Invisible downside of consistency
Background
Everyone has an interest in consistency. We are all happy with unambiguity and continuation. However, everyone also knows that life is unpredictable or that it can throw a spanner in the works. We take risks every day and it is hoped that things will turn out well.
This probably applies the most to companies. Because even with the best research, knowledge and prospects, nothing is certain until it has happened. It may therefore happen that perseverance has to be taken up, for example to meet a deadline.
But what if a (part of) the staff cannot. Let’s not even ask at all?
The problem
The employee has an interesting position. On the one hand, he needs clarity and support such as a role / job description, a fixed salary, the company resources to perform his work and on the other hand, he needs freedom and interpretation that also influences whether he does his work can perform.
This duality usually goes well because companies and the employee are on the same wavelength. But that is not so obvious for people with disabilities.
The definition of a disability is anything that hinders the person in question from fully functioning. This is true on a personal level, but also on a career level. So also employed as an employee. It is nice if there is a chef who understands this and does everything possible to bridge the interests of the company and the employee with a disability, but we cannot assume that, what then?
Let us state first of all that the limitation counts as a hard limit. This limit simply cannot be crossed without health consequences for the person in question. This automatically means that the largest room for movement is with the company itself. Not nice to say, but fair to acknowledge.
We can assume 5 major topics that have an explicit limiting effect (and that employees can hardly do anything about) these are;
By energy levels we mean, in addition to the battery that someone has, also how much capacity is consumed during obvious actions. A chit chat is common, but not pleasant for everyone. Yet one cannot escape it. Nowadays there is a lot of thinking and one can handle it better than the other. One also needs more time than the other with recharging the battery and that is often not feasible in practice.
Employers determine the working environment and colleagues to a certain extent. Certain work environments have also become the norm (think, for example, open-plan offices), which automatically provide the largest employment there. If one cannot stand standards against this working environment, one is trailing 1-0. Alternatives such as freelancing are not exactly necessarily working environment-friendly if stability is sought. In short, people are sandwiched between two evils and neither can be done.
So many people, so many characters, yet certain characters are preferred over other characters. What these characters have in front of them is that they can handle whatever comes their way, regardless of whether it is their own or not. That is worth gold because these people can adapt without too many problems.
However, people are born with a certain character and one has to do with that. In short, if one cannot do something that is usually expected (regardless of whether one would like it or not), then that person is still the shaak.(not the right one for the job)
Developments never stand still, but retraining is not exactly easy. Certainly not if the developments make such a big turn that they can go beyond the limits of someone. When social developments become so huge (think of the internet, globalization, automation, etc.) they will play a decisive role in the employability of large groups of people. It offers opportunities, but not structurally for people with a work disability. Automation in particular challenges the idea that everyone is needed and we see this especially in people with a work disability.
Everyone has a past, but the past of people with a work disability is above average. The rejections, the fight against self-restraint in itself and the chronic lack of support to get back into the work circuit are so overwhelming that the chance that this group will recover is minimal.
There is a saying “from work you get work,” but the reverse is also true. “You don’t get work from work,” and if heavy pasts affect career opportunities whether or not people are selected, it looks more than gloomy for the person in question.
In short, people with a disability have to face an unnecessary number of obstacles and this irrevocably involves a lot of suffering.
The solutions
A retraining budget with minimum criteria whereby costs can be declared in advance and tested afterwards whether it was justified.
Consolidation of all vacancy websites / databases / employment agencies in one universal overview. Ideally, the job seeker and the offered work should be automatically linked together like the Toogit AI does for freelancers.
From medium-sized employers, it must be examined per applicant whether there are any possibilities to include that person in the company. Including when the candidate provides employees with solutions that enable him / her to work as consistently as possible.
To facilitate applying for jobs a (universal?) Meeting point where CV, motivation letter and other impressions are grouped that are relevant to the application so that the employee can inform the potential employer at the touch of a button. No more personalised motivation letters, etc. that take too much time and yield too little.
We cannot ignore the fact that there are people who find it difficult to find a job. So give every candidate applicant the opportunity to prove to the employer to put that first impression aside.
An insight budget that someone needs to get back to work. Sit down with someone and then find a work solution for all limitations. This is to replace the work coaches.
Be flexible with certain rules that mainly respond to the limitations of the employee, such as working hours and private spaces to work. Focus on ideal individual productivity in a team environment.
Optimise and simplify internal systems and clarify the 5 w + s how a well-functioning intranet so that there is always context.
Relocate to prefer to dismiss and to hold HR or an employment agency responsible for this.
If dismissal cannot be prevented, arrange the application for this with the UWV so that this pressure does not fall on the employee with a disability.
Conclusion
Staring at ‘consistency’ as the primary metric to measure productivity leaves a lot of tasks in a pickle. Not to mention that especially those with a labor disability tend to be ‘inconsistent’ by nature. We understand both sides and what their limitations are. It all comes down to who has the most capacity to initiate changes.