Retail Asia 2018 RA September.October 2018 (Online) | Page 31

FOCUS
“Persons with disabilities are
a talent pool that
businesses, including
those in the retail
sector, can tap on.”
— Abhimanyau Pal,
Executive Director, SPD
have an open mind. Employment
placement officers working with SG
Enable can help modify job descriptions
to retain essential job functions and
tweak the non-essential job functions so
that they are more inclusive of persons
with various disabilities.
“The main thing to remember is
that employers should not create jobs
to hire from a particular disability
group. Instead, employers should look
to their existing job opening and be
open to modifying the roles so that they
do not rule out various persons with
disabilities,” she cautions.
For example, she said many hearing-
impaired persons have shared that they
apply for administrative roles, but are
turned down because they are required
to answer phone calls. However, with
the popularity of emails, texts and other
alternative communication, answering
phone calls is not an essential job
function in all cases.
In the retail sector, SPD’s Pal said
persons with disabilities have successfully
found employment in diverse roles —
from frontline positions such as store
assistants, customer service officers,
baristas and waiting staff, to backend
storekeeping as well as clerical and
administrative roles. “It is important not
to pigeonhole persons with disabilities
into specific roles but to recognise that
the special needs community is made
up of individuals with diverse abilities
and varying disabilities. Hence, job
matching should be based on capabilities
and abilities, and complemented with
job accommodation to help persons
with disabilities carry out their job
responsibilities effectively,” he says.
With coaching and ample support
from employers, person with disabilities
can take up various positions in the retail
sector such as packing and unpacking,
product replenishment, housekeeping,
quality check, simple merchandising,
labelling and tagging, Shen adds.
However, retailers should make sure
that they hire persons with disabilities
who are able to do the essential job
functions for a role they are hired for.
“Goodwill is great but hiring persons
with disabilities based on charity alone
will not likely create a sustainable
relationship,” Medjeral-Mills says.
Liu Yek Ling, senior lecturer,
Nanyang Polytechnic’s Singapore
Institute of Retail Studies (SIRS),
emphasises that understanding how
differently-abled potential employees
can contribute to various functions
in the retail sector is important. She
suggests looking into various resources
for consultancy and advice, including
SG Enable. After job-matching, retailers
can then train them through specialised
programmes. “Retailers must ensure that
the workplace is accessible and barrier-
free, review the spatial design and types
of equipment required to enable the
person with disability to work effectively.
In Singapore, there are funding schemes
available to support companies in
this area. Once such infrastructural
requirements are in place, companies can
hire even more differently-abled people,”
she opines.
Essential assimilation
Pal adds that retailers that hire through
voluntary welfare organisations which
help place jobseekers with disabilities
in open employment can work with
the organisations’ job coaches to better
understand the strengths and limitations
of the employees. “This will help the
employees to integrate better into the
workforce. Job accommodation such
as job carving and redesigning, tasks
swapping and willingness to provide
written instruction manuals for deaf
employees are some examples of how job
integration can occur,” he says.
Employers also need to be more
accommodating and be prepared to
take time to train and bring employees
with disabilities up to speed. Looking
into soft factors can greatly help persons
with disabilities fit into the office culture
and establish relationships with their
colleagues, Pal adds. It can be as simple
as helping the staff understand that their
wheelchair-using colleagues are able to
go out for lunch with them as long as
“Retailers who are looking to
hire persons with disabilities
first have to build an inclusive
company culture. This starts
with the leaders in
the company who
must walk the talk.
They need to have an
inclusive mindset.”
— Liu Yek Ling, Senior Lecturer,
Nanyang Polytechnic’s SIRS
Retail Asia September/October 2018
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