Don't ask, don't tell: Two views on human resource practices for people with disabilities

Abstract

Disability is an issue of concern for policymakers across the world. In terms of human resource practices and disability research, much has been done regarding factors relating to employability and employment prospects of people with disabilities. Not as much research has focused on human resource practices that enable people with disabilities to achieve their potential within organisations. Specifically, more attention is focused on job access and accommodation of people with disabilities but not on treatment once on the job. The present paper explores how employees with physical disabilities and their human resource managers perceive practices aimed at organisational entry, integration, and development of disabled employees. A sample of twenty four people with disabilities and fourteen human resource managers employed by various organisations in the Netherlands were interviewed. The results indicate, among other things, that people with disabilities are not aware of special mechanisms to recruit, select, and retain people with disabilities. Furthermore, organisations do not have a specific recruitment policy for people with disabilities mainly because they do not want to stigmatise people with disabilities. Overall, the results indicate that both sets of respondents want to treat people with disabilities as 'regular' employees and not focus attention and organisational practices on disability. Some respondents spoke of the potential benefits of additional help that could be aimed at disability related issues, but were hesitant to ask for such help. Employers also did not offer additional support unless asked, not wanting to highlight the disability based on fears of stigmatisation. Given this reluctance from both employees and employers, or an inadvertent 'don't ask, don't tell' situation, it is possible that people with disabilities remain an underutilised resource. Future research can systematically examine what employers mean by an inclusionary context, if this is what employees truly want, and how they can collectively implement diversity initiatives.This paper uses a history of US mutual funds from 1970-2007 to provide a comprehensive taxonomy. As assets under management grew from $43 billion to $11 trillion during this period, new fund products catering to a wide range of investor risk appetites were offered. Product diversification by asset class (stocks, bonds, currencies, options), by region (global, international, sector, developed, developing, frontier, country), by investment style (balanced, taxefficient, target data) and more recently by investment strategy (long-short, market neutral and bear) became available. Mutual fund providers in emerging (and emerged) market economies have begun to replicate some of these business models, often in partnership with US fund families. Academic research on mutual funds in the US has focused more on equities, but our paper provides results for many more asset classes and fund types. For each, we start by reporting statistics on the number of funds and their tot...

Supporting workers with disabilities: a scoping review of the role of human resource management in contemporary organisations

“…Third, there is substantial evidence of widespread discrimination among managers and poor use of HRM by organisations. There is a disconnection between HRM policies and practices and support for employees with disabilities (Kulkarni and Valk ). Discrimination in the workplace impacts on employees with a disability through negative employer perceptions, less opportunities for promotion (Schur, Kruse, and Blanck ), stricter standards of performance (Graffam et al.…”

“…For example, HR professionals and managers frequently struggle to accommodate and manage the needs of workers with physical disabilities (Kaye, Jans and Jones ) and appropriate management support is not always forthcoming (Barlow, Wright, and Wright ). The literature identifies a disconnection between HR policies and their implementation in practice (Kulkarni and Valk ) and fear of prohibitive costs in making workplace adjustment for workers with disabilities (Lewis, Dobbs, and Biddle ; Yang and Konrad ). Moreover, evidence suggests that managers and employers more generally have limited understanding or training regarding how to support workers with intellectual disabilities and those with mental health issues (Houtenville and Kalargyrou ).…”

HRM practices that support the employment and social inclusion of workers with an intellectual disability

“…First, mainstream HRM is underpinned by a competitive model and is almost silent on the challenges associated with workers with disabilities. In fact, mainstream HRM textbooks only give cursory attention to the management of people with disabilities even though according to a United Nations Report globally almost one in ten people have a disability (Kulkarni & Valk, 2010;United Nations, 2009). HRM is a set of techniques that influence the way work is carried out, but often fails to understand 'difference' and how to effectively manage difference purposefully to build competitive advantage (Foster, 2007).…”

“…HRM need to provide effective policies and practices that promote inclusion and we suggest this may be facilitated through social climate. However, there needs to be a clear connection between espoused HR policies and practices in action (Kulkarni & Valk, 2010). Employers also need a more complete understandings of how to effectively support WWID (Houtenville & Kalargyrou, 2012).…”

“…Employers also need a more complete understandings of how to effectively support WWID (Houtenville & Kalargyrou, 2012). Many managers need to be better acquainted with appropriate disability management practices and effective recruitment and retention practices for people with disabilities (Kulkarni & Valk, 2010). Despite some examples of excellent managerial practice and support of people with disabilities, a number of researchers argue that mainstream HRM does not sufficiently address the complexity surrounding disability or relationships between people with disabilities and organisations (Cook & Burke-Miller, 2015;Lerner et al, 2004;MacDonald-Wilson, Rogers, Massaro, Lyass, & Crean, 2002).…”