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Recently, Human Resources Online covered a PERSOLKELLY research which revealed nearly four in five (79%) of respondents in Singapore find value in employing people with disabilities/special needs, a group most valued for having a more responsible attitude (35%).
In line with that, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and SG Enable launched a job redesign guide yesterday (17 June) in efforts to thus boost the inclusion of people with disabilities and special needs in companies.
How companies should hire people with disabilities: Processes to revamp
SG Enable also provides a range of resources to take employers through the entire job redesign process, including how they can incorporate this throughout their talent management.
Make recruitment and hiring transparent
When announcing a job opening on the company's website, ensure the website is accessible and friendly for jobseekers with disabilities.
Standardise compensation and benefits
To maintain fairness across the workplace, keep in mind to remunerate and reward employees based on the individual's capabilities and performance, not based on whether they are able-bodied or disabled.
Encourage networking
Be mindful to include staff with disabilities not just in formal gatherings, but in informal ones as well. This would ensure they don't miss out on important discussions, and are able to build interpersonal relationships with their peers.
Be mindful in performance appraisals
If a job position has been restructured to accommodate the needs of a person with disabilities, be mindful to only evaluate them based on the task he or she is expected to performance. However, do also apply the same performance standards to them, as what is applied to all other employees.
Further, it is important to discuss their career development path with them as well.
Build a support system
Like with any employee, having a support network does boost motivation and productivity. This plays an even more important role towards people with disabilities, in integrating them into the company seamlessly.
To do so, have a buddy system and a mentor assigned to them, for someone they can turn to for career guidance.
What it is: Job Redesign Guide for inclusive employers
The Job Redesign Guide details the processes involved in changing work processes, arrangements, assignments and more, with checklists for employers to note.
It also includes case studies of organisations that have implemented job redesign, one of which we've highlighted as follows:
United Overseas Bank
At United Overseas Bank (UOB)'s Scan Hub, set up in 2012, 30% of the team comprises employees with disabilities, and this inclusion as won the company multiple accolades.
The hub was first set up with the purpose of digitising and archiving customer documents, however, the company was faced with a high annual staff turnover of 50%.
The management decided to look beyond the traditional employment model to find the right people the bank needed.
UOB was looking for candidates with strong attention to detail, high levels of accuracy in their work, and high levels of concentration – qualities that they realised could be fulfilled by persons with autism who possess the right work capabilities.
As part of its job redesign, the company worked on streamlining and categorising smaller and similar tasks into six main process, which allowed for focused training and ease of managing resources. More importantly, it allowed managers to match the right employee to the right task, thus helping employees achieve their performance objectives.
In the implementation process, UOB worked with the relevant SG Enable partners [Autism Resource Centre (ARC) and SPD], in establishing an end-to-end employment framework – talent selection, on-boarding, training processes and counselling services – to new employees with disabilities succeed in their new roles.
Overall, the new employment model and job redesign process helped reduce the company's turnover rate from 50% to 5% between 2015 and 2018. Further, its employees' average productivity increased from 76.1% in 2015 to over 100% in 2018.
Photo and infographic / SG Enable's resource page
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