Thread: Lionel's Wellbeing, mayhem and mischief corner

Hello All,

Some of Double Chevron's earlier comments made me stop and think. This led me to write the following. Yes, folks - my clandestine activities continue....

Kind regards
Lionel

================================================== ===============
Proactively making your workplace more inclusive can reap multiple measurable and definable benefits for your company.

One of the hardest things to do when adopting disability inclusive practices within the workplace, or indeed within a society, is to exclusively quarantine the benefits to just the individuals with disability that you adopt inclusive practices for. For example, the incorporation of ramps into a building, or the transition from a footpath to a roadway - via a slightly-angled, instead of an acute-angled kerb, will allow wheelchair accessibility. The same angled-back kerb also aids young family groups who have infants in prams. Individuals with temporary or permanent mobility issues that require wheelie-walkers will also benefit from angled kerbing. Or simply attempting to get a trolley full of groceries to your car in a shopping centre's carpark by featuring angled kerbs. Steep vertical drop-offs between the footpath and the carpark service can be a very disconcerting event to experience even for the fit and healthy.

Focussing on Autism and inclusion can have flow on benefits: A quick dive into research about Autism will reveal that higher levels of stress and anxiety are frequently associated with the condition. The same article will frequently mention how giving clear and concrete, non-ambiguous directions to an individual with Autism can reduce the rise of stress and anxiety. To accommodate this fact, as a manager you could ask the policy section of your company to review all the policies and procedures so that they are clear and unambiguous.

Do you think that the only the Autistic members of your staff will benefit from this review of policies and procedures? I am confident that you will find that the answer is a resounding, 'no'. In fact, you may find that the overall performance of your company is increased. This is because the general amount of stress and anxiety caused by attempting to implement unclear policies and practices by all your staff will be reduced. Staff who are less stressed and anxious at work take less sick leave than stressed and anxious staff do. This increases overall productivity. Having a less stressed and anxious staff could have another side-effect - your staff might be more efficient and even happier. This improvement in the workplace is another factor that is difficult to quarantine. Do you think that your customers or stakeholders might benefit from having more efficient staff when they interact with your company and workplace? Who knows, your company may become the employer of choice within your industry.

Think of the benefits that may be produced when your clients walk away from interacting with your staff feeling happier than when they first entered your establishment. Your company could become the provider of choice for your customers and stakeholders. All these benefits could be brought about by what are the difficult to contain the positive consequences of your choosing to make your workplace more inclusive. Instead of automatically associating more disability inclusive practices as a cost; perhaps the time might just be right to consider all the real, definable and measurable benefits that can be attached to inclusiveness. Your personal and company's bottom line may actually benefit from making such changes. There could be an additional quarantine breach too - you as a manager could be a happier person too - I am confident that your family and friends will appreciate this too.

Codesign Policies and procedures: Something to consider when making changes to policies and procedures is not to have the task done in isolation where only the policy staff are involved. Codesign or collaborative practices that involve staff with disability and other workplace groups will bring about greater improvement. Staff who are collaborating with your policy or human resources team have their own lived experience ? this is a valuable commodity. This value should be acknowledged accordingly through providing higher duties payment while they are part of the collaborative team. During the time spent working on the collaborative project the key performance indicators associated with that employee's employment should also be adjusted. There is little point increasing the levels of stress and anxiety while working on stress and anxiety reduction polices. This can be caused when an employee is being pressured by their direct supervisor about the reduction in productivity while they are attending policy meetings. Let the staff member's supervisor know that their worker is making a valuable contribution to the company while they are away from their workstation.

'Reasonable adjustments' it is all in the name: Such essentially, 'reasonable adjustments' will acknowledge the value that your organisation places on that staff member. This may lead to the benefit that your employee may decide that they want to stay with your company. Recruitment for new staff can be a very drawn out and expensive process. This equates to more benefits for your company by it proactively being more inclusive. People with disabilities are an asset to your company. Inclusion brings benefits to all and can snowball beyond your immediate and future expectations.

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

Hello All,

Some of Double Chevron's earlier comments made me stop and think. This led me to write the following. Yes, folks - my clandestine activities continue....

Kind regards
Lionel

================================================== ===============
Proactively making your workplace more inclusive can reap multiple measurable and definable benefits for your company.

One of the hardest things to do when adopting disability inclusive practices within the workplace, or indeed within a society, is to exclusively quarantine the benefits to just the individuals with disability that you adopt inclusive practices for. For example, the incorporation of ramps into a building, or the transition from a footpath to a roadway - via a slightly-angled, instead of an acute-angled kerb, will allow wheelchair accessibility. The same angled-back kerb also aids young family groups who have infants in prams. Individuals with temporary or permanent mobility issues that require wheelie-walkers will also benefit from angled kerbing. Or simply attempting to get a trolley full of groceries to your car in a shopping centre's carpark by featuring angled kerbs. Steep vertical drop-offs between the footpath and the carpark service can be a very disconcerting event to experience even for the fit and healthy.

Focussing on Autism and inclusion can have flow on benefits: A quick dive into research about Autism will reveal that higher levels of stress and anxiety are frequently associated with the condition. The same article will frequently mention how giving clear and concrete, non-ambiguous directions to an individual with Autism can reduce the rise of stress and anxiety. To accommodate this fact, as a manager you could ask the policy section of your company to review all the policies and procedures so that they are clear and unambiguous.

Do you think that the only the Autistic members of your staff will benefit from this review of policies and procedures? I am confident that you will find that the answer is a resounding, 'no'. In fact, you may find that the overall performance of your company is increased. This is because the general amount of stress and anxiety caused by attempting to implement unclear policies and practices by all your staff will be reduced. Staff who are less stressed and anxious at work take less sick leave than stressed and anxious staff do. This increases overall productivity. Having a less stressed and anxious staff could have another side-effect - your staff might be more efficient and even happier. This improvement in the workplace is another factor that is difficult to quarantine. Do you think that your customers or stakeholders might benefit from having more efficient staff when they interact with your company and workplace? Who knows, your company may become the employer of choice within your industry.

Think of the benefits that may be produced when your clients walk away from interacting with your staff feeling happier than when they first entered your establishment. Your company could become the provider of choice for your customers and stakeholders. All these benefits could be brought about by what are the difficult to contain the positive consequences of your choosing to make your workplace more inclusive. Instead of automatically associating more disability inclusive practices as a cost; perhaps the time might just be right to consider all the real, definable and measurable benefits that can be attached to inclusiveness. Your personal and company's bottom line may actually benefit from making such changes. There could be an additional quarantine breach too - you as a manager could be a happier person too - I am confident that your family and friends will appreciate this too.

Codesign Policies and procedures: Something to consider when making changes to policies and procedures is not to have the task done in isolation where only the policy staff are involved. Codesign or collaborative practices that involve staff with disability and other workplace groups will bring about greater improvement. Staff who are collaborating with your policy or human resources team have their own lived experience ? this is a valuable commodity. This value should be acknowledged accordingly through providing higher duties payment while they are part of the collaborative team. During the time spent working on the collaborative project the key performance indicators associated with that employee's employment should also be adjusted. There is little point increasing the levels of stress and anxiety while working on stress and anxiety reduction polices. This can be caused when an employee is being pressured by their direct supervisor about the reduction in productivity while they are attending policy meetings. Let the staff member's supervisor know that their worker is making a valuable contribution to the company while they are away from their workstation.

'Reasonable adjustments' it is all in the name: Such essentially, 'reasonable adjustments' will acknowledge the value that your organisation places on that staff member. This may lead to the benefit that your employee may decide that they want to stay with your company. Recruitment for new staff can be a very drawn out and expensive process. This equates to more benefits for your company by it proactively being more inclusive. People with disabilities are an asset to your company. Inclusion brings benefits to all and can snowball beyond your immediate and future expectations.

Its still to hard to read. As soon as I see "inclusive" or any of those buzz words, my brain screams "this will be a lefty moron"... and I'll stop reading right there. Though in this case, certainly not. This however is far to difficult to read. If these sort of policies are required in workplaces where there is disabled people working, workplaces will just not hire anyone with a disability or autism as its simply to much effort and drama, not to mention cost.

Can this be written in a way an "average" person would be happy to read it. This reads to much like a researcher has written it for other researchers to read. Imagine getting your average McDonalds worker to read and understand any of these articles.

seeya,
Shane L.

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

Its still to hard to read. As soon as I see "inclusive" or any of those buzz words, my brain screams "this will be a lefty moron"... and I'll stop reading right there. Though in this case, certainly not. This however is far to difficult to read. If these sort of policies are required in workplaces where there is disabled people working, workplaces will just not hire anyone with a disability or autism as its simply to much effort and drama, not to mention cost.

Can this be written in a way an "average" person would be happy to read it. This reads to much like a researcher has written it for other researchers to read. Imagine getting your average McDonalds worker to read and understand any of these articles.

seeya,
Shane L.

Hello Shane,

You are equally as astute this time around as you were previously. I am targeting - as described in an earlier post - a particular audience. I am a researcher - writing for other researchers - who knows a company director with a wellbeing and inclusion budget they wish to spend. I did train and work as a print journalist for a couple of years. I can write for the journalistic target audience of readers who reached Year 10 level. Your average McDonald's worker.

However, what I am currently writing is not targeting a Year 10 audience. Please consider Shane that this site - with further ongoing negotiations with Dave (Incisor) is a clearing house. This is a space that provides me with proof that what content I might send a company - that I either work for or consult for, cannot claim that my contributions to something like a "Wellbeing Tips and Tricks" section belongs to that company. This is intellectual property that the company can claim to hold commercial rights over in perpetuity - meaning forever.

Here is an example. If you do not perform all your own mechanical work on your car you will take more complicated jobs to a mechanic. You hope - because it is not always guaranteed - that the mechanic you have taken your pride and joy to is competent. They have trained in a TAFE college (okay I am showing personal prejudice here) and passed all their trade tests. They have also worked with other tradespeople at the workshop. Each year of working in their trade after they finished their apprenticeship acts as a store of first-hand gained knowledge and experience that they can draw on when they work on your car. If they are an independent workshop - they have also chosen specific tools and equipment that they need to successfully and efficiently work on your car. When you go to pick up your expertly worked on car you pay the mechanic the bill. You are not only paying for parts and labour, you are paying for their expertise. This is the very same service they offer all their clients - because they are a good operator and they are a professional.

Do you think it would be reasonable for the mechanic if you came along and said, "Right, now that you have received my payment for your services, I have exclusive rights over any further work you accept. I can choose who you take on as a client and I can choose what vehicles you work on. Get used to the following fact - from now on all the work you do is mine. I get the rewards for your work from now until forever."Oh, and if you publish or present anything new based off your PhD, I will own it too because it is based off the work I paid you to do. Your arse is mine".

Do you think this is fair and reasonable? This is what most organisations attempt to achieve when they form their Intellectual Property policies. In such an example my years of study - lived experience is handed over to a company who can do with the content whatever they want - without crediting my work. For some strange reason I object to this. Hence, this clearing house. It provides me with proof that all I did was spend five minutes of company time pasting in some work that I can prove was conducted elsewhere in my own time and using all my own resources. Unfortunately - this knowledge was gained via my having to pay for an Intellectual Property Rights lawyer's services before I even completed my Doctoral studies. I learnt that I have to cover my arse! Via the good ole school of hard knocks. Once bitten ...

By the way, Shane - I can even write short posts - about Land Rovers. Take a look at some of posts in other sections

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello All,

Welcome to Lionel's Wellbeing, mayhem and mischief corner!

With a tweak of my subscription level and after some further consultation with Dave (Incisor) - welcome to this new thread under General Chat!

Take great care visiting this thread as it may not contain ANY Land Rover content. This thread will most likely contain some "Touchy & Feely" content. So just be aware. Forewarned is forearmed.

I welcome constructive feedback.

Now, that this is identified as a separate thread within General Chat, it will allow people to skip past any posts - if you are not interested in reading the content.

Welcome - welcome - one and all!

Kind regards
Dr. Lionel

Hello Dr Lionel,
Ive got this itch... down there...



Yes Yes its a 007 line....

I hope this works out for both of us..

I wait with caution. I must say that I was missing Bob10 and his sometimes, obscure input.

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

Hello Dr Lionel,
Ive got this itch... down there...



Yes Yes its a 007 line....

I hope this works out for both of us..

Hello Pedro,

No - not that sort of wellbeing, Pedro. Your description would come more along the lines of medical. My area is preventative health - health promotion = wellbeing. Oh. "Dr". as in Doctor of Philosophy. Topic of thesis oddly enough dealt with wellbeing and disability - go figure!

Regards
Lionel

Good decision Lionel, the Dr. says "No".