Employee Accommodations Process Refresh: A Disability-Centered Design
IMPACT PARTNER
Employer in the Tech Industry (1,000 - 5,000 employees)
IMPACT AREA(S)
Employee Experience + Inclusion;
Accessibility Strategy
EXPERTISE PROVIDED
Design Research + Strategy;
Service Design;
Accessibility Consulting + Strategy
PROJECT DURATION
6 months
CHALLENGE
Upon interviewing with a company, I requested a copy of the accommodations process to ensure my needs would be met by the organizational policy. Throughout my interview experience, I recognized there was enthusiasm to meet my needs, but there were not prepared resources for interviewees, employees or managers.
This lack of clarity and preparation resulted in a decreased sense of belonging throughout the interview process and a lot of hesitation, when I was ultimately offered the position because, I didn’t know if my accommodations request would be fulfilled before the proposed start date.
OPPORTUNITY
After interviewing for the position, I was determined to better understand the accessibility service experience of the employees, why resources for interviewees and employees with disabilities weren’t provided in the current state, and who had influence over updates to the process.
APPROACH
Disabled employees at the organization recently started an Employee Resource Group (ERG) for employees with disabilities and allies. I proposed inviting Human Resources to the first ERG meeting for a “listening tour” to begin the discussion.
Following the collection of employee insights about accommodation process current state, ERG leadership convened with HR to debrief the discussion and determine next steps - a workshop series to distill the company Accessibility Philosophy
Due to prioritization of event planning for a company-wide event, collaboration between HR and the ERG ceased for ~3 months. The ideation workshop series was not conducted in lieu of internal solutioning within HR using the insights collected from the Employee Listening Session.
Image Above: Listening Tour - Accommodations Current-State Experience Template
Image Above: Accessibility Philosophy Workshop Introduction Slide
During these 3 months, the ERG pivoted to a ‘Committee’ model to strategically involve community members in furthering the identified community priority areas - Employee Accommodations, Disability-related Data Collection, and Communications. The Employee Accommodations Committee met during this collaboration gap to define what ongoing collaboration with HR might look like - considering equity factors such as the committee being made up of employee volunteers, not compensated for their work to support this initiative.
Upon reconvening, HR shared the internal solutions they’d developed and we re-aligned on how the community would be involved moving forward - starting with a feedback session with ERG leadership to workshop the proposed solutions and content to be inclusive. I provided expertise in disability etiquette, digital accessibility, and cognitive processing best practices to support this review.
Following group consensus on the importance of continuous community involvement and completion of the necessary updates to the proposed content and approach, it was time to get feedback from the ERG Employee Accommodations Committee. Following the Committee feedback session, it was time to launch!
IMPACT
In 2022, the new Accommodations process went live with much anticipated updates. Launch was announced during an ERG meeting to allow another live opportunity for community member feedback. Following the meeting, additional updates were applied to the newly published content.
Employees expressed relief, gratitude, and an increased sense of belonging after learning about and experiencing the new accommodations process - creating a more person-centric and predictable process for both employees and the employer.
Major Updates include:
Company Accommodations Philosophy
Distills the organizational approach to accommodations into a statement that can be shared alongside company values to instill a culture of disability inclusion and accommodation
Centralized Accommodations Intranet Page
Provides accommodations resources (noted above) in a single place
Standardized Request Forms: Personal Statement and Provider Statement
Creates a more predictable interaction with HR, compared to the previous process, mostly consisting of ad-hoc requests to HR via email
Ability to submit requests below a determined dollar amount with a Personal Statement only (no provider/doctor note required)
Allows employees who already know what they need to skip the hassle of doctor visits and approvals
Accommodations Catalog
Provides inspiration for employees who may need help finding a support that is the right fit for them
ERG Accommodations Committee Collaboration
Creates an ongoing line of communication to review the accommodations process on a predetermined cadence to account for learnings as the process matures and requires updates
New Hire Onboarding - Accommodations 101
Introduces new employees to the accommodations process and the concept of disability
Disability Inclusion Training
Prepares managers across the organization to include and support prospective and existing employees with disabilities
*Note: Employer was at the ‘sourcing’ stage for a curriculum vendor at close of sprint