Able and empowered

Swati Khatri

In today’s demanding world it’s a challenge for companies to hire the best talent available. This has led HR professionals to constantly upgrade their skills and find creative solutions for employee satisfaction. In the ever-demanding corporate world more and more companies have realised that are missing on an important talent pool of the country — the physically challenged. This realisation has made HR find out ways to let individuals with special needs enter in a mutually beneficial relationship with them.

The initial pathway
The PWD Act 1995 gives an assurance of equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation to everyone. There are organisations working with physically and mentally impaired people for long now. Today people with special needs are not just employed in entry level jobs but have earned a place higher up in the hierarchy. Some companies working on this path are Infosys, ITC Hotels, Lemon Tree hotels, Mirakle Couriers and many more. Nipun Malhotra, Joint Managing trustee, Nipman Foundation takes this in a positive note and says, “HR in India has rightly understood the importance of including the differently abled people in their workforce. This can be witnessed in the positive changes that we see around us.” Adding to this Pooja Gianchandani, Head of Policy, IL&FS Education explains, “A disability can become a new ability in a different set up.” She elaborates this as, “A hearing impaired person can be easily adjusted in a noisy factory set up which may be discomfortable for a person with normal hearing.”
Even though Indian corporates started with small steps, they have realised that this journey is a fruitful one. They now know that a majority of the physically challenged population will not require special set ups to work. At times only basic changes can work wonders to motivate them. These basic changes can be as simple as getting the right chair to sit.

Tools of change
The main tool of change has been the awareness that the differently abled employees are as competent as their other colleagues. B.S. Nagesh, Founder TRRAIN says, “According to our experience when companies realise that hiring people with disability will be equally productive, they readily welcome them in the corporate set ups.” HR departments across the sectors are being sensitised about this fact in order to rule out any bias at the time of hiring as well as promotions for these employees.
Apart from this the foremost thing that will encourage physically challenged people to be important part of the mainstream workforce is a friendly infrastructure. This includes easy-to-use pathways, lifts, parking spaces etc. Along with this technology is an important factor that helps mitigate some difficulties. Technological tools like voice recognition software, Braille-enabled keyboards, amplifier-enabled headphones are a few things that are already helping to bring out the best in them.

The right motivation
There are institutions working on making a difference in empowering people walk that extra mile. Institutions like TRRAIN are not only reaching out to everyone but are also working closely with educational institutions so that more and more differently abled people can get the empowering skills. An exemplary campaign in this direction is VEER, an initiative of Thums Up and Being Human Foundation. Along with such corporate campaigns, vocational training is another innovative step. One example of this is the Victory Arts Foundation, an initiative by Shiamak Davar.
An important thing to be noted is that employee sensitisation doesn’t just mean protection against abuse,  but also means making them comfortable in a set up. In this regard Pallavi Pareek, Co-Founder, iPleaders talks about a practical situation she came across while working with visually impaired girls. She says, “Prolonged silence in the office made the visually challenged feel uneasy. This is because these people do not have any visual signs to know what’s happening around them. A simple measure of having more verbal communication  and cues around them made all the difference”.
Yum Restaurant’s practice of hiring hearing and speech impaired individuals in their brands KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell is a well known success story. Their staff is given badges to inform the customers about their impairment. In this scenario a smooth communication can take place with non-verbal forms of communication.

All that matters
When it comes to creating an inclusive work atmosphere then there are no suitable or non-suitable jobs for people with special needs. They can be assigned a job like everyone else depending on the skills that they possess. All that matters is giving the right motivation.  Studies have shown that hiring people with special needs is related to better employee retention. One such example is Bharat  Jadhav  who has been working with Baggit for more than 10 years now. He had lost one of his hands in an accident but that did not stop him from moving ahead in his career. He started as a clerk and is currently working as Head of Process and Production.  Talking about the benefits of working in an inclusive workplace, he says, “I was always supported by the management and never faced any difficulty in the work I was assigned.”

The road ahead
We sure have a long but a positive way to go. Nipun suggests, “A good step from the government’s side will be to make it mandatory to make all the offices, malls and buildings accessible and friendly for the differently abled.” Changes like this along with encouraging companies to fulfil their social responsibilities are ideas which will make a huge difference in the long run. Vrushalee Sonar, Assistant Manager HR, Baggit, says, “We have worked with people with disabilities and have realised that they can be easily absorbed in the mainstream corporate setups. It’s time that companies across the board understand this and take it  to a new level collectively.” Accepting people with special needs in the workforce is just the beginning, what is important is that the companies realise that these individuals require protection against any kind of abuse or exploitation.