What is your ideal day of being happy at work? Perhaps it is one of the below sequence of events, or if you’re lucky, maybe the perfect day at work is all of them.
Setting The Scene For A Perfect Day At Work
Let’s forget the bit about getting up on time with the perfect breakfast and coffee, we’ll begin with the journey to work itself. Imagine if you got into your car at the same time everyday and on this perfect day all the traffic lights turn to green. As an added bonus the traffic is also very light, allowing you to get to work 10 minutes early. Being early makes all the difference to your mindset, starting it off on a relaxed, positive note, and ready to take on anything that comes your way throughout the day.
As you pull up to work your favourite car parking space is empty and waiting for you, saving you even more time from needing to drive around the car park looking for a space.
When you enter the work building, the lift is working today for a change, so you don’t have to go to your floor via the stairs. Although, of course you think to yourself that the stairs would have been the healthier option.
With the extra time that you’ve gained, you decide to treat yourself to getting a nice cuppa, before the rest of your work colleagues come in. The coffee machine is full and ready to give you your liquid fuel for the day.
You take your cuppa to your desk, which has all the tools you need to successfully complete your work. In this scenario, that’s a computer, keyboard, mouse, desk, and chair. Now you are ready to start the working day and get on with those important reports and phone calls. The whole day goes smoothly, with the computer playing ball, along with the report forms all working perfectly.
Now, all you need is a good journey home to make the first day a perfect start for a ‘Week of Happiness at Work’.
Happiness at Work For Someone With A Disability
Now, let’s flip this around and approach this scenario from the perspective of a person with a disability, and what they would need to have a happy working week. Some of these scenarios will be for everyone with a disability, along with individual impairments:
A great organisation called ‘access to work’ enables people to have independence to be able to travel to work. However, imagine if the taxi that you have booked arrives and can’t accommodate your needs, such as having adequate space for a wheelchair or one that will take your guide dog, leaving you stuck. Even though the Equality Act 2010 states that assistance dogs are allowed in taxis, there seems to be a way that many taxis can get away with not taking you. When a suitable taxi is eventually ready, most probably, it will result in you being more than half an hour late for work.
Nowadays, some cars can be adapted so that a wheelchair user can be independent and drive themself to work. To set them up, so they can have a happy day at work, they require a disabled parking space near to the entrance of the building. Think of the frustration after battling through traffic to find that the dedicated parking space has been taken up by someone who does not need it and has no blue badge. Unfortunately this happens often.
The lift working for someone who has a mobility disability will give them a happy day at work. This isn’t because they don’t want to take the stairs, but most of the time, this is not an option. Without the lift being in use, would result in them having to work in an office downstairs on their own, providing there’s one available. They may even have to drive or organise another taxi home to be able to work from there, along with having the additional worry of not being certain how long the lift will be out of action for.
The luxury of being early may not be the same for someone with a disability, as they may need to wait for someone else in the team to arrive to help them to make a drink. It is not that they can’t, as they may make themselves drinks at home, but it is other people that may cause obstacles when carrying hot beverages. Which isn’t best practice for health and safety.
Someone with a disability may need their own designated desk or chair, which has been specifically set up to their unique requirements in order for them to be comfortable, or have specialist devices or software with their computer to enable them to complete their tasks. So, if someone else decides to sit at that desk, it is not a case of them being able to find another workstation, so they would then have to ask that person to move desks. Not only would they then have to wait for additional time for that person to save their work, close down the software, and move their belongings, but some people may find this situation embarrassing. This is especially the case if they have to explain why they require their equipment for the person to understand that they aren’t trying to be awkward.
The next barrier is hoping that all of the reports and forms are accessible with the use of assistive technology, so people don’t have to keep asking for assistance. If these are provided in the correct format or are on a platform that is not mouse dependent (meaning having elements that can only be activated by a mouse) then the tasks can be successfully completed. Along with these, organised meetings and phone calls need to also be accessible. Perhaps a good example of this is if a translator is needed for a colleague who is Deaf and uses British Sign Language (BSL), or someone who does not speak English as their first language.
Now, for the homeward journey. If the journey to work had any issues, at least you would be at home where you could be comfortable and find whatever you need to make this happen. However, the journey home is a different story if you need to wait in the office. You don’t have the same comfort and provisions, but what if someone needs to lock up the office, do you have to wait outside in the cold?
Conclusion
These are my thoughts for an office-based worker, but many other workplaces may have different ways of creating a happy day at work.
So, have a great and happy week at work, with jokes, smiles and engagement. However, remember some of the things that make a day at work happy for you, someone with a disability may have a lot more obstacles to overcome to achieve that same feeling.
Small adjustments make such a big difference. If you can assist in this, by not being one of the barriers and help where needed, it will not only be a great and happy day at work for you, but for the workplace as a whole.
