One of the most important essence of democracy is equal employment opportunity for everyone, regardless of creed, religion, color, and gender. In fact, this principle is so important that it reverberated throughout the constitution, and laws were passed based therefrom. What does this means in HRM (Human Resource Management) and Recruitment?I remember my days in recruitment where we have to wade through pile load of resumes and application forms to short-list candidates for employment; and where in some cases, we sometimes choose based on physical appearance (that is based on the applicants’ photos ^^). While there is a law that prohibits discrimination of those who are physically impaired, yet qualified to take some jobs, we are even hesitant to consider these candidates.
The advancement in technology has eliminated this hesitance (and possibly, any other reason and hint to discriminate job applicants) and made it more possible for the impaired to compete with those who are not. Technology is for everyone. And thank God that assistive technology is developing so fast lately and is being made affordable for everyone.
The advancement in technology has eliminated this hesitance (and possibly, any other reason and hint to discriminate job applicants) and made it more possible for the impaired to compete with those who are not. Technology is for everyone. And thank God that assistive technology is developing so fast lately and is being made affordable for everyone.
What it is Assistive Technology and What it is for?
According to The National Center on Accessible Information Technology in Education:it is technology used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible. Assistive technology can include mobility devices such as walkers and wheelchairs, as well as hardware, software, and peripherals that assist people with disabilities in accessing computers or other information technologies. For example, people with limited hand function may use a large key computer keyboards or a special mouse to operate a computer, people who are blind may use software that reads text on the screen in a computer-generated voice, people with low vision may use software that enlarges screen content, people who are deaf may use a TTY (text telephone), or people with speech impairments may use a device that speaks out loud as they enter text via a keyboard.In short, Assistive Technology made equal opportunity employment possible for all. Hence, any HRM practitioner, or business has no more excuse why they will not hire an impaired person for a job that he or she is qualified when all else has been considered.
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About the Author
Nor Franco is the Managing Director and Virtual CEO of nextManager.net. He's a former corporate executive whose passion is bringing out the full potential of HR in Businesses. This time that passion is pursued through Virtual Management. He writes and blogs about his management views and insights here. Follow him on Twitter.
