Despite my best efforts, some of my managers still have a negative attitude towards our initiatives to attract and retain more employees with a disability. How can I best respond to this?
Despite my best efforts, some of my managers still have a negative attitude towards our initiatives to attract and retain more employees with a disability. How can I best respond to this?
HR officer in real estate-Brisbane
This is a common issue. Take the example of reasonable adjustment – the provision of accommodations allowing a person with a disability to better perform the core duties of their role. An example might be a large screen monitor for a visually impaired data entry clerk. Upon seeing a different piece of equipment supplied to a co-worker, other employees have been known to complain of special treatment, to initiate rumours behind the employee’s back, and to otherwise compromise the team spirit.
A key underlying issue here is a lack of awareness of the distinction between equality and equity. Equality refers to treating everyone the same regardless of their differences. An example is requiring every employee to enter the building in the same way – the stairway. Barring people who can’t use stairs from the building by insisting on a single method of entry is an example of what the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) terms indirect discrimination.
Equity, on the other hand, refers to sameness of outcomes. By providing a ramp and a stairway, different people with different needs and capacities can achieve the same outcome by entering the building in different ways.
Organisations need to move from equality to equity not only to avoid discrimination (and its potential consequences), but to recognise, value, and take advantage of differences in their people.
In the case of people with disabilities, this will sometimes mean making provisions for people with disabilities to perform the same tasks expected of anyone in that role. In order to achieve equal opportunity and equity of outcomes for all, differential treatment will sometimes be required.
In responding to the concerns of your managers, and in effecting change within your organisation, it is important to broach this issue in the organisational culture as well as with individuals. Both must change together and accordingly, it is worthwhile to consider supplementing one-on-one discussions with training.
by Jock Noble, CEO of Diversity@work Australia. www.diversityatwork.com.au.
How can I get the most out of my ICT staff?
HR manager in consulting – Melbourne
It only takes a cursory glance around any large organisation to see how dependent it is on technology. Computers on every desk, PDAs and digital notebooks in the briefcases of executives and salespeople alike, and corporate communications increasingly based on computer networks, the internet and mobile devices.
In such an environment, it’s essential to ensure the enterprise is gaining full value from its ICT (information and communication technology) investment, and that has as much to do with people as products. ICT trends and technologies are constantly changing, so it’s important that employees are always updating their knowledge and skills to maximise their understanding of how to apply ICT to most effectively meet the business goals.
While ICT professionals must take final responsibility for their own education and ongoing development, there’s also an important role for the business in identifying and enunciating its own future directions, providing a roadmap to help workers make informed choices about their training options.
HR professionals must work closely with the CIO and clearly communicate the organisation’s intentions in relation to the human resource aspects of its technology plans, providing the opportunity for valued employees to discuss their own aspirations and to ensure their value continues to increase.
When ICT workers were plentiful, it was easy to find people with a close skills match so companies didn’t bother with training and simply brought new people in as needs changed. However, with emerging shortages in some areas and more predicted to occur, training is back on the agenda.
The good news is that experienced professionals with a technology-related degree can usually become proficient in a new technology within a very short period. This approach also enables the company to benefit from their existing knowledge of the company, its goals and processes, rather than having to introduce someone new who has no understanding of how the organisation works.
by Dennis Furini, chief executive of the Australian Computer Society. www.acs.org.au.
