PhD Defence: Enabling (dis)ability at work

On Friday 21 February at 4 pm., Laura van Os will defend her PhD thesis Enabling (dis)ability at work. Employer engagement in hiring and retaining workers with disabilities, including its contributions to employability

The labour market participation of workers with disabilities is persistently low, despite the fact that many are able and willing to work (to a certain extent). This makes them the largest source of untapped talent in the labour market. Employers have an important role to play in increasing their labour market participation. In her dissertation, Laura van Os investigates the role of employers in hiring and retaining workers with disabilities in three steps. She not only included the perspective of employers, but also conducted research among workers with disabilities themselves and what they need from employers to be employable.

How can employers be supported?

Employers face barriers to hiring and retaining workers with disabilities, such as a lack of knowledge about how disabilities can affect work or about administrative burdens. In her research, Van Os focuses on how employers can be supported in hiring and retaining workers with disabilities, with a focus on three forms of support: public employment services (e.g. municipalities, UWV or employer service points), private labour market intermediaries (e.g. job coaching agencies, recruitment or secondment agencies), and support from the organisation itself (such as an Inclusion and Diversity officer, buddies or an information desk).

Employers have different needs to overcome challenges in hiring and retaining workers with disabilities. Whether support can contribute to those needs is very important. But employers also find it important whether the form of support can contribute to the needs of workers with disabilities. Whether the support is easy to find and use also determines which support sources employers use to overcome barriers in hiring and retaining these employees.

What do employers do and how do they differ from each other?

Employers vary in their approach to hiring and retaining workers with disabilities. This dissertation investigates the diversity in HR practices that employers use for the matching process, training and development, and social integration of workers with disabilities. We can understand why employers differ from each other in the way they shape HR practices by looking at the organisational context, such as the mission and vision of the organisation, the education level of jobs and the perception of employers about the added value of workers with disabilities.

What is important for workers with disabilities themselves?

The perspective of workers with disabilities themselves is often disregarded in research, says Van Os. That is why she conducted research among workers with disabilities for her dissertation to find out more about what they need from the employer to be able and willing to work (that is, their employability).

With her research, Van Os shows that various HR practices are important, such as making clear agreements about employee expectations, offering training and development opportunities, and workplace accommodations.

She also shows that social support in the workplace is very important. From the manager, colleagues, but also from embedded job coaches that are employed within the same organisation. Van Os notes that embedded job coaches are very important for the employability of people and that this also goes very well in combination with support from managers and colleagues.

Laura van Os is a researcher, consultant and trainer at ZINZIZ and a PhD student at the Utrecht University School of Governance (USG).