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Weed Out Paternalism in the WorkplaceBy: Jim Hasse
Summary:
eSight members tell what you can do as an employer to weed out paternalism in your workforce. The payoff: You'll tap the potential employees with disabilities have for helping your company compete successfuly in today's marketplace. 
It's All About Gaining Adult Status
Value Potential As Well As Experience Look for Emotional Intelligence About Disability Recognize Paternalism When It Crops Up It's All About Gaining Adult Status Paternalism flourishes under these three conditions: the job seeker's lack of experience, the job seeker's misguided approach toward disability and the employer's lack of awareness. It's a weed which can sap your company's productivity and competitiveness because it chokes off the potential job candidates with disabilities have for helping you effectively and efficiently serve customers. It's time to weed out paternalism in the corporate world. Participants on eSight's "Swimming in the Mainstream" (SiM) blog talked about how individuals with a disability can best deal with paternalism on the job, and, in the process, they came up with some insight about what both employees and employers can do to both prevent and combat it. Specifically, they discussed this question: You can review their complete discussion about this topic on the SiM blog. Go to Top of Page Value Potential As Well As Experience I know it's tempting to see yourself as a father or mother figure toward someone who joins your firm and has no corporate experience (a situation which can be fairly common with individuals who have a disability). You want to help. But, as a leader, you might be more effective in pairing that new recruit with a mentor and assuming the role you normally take as a manager or supervisor. Take a look at what Mike writes: "Let me add further that I also have trouble with not becoming yet another statistic. Trying to acquire a decent job when you are visually impaired is extremely difficult if not almost impossible. Though I possess the formal education, I still lack much needed experience in my field of study and expertise where I can get my foot in the door. However I will not give up, but I am afraid I may not be headed in the right direction in order for me to get where I believe I need to be at this point in my life... "Most of my former class mates already have jobs in their profession, though I am still 'plodding along' as they say. I did apply for a management trainee position with the National Industries for The Blind, and I am presently waiting on their decision. I should know something by mid or late September 2005 as to whether or not I was selected for the position..." Go to Top of Page Look for Emotional Intelligence About Disability In a job candidate or someone newly hired with a disability, look for discernment and assertiveness (not aggression) with the ability to project oneself as an adult. For example, as a radio personality in Canada who is blind, Alyzza finds condescending pats on the back for doing what everyone else does particularly aggravating. "It's almost like social expectations (for people with visual impairments) are so low that even the most mediocre activity warrants praise with abandon," she writes. Liz, a teacher and writer, puts such paternalism into perspective: "You want to be treated like an adult? Do the best job you know how to, act professionally but with humor and empathy and then show how it's done." Barney concurs with Liz. He actually sees the tendency to treat adults with disabilities in a child-like manner as an opportunity: "We have the opportunity to teach them who we are and what we are capable of. We are looking for allies and supporters. Everyone will not fit this bill, do not dally try to convert people. Know who you are and act accordingly. I heard something the other day I would like to share: 'My potential is limitless. My present circumstances do not determine my future. My disability is a bonus.' "I have learned a great deal about myself, life and people since my disability that I AM CERTAIN I would have missed under any other circumstances. "Actually, Peter Pan's refrain: 'I won't grow up' comes to mind. Is being a child so bad? Actually a childlike honesty is better than the double-dealing callous approach of so many sophisticated folks. "What I do not know will teach me more than all the knowledge rattling in my brain. Each encounter is an opportunity to become more of who we are. Enjoy the opportunities." Go to Top of Page Recognize Paternalism When It Crops Up Consider the following two before-and-after examples of how pervasive paternalism can be in a variety of circumstances. Dr. Art Blaser is assistant dean, School of Law at California's Chapman University. "I have been a person with disabilities (PWD) since I was almost 40," he says. "Among my greatest surprises was that ... most (people) will underestimate my age by at least five years." He adds: "Most suggestions that a PWD's age is lower reflect a failure to see the PWD as an equal. Unless the deed as well as the intent are eventually recognized, there is an open invitation to further demeaning treatment." Jeremy also noticed a gap in credibility: "Obviously closer observers were aware, and, now that I think about it, I had to spend more time than necessary convincing people that my ideas or opinions were valid and relevant. "But my main reason for writing is to admit that after 'coming out' and using a cane, which incidentally changed my life, I have also noticed a tendency of people to doubt my maturity... "I run or co-run Disability Solutions, a consultancy focused on disability integration issues, and I have definitely noticed this tendency to regard one as not quite adult. I know my business partner, Guy, who is a paraplegic, can relate to this, too... "I have noticed a tendency with clients to being more cautious when making a decision about using our services. They are simply awed at having to deal with PWDs on the same level as they, particularly since they have no experience whatsoever or rarely of PWDs at their level in the organization... "I was most annoyed recently when I was told that my training on disability awareness was too expensive. This in the face of the client having spent more on a diversity program which had left disability out. As far as I can ascertain, most diversity program over here (New Zealand) leave disability out or deal with it very sketchily. Yet, diversity sells well." Maturity, respect, credibility -- all three are in jeopardy for both the individual with a disability as well as your corporate culture when paternalism is allowed to grow, largely due to lack of awareness and misinformation. Be sure to view the offering statements of each of these SiM blog participants. Made possible by a grant from the American Express Foundation.
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