Why is it so important for managers to receive training linked with the matter of disabilities?
International awareness
The World Health Organization estimates that 16 percent of the world’s population has a disability, or 1 in 6 of us. People with disabilities suffer from health inequities and, as a result, face unfair conditions, including stigma, discrimination, poverty, and exclusion from education and employment.
Disability management in the workplace has become central for many organizations and their networks, including employers and workers’ organizations of persons with disabilities. They contribute to facilitating employment, job retention, and return-to-work opportunities for disabled persons. This worldwide issue required the intervention of an international institution. Thus, in October 2001, the International Labour Office (ILO) created a code called ‘Code of practice on managing disability in the workplace’. This document is divided into six topics: the general duties of employers and workers, the framework for managing disability issues in the workplace, recruitment, career development, job retention, and adjustments in terms of accessibility. The ILO addressed this document primarily to employers, managers, and supervisors.
Why managers first?
In Guidance on Supporting Employees with Dyslexia published in March 2017, the Nottinghamshire County Council underlined the frontline roles and responsibilities of managers to ensure inclusiveness at the workplace. Indeed, the Line Manager must support employees, maintain open communication for addressing issues, and ensure appropriate adjustments and support are in place. They are also responsible for seeking relevant medical or HR advice when needed.
Although managers represent a key intermediary between the employee with a disability and the other services, many HR professionals and managers think certain work can’t be performed with a disability.
All these prejudices underline the need for a mindset shift.
Manager training a key component of Disability Support?
Manager training in disabilities at the workplace offers opportunities to educate managers and help support their team members. By training managers to recognize the warning signs of health conditions, they can better support employees. Providing managers with the necessary knowledge enables them to intervene effectively, ensuring employees remain productive and satisfied at work. Some organizations, such as Disability: IN, offer manager training courses on understanding disability, disclosures and accommodations, and fostering an accessible environment.
Companies themselves offer disability awareness or sensitivity training to managers and supervisors. However, according to the 2019 research report titled Employing Abilities @Work, only 30% of organizations offer training directed to managers, and only 61% of people managers have participated in any disability inclusion training at all (cf. figure). These figures underline the need to increase managers’ participation to gain fundamental knowledge about disabilities.
They also indicate that alternative strategies to enhance inclusiveness must be considered.
In response, the Erasmus+ KA220-VET programme “DysinEdu” supports learners and employees with specific learning disorders (dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and other learning disorders) to facilitate their transition to the job market. The project is creating materials and guidance for neurodiverse workers via an online module on an LMS platform on how to prepare for job interviews, how to talk about their disorders, how different adaptations might work for different disorders and how to prepare for the job itself.
The worker’s support guide is composed of six following modules and you have the opportunity to see them yourself by subscribing to our platform.
Find out more about the project here: https://dysineduprowork.eu/
Subscribe to the course: https://edukacio.com/courses/dysineduprowork
References:
Nottinghamshire County Council. (2017) Guidance on Supporting Employees with Dyslexia. https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/media/125888/supportingemployeeswithdyslexiaguidance.pdf
Smith, J. (2019) Manager Training: A Key Component of Disability Support | Insights. https://www.standard.com/businesses-organizations/workplace-solutions/workplace-possibilities-program/blog/manager-training
Clem, A. (2021) Disability Fundamentals Training for Managers – Disability: IN. https://disabilityin.org/resource/disability-fundamentals-training-for-managers/.
Helping Employees with Disabilities Advance in the Workplace (2023). https://hsi.com/blog/helping-employees-with-disabilities-advance-in-the-workplace.
World Health Organization : WHO (2023) Disability. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health.
Plumelearning.com Disability Fundamentals for Managers. https://disabilityin.org/training-disability-fundamentals/#/page/about-this-course.
