Articles - Employee / Labor Relations

A traditional 9-5 job is not necessarily a good fit for everyone. It’s important for managers and business owners to take into account not only an employee’s skills and capabilities but also their working styles and lifestyles. That is why there is a real need for flexibility in the workplace.

Flexibility is a powerful approach for expanding recruitment pools, both by drawing from a wider geographic area and by including people who face barriers into the workplace.

Many organizations have experimented with flex time, flexible schedules and telecommuting, but flexibility is not just about reinventing the traditional workday or allowing employees to work from home. As decision-makers in America’s workforce, supervisors and managers must apply the principle of flexibility across all areas of the organization and to all aspects of when, where and how work gets done. It should be an option for every person in the organization. Employers can also provide flexibility around job tasks, a concept known as "customized employment."

Customized employment is a blend of strategies, services and supports designed to increase employment options not only for job seekers with disabilities, but also for all job seekers with complex needs. By customizing employment situations and job descriptions for people with complex needs, retention rates and the bottom line greatly improve. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 33.2 million people with disabilities in the United States who are of working age. According to the Council for Disability Awareness, 30 percent of people entering the workforce today will become disabled. A disability can happen to anyone, and customization is an important tool in mitigating the impact of such life-changing events on both the employer and the employee. A little creativity goes a long way.

There are several types of customization, including job carving and task reassignment.

• Job carving involves modifying an existing job description (it may still contain one or more, but not all of the tasks from the original job description). So think about your job and how many times you say, "Oh, if I just had an assistant for a half of an hour, this could get done, and then I could really do the work that I’m getting paid to do.”

• Task reassignment is another form of customization that typically involves creating a new job.  An example of this approach is illustrated by a task reassignment initiative at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in Washington, D.C., where paralegals were spending a large portion of their day retrieving legal files from a central location. The VA created a new position for an employee whose main responsibility was preparation of these files, so that paralegals could focus on other important tasks. This is a fabulous way to incorporate a cadre of people who may not have the technical skills to do all or even most of a job, but can effectively support other staff members so they can get their work done more efficiently.

The range of options for organizations looking to redesign their workplace for better efficiency and productivity is unlimited. Customized employment is just one of the many tools that they can use to enhance their workplace and the experience of employees with disabilities.

For More Information

For more information on customized employment and flexible work arrangements, visit the Office of Disability Employment Policy page at http://www.dol.gov/odep/CE-FWA/index.htm.

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This article was posted by Dana Z on the Disability Blog