Disability management is an integral part of any modern office culture. If you wish your new venture to succeed and survive in the long run, incorporating this sector into your office infrastructure is essential. You will get to know what it really stands for and how it can impact your office culture.
What is Disability Management?
Disability management is a field dedicated to minimizing disabilities, handling victims of such unfortunate incidents with care and making their return to work as smooth as possible. In the simplest terms, it helps out the employees suffering from an illness or injury to recover fast and then bring them back to work on schedule. Such disabilities may also include critical diseases or conditions.
Ultimately, disability management helps a business reduce the negative impact of the affected employee’s absence tactfully, without harming the valuable bond of trust between them and the employer.
How does it Work?
Typically, the human resource department of an office looks over disability management. The affected employee contacts them with the relevant information regarding his or her medical condition. Then the authorities review the situation and decide how to approach it.
This is where the pre-conceived disability management structure comes in handy. Following this structure, the HR knows exactly what to do to handle this situation without causing damage to either side. Programs which prepare the structure of this sector and ensure its effectiveness for an office are called DMPs (disability management program).
Why is it so Important?
The biggest brands conquering the planet are known to be incredibly effective in their disability management measures. For instance, L’Oreal USA has topped the Disability Equality Index (DEI) chart twice in a row (2018 and 2019).
In Canada, the national economy suffered from a loss of $16.6 billion because of absenteeism in 2012. Many of the employees suffering from disabilities have stopped coming to work after the whole ordeal ends.
So as you can see, the presence and effectiveness of a disability management team are crucial to a company’s brand image as well as productivity. Besides, it plays a vital role in keeping the company out of possible legal issues and financial damages.
- Pre-planned Cost-effective Measures
A well-planned disability management program enables the company to prepare for such situations beforehand. The assigned personnel can figure out the detailed financial effects of the short-term or long-term absence of the affected employee. For each kind of possible physical injury or critical mental distress, they will have a plan in place. This may include the tentative time period required for the said employee to recover, the ongoing and upcoming projects in need of him or her, and similar factors. Combining them all, the personnel can finalize the estimated expenses of how much their absence will cost the company.
Following the famous saying “prevention is better than cure”, the office can also implement certain measures in place to minimize the possibility of avoidable accidents. This way, they can keep the skilled workers present at work and save quite a lot of money for the company.
- Higher Attendance
On the surface, the absence of one or two employees may seem like nothing. However, direct and indirect absence actually cause the payroll costs to go 18% up. Disability management can pose a possible solution to declining office attendance by keeping healthy measures in place. Part of this management deals with taking certain steps in order to create a safer and healthier office environment. This includes ensuring proper temperature, eliminating harmful decor arrangements, having frequently used medicines closeby and more.
- Preventing Discrimination
Many individuals suffering from long-term or short-term disability have complained in the past about facing discrimination at the workplace. The global soft drinks giant Coca-Cola had to pay $2.25 million when they failed to provide proper accommodation for their employees with disabilities. These employees mainly filed for discrimination charges against the company and finally walked out with a guarantee of annual financial support from Coca-Cola.
It is a major job of the disability management team to ensure – such a scenario never happens with their employer. They need to make sure that every employee under their umbrella is getting equal amenities regardless of their disabilities.
- Retaining Skilled Workers
If a company can plan and carry out their disability management measures correctly, they have a higher possibility of retaining skilled workers. Every employee values an employer who understands the difficulties of disabilities. If the employees see that their company is serious about implementing disability management measures, they are more likely to come back from those difficult situations and continue their job. Being in a healthy workplace environment and working under competent authorities prepared for possible shortcomings are ideal for any employee.
- Higher productivity
The Standard found out through a survey that there is a strong relationship between employee productivity and disability management. 42% of the employees need to take leave for some chronic medical condition and 23% need it for amending fractures. If their employer contacted and the HR department exercised effective communication, they would come to work 44% faster than usual.
Since the ratio of employee attendance goes up with proper disability management measures in place, the overall productivity level of the company also enhances. Workers are much less likely to stay absent on account of health issues. As a result, they become capable of delivering more services to the company.
Disability management also instills a higher level of reliability in them regarding their employer’s integrity. They become more willing to do their best since the company seems to take care of their difficulties quite well.
Implementing disability management measures is a little tricky sometimes. However, an honest approach and some smart strategies can make it an incredibly profitable step for the future. Your employees will appreciate the company much more and thus deliver on the high expectations you have set for them. This will lead to higher success for an already thriving business.
