By Peter Moffat

In my previous blog post, I introduced the four elements of a good disability management strategy or program (awareness, health promotion, disability prevention, and return to work program/strategy).  Now I’d like to dig in and discuss the first element, which is awareness as it relates to disability management in your organization.

Raising awareness of your disability management program is critical to its success.  You can create and implement all kinds of tools and resources to help manage or reduce disability in the workplace, but the disability management strategy will fail if the members of the organization are not aware of how to access and utilize those tools and resources.

By implementing a good communication strategy surrounding disability management, you can create enhanced employee / employer relationships, improve the quality of your workforce, reduce stigma related to certain disabilities, and help keep the lines of communication open through all levels of the organization.

What do we mean specifically by awareness?  We mean being aware of not only the impact of the true cost of disability and absence from the workplace, but also the tools at your disposal to promote health and help prevent disability.  Raising awareness of disability management resources to employees can be done through many different channels, and here are a few examples: orientation sessions, online supports, posters & promotional material, newsletters, and education sessions.  In terms of managers, it is important for them to be able to identify and define disability, be aware of the legal context and implications of disability, and provide access to work and reasonable accommodations.

What can you hope to achieve by raising the awareness of your disability management program or strategy?  The long term goal, simply stated, is to keep employees at work longer, and in the event of disability, make sure that they get back as quickly as possible!

Read Part Three now, or refer back to Part One.

Peter Moffat is an associate with TRG Group Benefits. There are many phrases one might use in a biography, and one that is rarely used is the word “attack” because of the risk it carries. But, when used properly, it’s one of the words that describe Peter Moffat. Learn more.