Discussion

Memo

To: Mrs. Shawn

Human Resource Manager, Horizons Inc.

From:

Date: 3/12/2021

Subject: Improving Workplace Accommodation

Enclosed is the report you requested following my earlier proposal memo on accommodation of employees with special health conditions.

This report explores ways in which Horizons Inc. can accommodate employees with special health conditions. Additionally, different accommodation methods are analyzed and suggestions made to improve the accommodation of employees with special health conditions. In preparing the report, secondary research was carried out on the issue. The secondary research carried out covered the importance and barriers of accommodating employees with special health conditions. Based on the findings of the secondary research, recommendations are made on ways of improving the accommodation of employees with special needs.

Thank you for reading this report. I hope the findings and suggestions in the report prove useful for your decisions in the future.

Purpose and method of this report

Horizon’s management is concerned with the health of its employees. A recent trend has seen an increasing number of employees being diagnosed with special health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Attempts to solve the problem have not been successful. The company has also not developed ways of accommodating these employees. As a result, the company has continued to witness reduced productivity, low job satisfaction, and reduced quality of life. The purpose of this report is to:

· Determine the barriers to workplace accommodation for employees with special health conditions

· Recommend ways in which workplace accommodation for employees with special needs can be improved.

Secondary research was used in this report. The secondary research focused on the importance and barriers of workplace accommodation. The research was also conducted on ways of improving workplace accommodation.

Findings and conclusion

The results of the research indicate that workplace accommodation is beneficial to the company and its employees. For the company, the benefits of accommodating employees with special health conditions include improved retention of qualified employees, increased productivity, and reduction in the cost of hiring and training new employees. For employees, the benefits of accommodating employees with special needs include improved interactions, increased morale, and increased productivity. Based on the results of the research, it was concluded that Horizon Inc. should look for ways of improving its accommodation of employees with special health conditions.

Recommendation

To improve the accommodation of employees with special health conditions, the following solutions are recommended:

· Schedule adjustment: work schedules should be adjusted to fit into the needs of individuals with special needs.

· Supportive organizational policies: current policies need to be reviewed to make them accommodative to employees with special health conditions.

· Job restructuring: individuals with special health conditions need to be assigned duties that they can handle.

Contents Executive Summary iii Table of Contents iv Table of Tables v Introduction 1 Background 1 Purpose 1 Overview of Methodology 1 Methods 2 Secondary Research 2 Findings and Discussion 3 Importance of accommodating employees with special health conditions 3 Barriers to accommodating employees with special health conditions 5 Strategies to accommodate employees with special health conditions 6 Recommendations 7 Appendix A: Survey Questionnaire 10

Figure two: Results from literature review 3-4

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Over the last few years, Horizon’s Inc.'s workforce has increasingly become diverse. This is reflected by the number of individuals from different backgrounds and with different needs. While Horizon has tried to accommodate individuals from different backgrounds, it has failed to accommodate individuals with special health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, eye problems, hearing problems, arthritis, muscular dystrophy, blood disorders, asthma, and physical disability. Yet, the number of individuals with special needs has been increasing drastically. For instance, in the last three years, the company has hired five employees with special health conditions. In addition, an average of two employees are diagnosed with new health conditions every year. Lack of accommodation of individuals with special health conditions has negative impacts on their job satisfaction, productivity, and overall quality of life.

Additionally, these individuals tend to leave their positions frequently. For the company, losing employees is costly because it has to invest in hiring and training new employees. The lack of accommodation of employees with special health conditions also gives our competitors an edge in the market. This is because the lowered productivity and the time taken to replace employees affect our ability to meet the market demand.

The purpose of this study was to determine how the company can accommodate employees with special health conditions. The literature review process led to the identification of ways to improve the accommodation of employees with special health conditions: schedule adjustments, supportive organizational policies, and job restructuring.

The following methods were used to analyze the accommodation methods:

· Secondary research involving a review of scholarly work on the topic was conducted.

· The literature review focused on the importance and barriers of accommodating employees with special health conditions.

· The literature review also examined the methods of accommodating employees with special health conditions.

A literature review of the literature was carried out on the topic. The literature materials included recently published articles on the benefits of accommodating employees with special health conditions, barriers of accommodating employees with special needs, and ways of accommodating employees with special needs. While carrying out the literature review process, the relevance of the articles was taken into account. The results of the literature review were then used to reach the conclusion of the research and come up with recommendations.

Summary of Literature Review Findings

A lot of scholars have explored the importance of accommodating employees with special needs. The following figure presents the summary of the literature review on the importance of accommodating employees:

Figure two: findings on the benefits of accommodating

In a study by Bosma et al. (2021), it was found that supporting employees with special health conditions help prevent work-related problems and facilitates sustainable employment. Accordingly, supporting employees with special health conditions reduces work-related problems by reducing productivity loss, job loss, and/or sick leave (Bosman et al., 2021). Accommodations also help facilitate sustainable employment by preventing employee turnover (Bosma et al., 2021).

In a study by Man et al. (2020), it was found that accommodation of employees with special health conditions improved the creative performance of employees. Additionally, the researchers point out that the accommodation of employees helps improve workplace diversity, which helps promote creativity. However, the improvement in the creative performance of employees due to workplace accommodation is linked to creative self-efficacy.

In another study, Lindsay et al. (2018) identified several benefits of accommodating employees with special health conditions. First, the researchers found that accommodating employees with special health conditions led to the improved profitability of the organization. This improved profitability can be traced to several factors that are brought by accommodation: reduced turnover, improved retention of employees, increased reliability and punctuality of employees, improved loyalty of customers, and improved image of the company (Lindsay et al., 2018). Secondly, the researchers found that the accommodation of employees with different health conditions increases the competitive advantage of the company. The improvement in competitive advantage can be traced to factors such as improved diversity of customers, increased customer loyalty and satisfaction, increased innovation, improved work ethics, and increased productivity. Thirdly, the researchers found that the accommodation of employees with disabilities creates an inclusive work culture. Accommodation helps promote inclusive work culture by allowing individuals with different health conditions to work for the company.

Discussion

Employers must provide accommodation to employees living with disabilities (Maimela, 2018). According to Maimela (2018), the requirement for employers to accommodate employees with disabilities is usually invoked in response to the health conditions o employees. The present literature review reveals that the accommodation of employees with special health conditions is beneficial. One benefited that is associated with the accommodation of employees with different health conditions is productivity improvement (Lindsay et al., 2018; Smith, 2018; Man et al., 2020). For an organization, the improvement in productivity of employees means that the company can meet market demand while at the same time competing favorably with competitors. The productivity improvement also implies that customers can accomplish tasks within a reasonable time.

Another benefit that was revealed by the literature review is that accommodation of employees with different health conditions is improved the retention of qualified employees (Bonaccio et al., 2019; Lindsay et al., 2020). The improvement in the ability of organizations to retain qualified customers is due to reduced turnover, improved satisfaction, and morale of employees. Additionally, improved retention can be traced to increased job security.

Accommodation is also beneficial because it reduces the cost of hiring and training new employees (Bonaccio et al., 2019). Hiring and training employees is a costly affair. In hiring, an employee has to meet the cost of advertisement and interviews. After the hiring, the employer will have to meet costs such as the costs of training facilities, equipment, and trainers. However, accommodating employees with special health conditions enables an employer to retain employees and eliminates the need for hiring and training new employees.

Several scholars have explored the barriers that prevent employers from accommodating employees with special health conditions. Bonaccio et al. (2019) point out the concerns that employers have on the abilities of people with disabilities as the greatest hindrance to workplace accommodation. Any form of disability also affects the functionality of an individual. For example, a disability involving the legs of an individual affects their mobility functionality. At the workplace, the functionality of an individual is associated with their ability to perform a given task. When an employer is concerned with the ability of an individual, then the chances of assigning that person a task are reduced. Additionally, a concern about the ability of an individual reduces their chances of being accommodated at the workplace as an employer associates the reduced functionality with reduced performance.

Another barrier to accommodating employees with special health conditions is employer attitude. According to Steverson (2020), employers may have negative attitudes towards individuals with special health conditions. These attitudes are manifested in form of fears, pity, sympathy, guilt, and uneasiness. An employer with a negative attitude towards individuals with special health conditions is unlikely to accommodate them.

Another barrier to accommodation costs. According to Bonaccio et al. (2019), many employers are concerned with the cost of accommodating employees. When accommodating employees with different disabilities, an employee needs to meet various costs including the cost of modifying the job description and putting in place the necessary infrastructure. These extra costs can be prohibitive to some employers. However, available evidence indicates that such costs are minimal (Bonaccio et al., 2019). According to Bonaccio et al. (2019), employers only majority of employees only meet the one-time cost of accommodating employees. Additionally, employers have always accommodated employees without disabilities. According to Bonaccio et al. (2019), the cost of accommodating employees with disabilities is similar to the cost of accommodating those without disabilities.

Another barrier to accommodation is a lack of information. According to Kensbock et al. (2017), lack of support for accommodation is mainly due to a lack of information on the importance and strategies of accommodating different individuals. Indeed, lack of information is associated with a lack of knowledge about accommodating employees. If employers understand the importance of accommodating employees, then they are more likely to embrace it.

Scholars have identified several strategies that can be used to accommodate employees with special health conditions. One commonly identified strategy is the use of flexible workplace arrangements (Bosua & Gloet, 2020). Flexible work arrangement involves reducing the rigidity o workplace. According to Bosua and Gloet (2020), flexible workplaces take into account the needs and circumstances of employees. Flexible work arrangement involves modifying the work arrangement to include options such as sharing of tasks, crowd employment, telecommuting, and voucher-based work.

Another strategy that has been used to accommodate employees with disabilities is the use of inclusive or supportive employment policies and practices (Blanck, 2020). Supportive policies provide guidelines for employers to accommodate. Additionally, policies can address some of the challenges that are faced in accommodating employees.

Another strategy that has been used to accommodate employees at the workplace is modification of jobs (Man et al., 2020). According to Man et al. (2020), modification of jobs helps remove social and physical barriers. Job modification is captured through the use of job restructuring. While restructuring jobs, employers reallocate and redistribute the marginal functions of a given job. The restructuring is done so that the jobs suit the functionality of different employees (Man et al., 2020)

Based on the findings of this study, the following solutions are recommended:

· Schedule adjustment: work schedules should be adjusted to fit into the needs of individuals with special health conditions. While adjusting the working schedule, the organization should look for ways of coming up with flexible work schedules.

· Supportive organizational policies: current policies need to be reviewed to make them accommodative to employees with special health conditions. Supportive organizational policies enable organizations to establish practices that are favorable to individuals with special needs.

· Job restructuring: individuals with special health conditions need to be assigned duties that they can handle. Accordingly, job restructuring enables qualified individuals with special needs to perform their duties effectively. The process of job restructuring involves reallocation and redistributing the marginal functions of a given job. While restructuring a job, Horizon can exchange marginal functions that cannot be performed by individuals with special health conditions for those that are performed by other employees.

References

Kindly complete the following questions to the best of your knowledge:

1. For how long have you been employed at Horizons?

2. What is your position at Horizons?

3. Have you or your workmate been diagnosed with any condition? Specify

4. How can you rate the amount of accommodation for the following conditions?

5. What do you think should be done to improve the accommodation of individuals with different health conditions?