With about one-fifth of all Americans suffering from some form of disability, knowing how to accommodate employees with disabilities through the training process is of paramount importance. Every employee is capable of contributing great things to your organization, regardless of the disabilities they may be suffering from. The key to helping them make those contributions is knowing where and how to make adjustments to your workplace and training process.

At The Simmons Advantage, helping organizations make the changes necessary to get the full benefits of every employee’s work is one of the most important services we provide. Working with disability training providers like us can make the process of integrating employees with disabilities into your business structure a more effective and beneficial one.

We’ve previously written on our blog about performing job skills training for adult workers with disabilities. We’ve helped many clients through this process and to identify opportunities for beneficial worker accommodation. Here, we’ll be following up that post by explaining how to work with a disability training provider to take advantage of these opportunities.

Creating an accessible workplace

Previously, we wrote about identifying the type of disability your employee may have and analyzing their competencies in relation to their job functions. One other crucial purpose you’ll need this information for is providing workplace accommodation. The only way to know which accommodations are most critically needed is to know which disabilities your workers possess.

When you have this information, the first key step in making sure your employees have the tools to succeed in their role is to make the workplace as physically accessible as possible. Disability training providers can be of great use to your business here; many have worked with various businesses in different industries to accommodate different kinds of worker disabilities. It’s one thing to know which kinds of accommodations you can provide, but another to understand how to provide them without sacrificing your ROI.

Altering your training process

In addition to accommodations for physical accessibility, you’ll also need to take into account how to modify the training process to fit a worker’s needs in relation to their disabilities. There are various forms this kind of modification can take. A flexible schedule, specialized software, a person or device to aid in communication, and other changes in presentation are typical methods of adjusting your training process with obvious benefits for both the employee and your business.

Depending on the disability your employee possesses, it may not be entirely clear what sort of change to your training process would be most suitable. Even if it is, knowing the most beneficial and cost-effective way to go about it may not be. This is the second area where a disability training provider can be of great help to your organization. A provider with the right expertise will be able to identify what method of training material presentation will work best for your employee and suitable for you to implement at a reasonable cost.

Communicating with a service provider

Aside from the steps you can take to create a more inclusive workplace for employees with disabilities using a disability training provider’s help, it’s important to know how best to communicate with those providers and maintain an effective working relationship with them. This essentially boils down to being clear about your goals, circumstances, and needs with the provider.

If the provider is focused on your goals, able to adjust their services to fit the needs you’ve outlined, and can communicate with you clearly and on schedule, they may be an excellent choice for helping you create a more accommodating workplace in a way that will benefit your business. You can read more about best communication practices here.

Let us help you empower and accommodate your employees

The Simmons Advantage has the expertise to help you identify and execute effective strategies for training workers with disabilities and set them up to be valued assets for your company. Reach out now and find out what we can do for you.