Customising a job for a person with disability

2. What is job customisation?

Job customisation is a process of tailoring a certain role to suit the skills of an employee, while meeting the needs of the employer.

It typically involves a process of negotiation between an employer and a potential employee before they begin their role. It can include reallocating tasks or exchanging duties with another colleague. The aim of these negotiations is to reach an employment arrangement that matches an employee’s skills and experience with an appropriate job.

Job customisation has a range of benefits. It allows managers and their team members to work collaboratively to better understand and draw on each other’s strengths and abilities. Job customisation can also be used to support staff members without disability who require adaptations to their work (for example, someone with caring responsibilities or someone experiencing a temporary illness or health issue).

3. What are the elements of a customised job?

A customised job is designed from the outset to fit the skills and circumstances of a particular person. This is different to the usual hiring model where a person is recruited to match the requirements of an available role. Various elements of a role may be customised, such as:

• hours of work
• location of work
• duties and responsibilities
• work expectations
• key performance indicators.

Essentially, all aspects of a prospective employee's role can be customised. Job customisation is most successful when there is openness, trust and strong communication between employers and employees.

4. The steps involved in job customisation

This section outlines the steps involved in customising a job or role. It has been adapted from Canadian organisation Ready, Willing & Able’s guide ‘Work Customization: Creating Employment Opportunities For People with a Disability in Today’s Workforce.

Step One - Job Analysis

Before engaging in job customisation, you will need to do a comprehensive job analysis.

Analyse these aspects of a job or role:

• the core activities essential to the position which can't be reallocated
• details of any physical requirements
• the expected hours, including potential out-of-hours or overtime work
• any face-to-face or customer service requirements
• the level of social skills required
• the level of communication skills required
• the level of computer skills required
• the level of literacy skills required
• the level of numeracy skills required.

Step Two - Organisation work assessment

Next, gather information from across your organisation more broadly to identify other work opportunities.

For example, consider whether the following exist in your organisation:

• tasks that are repeatedly left undone or unfinished
• tasks which should be done more frequently than they currently are
• regular duties which pull employees away from their core work
• areas of work which require additional assistance or project support
• peak busy periods
• employees who regularly work overtime
• other tasks that could be reallocated to improve efficiency.

Step Three - Employee work assessment

Once you have a good understanding of the core requirements, expectations and skill levels necessary in a certain job, as well as other opportunities present across the organisation, the process of customising a job can begin!

Get to know the potential employee. Take time to understand their interests, goals, previous experience, skills and any other valued characteristics. Consider how this matches the work opportunities you identified above.

Step Four - Customising the job or role

Work with the individual to design a customised job or role which matches your organisation's needs and the employee's skills.

You should:

• be open to discussing and re‑negotiating any proposals until both parties are happy with the customised role
• anticipate questions from the employee and plan accordingly
• outline how the employee will be supported or trained so that they feel confident.

Step Five - Communication, feedback and evaluation

The final stage involves ongoing communication, feedback and evaluation for the employee in their newly customised role. If customised roles are new to you or the employee, be open to discussing further changes to the role. You should also be open to assisting with workplace adjustments and providing extra training or support if needed.

Case study - Reallocating tasks

A large commercial law firm has recently advertised for a senior property lawyer to assist with its growing property practice.

Ali is a senior lawyer with many years of experience practising in property law. He has recently been described as a ‘rising star’ by a prominent legal publication. Ali is blind and uses screen-reading software to access documents.

Senior lawyers at the firm are provided with corporate credit cards. Each lawyer is responsible for reconciling all expenses in the firm’s financial management system. The firm’s financial management system is not compatible with screen reading software.

The firm hires Ali. The task of reconciling expenses in the financial management system is carved out of his role. A legal assistant takes over this task.

Hiring Ali resolved the firm’s resourcing problem and helped attract more clients due to Ali’s strong reputation as an experienced lawyer. Ali was able to contribute his skills and experience in a way that was customised to his circumstances.

5. Benefits of job customisation

Job customisation is a ‘win-win’ arrangement.

Employers benefit from job customisation in numerous ways. Customising jobs:

• can result in improved staff productivity and performance
• allows employers to effectively draw on the skills and abilities of their workforce, and the broader labour market
• can promote a more inclusive and diverse workforce

The more an employer engages in job customisation, the better they will become at it.

For employees in customised jobs, the benefits are profound:

• The unique strengths of people as individuals and employees are recognised.
• Individuals are empowered to feel included in the workplace, participate in the labour market and grow in their career.
• The benefits of workplace flexibility are championed, allowing an individual’s particular circumstances to be considered while maximising their ability to contribute. This can have broader benefits for other employees in the organisation.
• Employees are provided with a source of income, security, and the many benefits that come with having a job.

Case study - Matching skills and interests

A large commercial law firm has recently advertised for a senior property lawyer to assist with its growing property practice. Ali is a senior lawyer with many years of experience practising in property law. He has recently been described as a ‘rising star’ by a prominent legal publication. Ali is blind and uses screen-reading software to access documents. Senior lawyers at the firm are provided with corporate credit cards. Each lawyer is responsible for reconciling all expenses in the firm’s financial management system. The firm’s financial management system is not compatible with screen reading software.

The firm hires Ali. The task of reconciling expenses in the financial management system is carved out of his role. A legal assistant takes over this task. Hiring Ali resolved the firm’s resourcing problem and helped attract more clients due to Ali’s strong reputation as an experienced lawyer. Ali was able to contribute his skills and experience in a way that was customised to his circumstances.^[1]

6. Resources

For more information on job customisation see:

• National Disability Services, Discovering Customised Employment.
• JobAccess, Job analysis and Customisation.
• Inclusion Australia, Customised Employment for People with Intellectual Disability.
• Resourcing Inclusive Communities, Customised Employment Resources
• Imagine More, Resources for Customised Employment
• Centre for Disability Employment Research and Practice, Customised Employment: Work First Customised Employment Program Outline.
• Ready, Willing & Able, Work Customization: Creating Employment Opportunities for People with a Disability in Today's Workforce (2013).
• Cary Griffin, David Hammis and Tammara Geary, The Job Developer's Handbook: Practical Tactics for Customized Employment (2007, Brookes Publishing).

Endnotes

[1] This example, and other aspects of this factsheet, are based on a guide by Ready, Willing & Able, Work Customization: Creating Employment Opportunities For People with a Disability in Today’s Workforce (2013).