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Is Your Organisation Handicapping Itself |
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Written by Paul Bacon
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Are you willing and able to hire the right person?
In an economy that is increasingly competitive, the onus is firmly on Chinese HR staff to dig out the best possible talent for their organisation. With this in mind, ask yourself if you are doing all you conceivably can to recruit top people to your ranks. You think you are? Ok, now think again. Are you really exploring every avenue at your disposal, are you looking at every individual who might just make the difference?
China has a disabled population of over 82 million people. To put that figure into context, the entire population of the United Kingdom is just 61 million, France is also around the 60 million mark and neither Canada nor Australia have over 35 million inhabitants. Of those 82 million, many are elderly, but there still remain over 38 million disabled people who could be potential employees. Unfortunately, the sad fact of the matter is that they are often easily overlooked. Yet 38 million is a massive number, one you surely cannot afford to ignore. Again, to put it into sharp context, the combined populations of Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin (China's three biggest cities) do not even reach that mark. Also, think of how much attention Taiwan receives in both the media and the national psyche; the population there is just 23 million.
Sparking awareness
In just over one year's time, as everyone knows, the Olympic Games will come to Beijing. However, you may be less aware that the Paralympic Games - where disabled people from across the globe compete in their own events - will also come to the Chinese capital. A worldwide event of that nature will surely work to raise awareness and to revolutionise attitudes towards disabilities. Yet, it should not need to! Your organisation should already be up to speed, but it should not just be looking simply to keep up, it should be striving to win the race.
"remain over 38 million disabled people who could be potential employees"
Disability awareness in the Chinese workplace is growing fast. According to two major surveys carried out in 1987 and again in 2007 by the government, over the last twenty years the disabled population has risen from 50 million to today's mark of over 80 million. The climate has, in that time, also changed dramatically. The central government has made efforts to improve disabled rights by introducing the Law on the Protection of Disabled Person's in 1990, which ensures that "no discrimination shall be practiced against disabled persons in employment." China was also amongst the first countries to sign the U.N.'s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in March of this year, which is designed to "promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity."
Can fei or can do?
There is a legal framework in place to ensure that disabled people receive equal rights in the workplace, but that is not really the issue. Organisations in China need to undergo a sea-change in terms of attitude. Over the past twenty years the amount of disabled people in employment has risen from less than 60% to over 80%. Also, the use of terms such as can fei (handicapped and useless) are being replaced with far more respectful terms, such as can ji ren (persons with disabilities). Progress is being made, but nevertheless, many companies are still yet to take a dynamic approach to disabilities. The deciding factor in these attitudes is often not discrimination, but rather ignorance. Many organisations do not have disabled staff and consequently they know little about them. It will not take much to change this way of thinking. Let me give some examples of the potential value of many disabled people.
Cast your minds back to last year. Stephen Hawking, one of the world's leading physicists, addressed an audience of over 6,000 in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. Why, you may ask, was this so special? Professor Hawking suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - often also known as Lou Gehrig's disease - and is confined to a wheelchair. His speech was broadcast across China on CCTV and across the world by international TV networks. However, to make that speech he was forced to use a computer driven voice synthesizer operated by just his eye movements because he is unable to speak without assistance and his muscles are so weak that he cannot operate using his hands. Despite the difficulties Hawking had in communicating with his audience, he received a rapturous reception, something that is not always true for members of China's own disabled community.
Stephen Hawking would be a particularly extreme example of the often hidden value of people with disabilities. It is, after all, extremely unlikely that in your recruiting process you will encounter someone with such sharp intellect coupled with such a severe disability. However, there are countless disabled people in China who have vital skills and who could well be the missing piece in your organisation's talent jigsaw.
Let us take an example that comes from a little closer to home. Xu Hongyan is visually impaired, yet despite this, she leads a life that is fuller and more challenging than any of us could imagine. She is best known for her exploits as part of China's paralympic athletics team, with whom she won a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 for the discus. However, of more interest to us in the HR world, is the fact that she combines this with being a deputy in China's National People's Congress. Working in one of China's highest political bodies is a demanding job. Yet, Xu Hongyan manages to perform her role, compete for her country and also raise her young child - evidently, she is a very capable young woman.
Ok, now let's imagine you are in an interview situation and Xu sits down before you. How do you define her? Is she a potential candidate with supreme resilience and great ability, or simply a blind woman, a can fei? Can you see past the fact that she is blind?
Employees fit for your organisation
Discovering talented people who are right for your organisation is not an easy process. It becomes harder still if you are discounting 38 million people before you even begin to look. However, there is also the practical aspect to consider. Were you to be lucky enough to hire Stephen Hawking or Xu Hongyan, would you be able to accommodate them physically in your office? Well, it is likely that your office has made some provisions for disabled people. In fact it should have made these provisions, by law! The Law on Protection of Disabled People features an article on accessibility listing the Codes for Design and Accessibility of Urban Roads and Buildings, which cover everything from roads and public plazas to offices and businesses.
"Organisations in China need to undergo a sea-change in terms of attitude"
The Codes are generally well implemented in major cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Local authorities in both Beijing and Shenzen even drafted new regulations to ensure that transport systems were more accessible to everyone. However, meeting the Codes should not be the limit of your organisation's vision; it should be looking to go above and beyond - to make any necessary changes to accommodate disabled employees. Doing this is not such an easy proposition. Just as every able-bodied employee in your organisation is an individual with individual needs and abilities, so too are any disabled employees. The issue is whether you are prepared to go beyond your basic legal obligations to make them feel welcome and to integrate them into your workforce. Ask yourself, will you install wheelchair facilities, such as lifts and widened doorways? Will you purchase software to help blind employees use their computers? Will you make the efforts required for each and every potential employee?
The crux to this whole situation is simple. There are legal obligations in place when it comes to disabled people in the workplace. However, no organization should look upon these as obligations; they should see them as opportunities to grasp or foundations to build upon. This way you can truly look at all potential employees with dispassionate eyes.
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