The unemployment rates are usually on the higher side for disabled people, and return to work or vocational rehabilitation, even with the help of a vocational counselor is quite hard going. The pandemic situation hasn’t made things easier for people with a disability who want to return to work, as it’s now even more challenging to find and keep a job that they can do without any complications. Here we look at the role of managers in ensuring vocational rehabilitation for disabled workers or how they can help disabled employees to keep a job and succeed in it. 

The Hard Fact

Though discrimination based on a disability is prohibited at workplaces, there are still fewer disabled people who work at the offices today. Vocational rehabilitation counselors try to boost these numbers by offering job counseling, transferrable skills analysis assessment, training, job search assistance, and other help to ensure that a person with disabilities can return to work with confidence. One of the key factors that can help vocational rehabilitation counselors and the disabled people looking for work is working under a trained and skilled manager who is flexible, empathetic, and is willing to manage a diverse team, including disabled staff members. 

Size Doesn’t Matter

Experts believe that the size of a company has no impact on whether a disabled person will feel comfortable working there. For example, some disabled people have reported working for a huge organization with tons of policies in place that were made to help disabled employees. But a lack of support and empathy made their jobs tough. Similarly, people have reported that they worked for a small company where the disabled employees got the right treatment from the managers, which motivated them to work better and stay longer. 

How Can Managers Ensure Disabled People Feel Comfortable at Work?

Managers can make or break the deal when it comes to ensuring that disabled people stay employed. They can adopt some strategies and ideas to ensure a disabled person feels comfortable and supported at the workplace. Here are some of those strategies. 

• Start with the Recruitment Stage

When looking to hire fresh blood, make sure you make it clear in the application that you accept and encourage applications from disabled people. When a disabled person shows up during the interview, talk about how the work or the workplace can be adjusted to suit their needs. Be clear about how much you can adjust and how much effort you expect from the person you are interviewing.

• Have Positive Conversations Around Disability

Disabled people usually dislike it when their disability is ignored or is considered among the topics that are never broached. So, as a manager, you should start building a positive work culture around disability and make a person feel comfortable talking about disability with their peers and managers. Make sure you don’t push a person to talk about it. Instead, keep the entire thing as natural as possible. Work on ensuring that there is no stigma about disability and people feel comfortable speaking about their disability. 

• Give the Right Training

Before you hire one or more disabled people for the job, make sure that people in your organization know about it. Also, consider organizing disability awareness training sessions that help employees understand how to behave with a disabled team member and ensure they don’t offend them. Also, allow the disabled people to share their experiences via informational charts, mentorship schemes, and other such unique initiatives. 

• Make the Necessary Adjustments

This one is obvious but worth mentioning. It would help if you adjusted at the workplace to ensure that a disabled person who is hired doesn’t feel uncomfortable or face barriers while working. The adjustments can be anything from providing customized furniture to ensuring that a person works per flexible hours policy. 

• Train for Leadership Roles

No rule book says a person with a disability or disabilities cannot take more responsibilities and lead a team effectively. So, as an aware manager, you should try to train people with a disability or disabilities to be future leaders. Offer one on one sessions to train them to take on heftier roles in the future with confidence. Remember, the issues of disabled people will probably never come into the limelight until those with disabilities have the opportunity to take on leadership roles and share how they feel. 

• Focus on Inspiring Others

When disabled people see another disabled person in a leadership role, it might inspire them to return to work too and get a job with the help of a vocational counseling expert. It might also make them feel whole and capable while boosting their self-confidence as well. As a manager, you should keep motivating disabled people to do better to be the next role models. Only when a manager pushes hard and works at it, the disabled people will realize that there is nothing wrong or missing. Instead, they bring in a diverse perspective in the organization. 

• Have Their Backs

When hiring disabled people, make sure that their team is ready for them. Encourage the team of a disabled workers to show support and solidarity by doing small favors. For instance, a colleague can offer childcare assistance while others can help a person visit the doctor for medical appointments. Make a disabled person feel that their colleagues and supervisors always have their backs and are available in times of need. 

• Don’t Lose Touch

You might have a million things to do as a manager but make sure it doesn’t stop you from keeping in touch with the disabled employee(s). A person must be able to pick up the phone and call you. If you are out of town for some reason, make sure that they know who can help them in times of need (maybe a colleague of theirs who acts as the temporary manager until you return). 

• Help them with Benefits

Disabled employees receiving benefits like health and disability insurance should get to keep them for as long as possible. You can help them keep the benefits for as long as possible and guide them on doing that. Remember, the benefits might be critical to their complete recovery and physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Sometimes. The benefits might help in maintaining the well-being of the entire family. So, continuing them for as long as possible is beneficial for them. 

• Provide an Accommodation

Suppose an employee has a disability that stops them from traveling long distances independently. In that case, you should consider providing them with accommodation that will help cut down on travel time and have a place they can live in. You can also offer other added benefits like a rest area at the workplace that not just the disabled employees, but all employees can use when they aren’t feeling well. Even a small thing like offering parking near the building or providing a wheelchair in the office can go a long way to make disabled employees feel comfortable. 

• Motivate them to Do Better

You should also motivate the disabled employees to do better by using various tactics like appreciating their work, putting their name for the employee of the month award (if you have such a thing at your workplace), and generally appreciating the extra effort put in by an employee. Remember, there is a fine line between appreciating a disabled employee and showing favoritism. You better not cross that line as a manager as it might impact your reputation as a manager.

• Offer Equal Learning Opportunities

 Like every employee working for you, disabled employees also want growth and learning. So, as a manager, you need to ensure that they participate in learning sessions and play an active role in them. If the learning is planned for a location out of the office, you should ensure that the disabled employees have the means to reach there with minimal or no discomfort. A colleague could give them a ride, maybe. 

• Seek Feedback

Last but not least, seek the feedback of the disabled employees on how you are doing as a manager and what you can do better. Understand their point of view and consider it while devising and implementing new policies for employees. Make them feel a part of the family, and they will strive to meet all your expectations. Good luck!

Consult with the Experts

Suppose you need more help in helping disabled employees do better under your command. In that case, you can consult with the experts of Laura M Wilson & Associates Inc. We provide streamlined Vocational Rehabilitation Services that help disabled people join the workforce again and restart their careers. If one of the persons we have helped is working for you and you need advice on how to help them best, you can reach out to us. If you would like to recommend someone to avail of our vocational counseling service, you can still get in touch. We are here to help. Call us toll-free on (800) 531-5608 or call us here.

References:

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-to-accommodate-disabled-employees-1918322

https://www.managers.org.uk/knowledge-and-insights/article/why-managers-are-vital-to-supporting-disabled-people-back-into-the-workforce/

https://www.lauramwilson.com/contact/