What’s meant by “reasonable accommodations”?

The following notes summarize a conversation held by a group of disabled professionals on Tuesday, June 22, 2010..

The term “reasonable accommodations” is most often used in reference to persons with disabilities. Each person in any professional setting brings a unique set of skills and experiences to the workplace. Making the best use of skills and experiences is simply good management. While the term “reasonable accommodation” may be accurate it is misleading to narrowly associate the term with disabled persons.

Included in the unique set of skills and experiences each person brings to the workplace is a unique set of limitations and short-comings. The fact that the challenges facing disabled professionals are more readily apparent is not necessarily a bad thing. In most cases increased productivity is enhanced by increased transparency. Disabilities are often more obvious and therefore more easily dealt with than many other issues and challenges that people bring to the table.

Bringing any new employee into the workplace requires adaptation by both the employee and the organization in order to attain the highest potential available through the relationship. A more effective approach to the topic of accommodations for professionals with disabilities is to frame accommodations in terms of employee productivity. This approach reinforces the assumption organizations seek the best qualified individuals and that each individual comes to an organization with a unique set of skills and experiences.

There are many factors which contribute to the level of challenge associated with inclusion of disabled professionals in the workplace. Among these challenges are the following:

• Environmental factors within an organization may require a higher level of cooperation among disabled and nondisabled employees. For example: a work area layout designed to maximize open space and peer-to-peer communication may need to make some adjustments to be inclusive of an individual using voice recognition software as a computer input strategy
• Organizational creativity: Organizations that are experienced in developing simple, sustainable, solutions to business problems are much less likely to have problems with a diverse workforce which includes disabled professionals.
• Openness to expert resources: Many resources are available (internally & externally) to organizations and individuals to ensure a productive relationship between disabled professionals, their nondisabled cohorts and organizations. Willingness to include these resources in resolving accommodation issues is simply good organizational management.
• Pro-active employees: Disabled professionals with a clear understanding of their own accommodation needs, who can provide a leadership role in the implementation of accommodations, are more likely to be successful in a workplace.
• Disabled professionals with their own adaptive equipment have a much simpler time becoming productive in a new work setting.
• Organizational culture: In organizations where work groups function as self-directed teams the gifts of one group member act as a balance to activities which may pose a challenge to others. This pooling of skills allows for all team members to be more productive.

Disabled professionals who are currently engaged in the workforce represent a resource for employers and both disabled and nondisabled professionals. This resource could be leveraged to improve the productivity of organizations interested in making the best use of the human resources available in the marketplace.

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Dan Lococo
MainstreamingonMainStreet.com
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