of
any employee. There is no "trick" to effectively supervise an employee
with a disability. Communication, in both directions, is probably the
most important consideration of an employee/supervisor relationship.
Management should provide whatever supports that a
supervisor needs to communicate freely and openly with all employees
that report to them. This may or may not include specialized
accommodations.
Supervisors must also know that, in supervising someone
with a disability, the key to their success will be treating all
employees the same. Employees with disabilities need to be held to the
same standards and be subject to the same policies and procedures as
other employees - all within the guidelines of reasonable
accommodations.
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WORKPLACE
ATTITUDES & SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
No one is going to remain long in an atmosphere that is
hostile or discriminatory.
In a recent survey of
employers, 22% cited supervisor and co-worker attitudes and stereotypes
as the major barrier to advancement of employees with disabilities.
Another poll showed that 15% of non-disabled respondents "did not feel
comfortable working for, or nearby, a person with a disability".
Companies that want to retain employees with disabilities cannot afford
to allow these kinds of attitudes go unchecked in their workplaces. If
necessary, general attitudinal education and/or training initiatives
should be planned. If specific individuals are responsible for
discriminatory behavior, they should be educated and/or disciplined to
correct their actions.
Similarly, all employees want to be included in the more
"social" activities of their workplaces. It is important to ensure that
employees with disabilities are fully included and, if necessary,
accommodated in these.
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