Working together
A research project into changing the behaviour of employers, so that they hire more people with working disabilities, will be supported by Instituut Gak in the coming years. Five scientists from Utrecht University tackle this issue together, by combining insights from behavioural management and psychology, among others.
“The beauty of our plan is that we are not only going to map out why employers are having difficulties in hiring people with certain disabilities. We will then actually implement an intervention that will hopefully bring about a real change in the behaviour of employers,” says dr. Noortje de Boer, an expert in behavioural management. She and her fellow researchers will test findings in practice by means of a large-scale field experiment.
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The field experiment focuses not only on what organizations can do independently, but also on the role of employer service providers, who mediate between people with disabilities and employers. Potential interventions that can be valuable will first be identified and, if necessary, developed in-house. The interventions may concern, for example, reducing administrative burdens, emphasizing social responsibility, facilitating job adaptation and job creation for new employees and developing an action plan to hire people with disabilities.
The road to (regular) work
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The Participation Act, the Job Agreement Act and the Quota for the Disabled are intended to guide people who are not yet participating in the labor market to, preferably regular, work. However, the practice proves to be unruly. That is why the researchers believe that together, thanks to the Gak Institute, they can make an important contribution to the social goal of getting people to participate more in the workplace. Employers, government and people with disabilities must 'Work together'.
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