Finding employment is difficult. Finding employment as a visually impaired individual can be especially difficult because many companies are hesitant to hire a worker with a disability.
An aversion to hiring and working with impaired workers is a huge mistake for a variety of reasons. Impaired workers bring incredible skill, talent, and capabilities to the table. Passing on an employee for a physical impairment is not only unethical and wrong, but could give you a huge disadvantage in your industry.
Not only could you be missing out on working with some of the dental industry’s finest talent, but your competitors might hire them and grow their business with an exceptional staff.
Here are just some of the benefits many employers don’t take into consideration when passing on visually impaired dental professionals.
How They Work
Working with physically impaired employees gives your business an opportunity to work in new ways you might not ever consider. In any field, visually impaired employees will work differently than other employees. Often people with disabilities are better equipped to get creative with how they complete their tasks. Even a little bit of creativity can revolutionize how things get done in the office.
Your practice could have a set way of scheduling appointments, organizing patient files, or processing billing. Many of the tasks in a dental practice are frequently repeated, but are they efficient? Could there be a better way to work?
In some cases, a visually impaired Administrator might use creative methods to handle clerical issues using other technologies and methods to keep track of files and memorize aspects of a client’s records that might be overlooked by those who have the benefit of just re-reading a file.
While visually impaired employees might have unspoken skills that can benefit a dental practice, they also provide legal benefits.
Visually Impaired Employees Are Great For Your Practice
In addition to the advantage of working with more resourceful and innovative employees, hiring visually impaired workers could offer financial benefits for your practice.
Retention
For one thing, impaired employees have a higher retention rate than those who are not impaired. This means you will spend less time looking for, hiring, and onboarding new staff.
Worker Happiness & Loyalty
A study conducted in a call center in Illinois found that impaired employees had a 1.7-year retention rate compared to the 0.9 years of unimpaired employees. While a call center is not a dental practice, this demonstrates how employers who foster a healthy and happy workplace for the visually impaired could also increase worker loyalty in the process.
Lower Accidents
Visually impaired employees are highly cautious due to the nature of their disability. This means that they are statistically less likely to be involved in a workplace accident. Not only does this reduce the odds of an unnecessary workplace injury, but it keeps you a little safer against worker’s compensation claims being filed for employees who are injured on the job.
More Business
Did you know? 87% of U.S. consumers would rather do business with companies employing people with disabilities. Clearly, you are not going to advertise your practice any differently because of who you hire. But word of mouth is the best advertisement. Your patients will notice and tell their friends and family. So, if you are looking for a way to set yourself apart in your industry, there’s no better way than demonstrating your practice treats their employees well and is a rewarding place to work.
In some cases, employing the physically impaired can even result in financial benefits from the IRS, such as tax credits.
Michigan Dental Practices Get the Advantage With the Visually impaired
Visually impaired employees can prove to be a considerable asset despite or even because of their impairment. Aside from being more creative and cautious compared to fully able employees, they provide a greater degree of financial and staffing security that you might not see with a staff composed entirely of unimpaired workers.
At the end of the day, all that is important is how well they can do their job and not how well they can see. If you are looking to reinforce your staff with qualified employees, impaired or otherwise, we at Peak Performers specialize in finding the very best dental professionals in Michigan. Contact us today to help your workforce reach its peak!
