Hiring someone for your staff comes with a lot of challenges. Not only do you need to make sure they are capable for the role you’re hiring them for, but you also have to make sure that they’re adequately skilled enough to be an effective member of your team. Unfortunately, some workers do tend to discriminate against hiring those with disabilities, even if they are willing to learn and work just as hard as employees without them. Should you have openings for jobs for those with disabilities, here are some key tips when hiring someone with a disability and how to make them feel welcome.
Remember, discrimination in the workplace may have created a form of stigma for people with disabilities, and they may be at first be discouraged to work because they may be able to sense this from the workplace. According to Huffington Post, this means it’s up to you to be able to make sure that your workplace is encouraging and motivating to work in, and this is something that is very achievable.
Check Records, Needs
When you decide to hire someone with a disability, it wouldn’t hurt to approach them and ask them just exactly what sort of facilities they need in order to ensure your company is equipped with the tools they need to support their current condition. This could also include discussing what is off limits, or what is allowed to be done, in terms of work. This is because not all disabilities are the same, so if there’s a way for you to be able to at least be aware of your employee’s medical and psychological needs, you may have the capabilities to put effective methods in place to make them feel welcome.
- Someone who is generally knowledgeable about how to converse with people, such as a manager or human resources personnel, can conduct the talk with your new employee. This allows the human resources department personnel to approach the matter both from the company and from the employee’s perspective. Both needs will be articulated, and this could at least lead to a compromise that benefits both sides.
- Try to make sure it’s within your budget to have allocated funds for these facilities and treatment options. This planning process might take time and resources, but it can be a good investment in the long run. For instance, it may be helpful to get a long-term disability insurance, such as the ones here, in order to get yourself covered properly.
Consider New Structures, Methods
When you hire someone with a disability, do make sure there are structures in place to ensure that they are welcome, not just on an emotional level, but also on a professional level. This means trying to make sure your policies are in place that can adjust not just to that person with a disability, but to all persons with disabilities in the future. This allows you to have a program or a plan that you can modify without having to make one from scratch.
- Consider having these plans checked by someone from the human resources department, or someone who is well-versed in employee rights and employee law. This allows you to ensure your protocols are properly in place and can be executed legally.
- Try to check if your facilities are conducive to supporting an employee with a disability. Ensure that you have the appropriate tools and that everyone is aware that they have to be briefed on how to properly use these tools in conjunction with their original instructions.
Brief Everyone On Protocol, Measures
Making the workplace compatible for someone with disability is one thing, but making sure people are aware of how to act and how to approach employees with disabilities can be a different thing entirely. When you do have measures in place to ensure employees with disabilities can work within your company properly, do make sure you take the time to brief the rest of your managers and staff as to just how to help make the workplace more welcoming for these new employees.
This means ensuring employees and managers are briefed properly on how to adequately use these new disability-compatible elements of the workplace, and on how best they could assist employees with disabilities.- Employees should also be made aware of things they could do and should not do to employees with disabilities, and the respective penalties for negative things they do to them, such as harassment and discrimination. Establishing a zero-tolerance policy on discrimination can greatly ensure staff members don’t do anything that could harm the employees with disability in any form.
Conclusion
The tips above are some of the key tips you can consider when hiring someone with a disability and how to make them welcome. This doesn’t make the process a walk in the park, but perhaps these tips can greatly help you setup the proper kind of measures to make sure a disabled employee can feel welcome in your workplace.
Andrew Nickleson
Andrew is a passionate writer, writing about diabilities and the law. He has written about many subjects aimed to help those who have questions unanswered. In his spare time he enjoys working on volunteering for those less fortunate.
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