The Kanchi Blog

Posted on

8th December 2011

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Art, Media, Design,Business,Disability,Education,Fun!,Kanchi News

It’s only 7 working days until our next and final Kanchi Network event of the year:

“Engagement” hosted by Citi and this has given us the chance to really take stock of what well being really means in a business context.
I was reading through some “What’s new in Disability” newsfeeds today and came across this fantastic article about Accessible businesses in Canada.

Director of the small/medium enterprise program at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce Louie DiPalma said: “The golden rule when it comes to providing service to those experiencing a disability is to never make assumptions”.
So it got me thinking of how we make our businesses and employment opportunities accessible in Ireland – not just physically but emotionally and psychologically. How do we ensure the well being of our employees?
So let’s break it down: What’s good for employees is good for business –

Employee Well being is essential to any businesses success and by working very closely with Kanchi Network Founding Member Citi I’ve seen how beneficial it is within a business context to embrace diversity and create an inclusive environment.
One of the most important parts of a business is finding the right people for the job – ensuring their well being in turn resulting in good business productivity and offering them development opportunities.

When I first started here in Kanchi the very first question I was asked was; “Is there anything you can think of that will help you do your job?”
My eyes lit up with excitement – a few short weeks later I got two new pairs of eyes – Computer Eyes “Zoom Text” and portable eyes “Quick Look Zoom”.
By asking one simple question about how I can best do my job and how I could reach my goals within Kanchi – my vision impairment wasn’t a barrier

So now with three pairs of eyes I can do my jobs better and really enjoy my work!

And we all know that a happy employee is a productive one. With an impending talent shortage facing businesses it makes sense now more than ever to source their talented employees from the disability demographic a typically unsaturated talent and customer base.

Equality means catering to individuals needs not treating everyone the exact same – we’re all different disability or no disability – everyone has talents and it’s a collaboration of perspectives that will ensure the sustainability, inclusivity and success of business
Our latest Kanchi Network event is on the 19th of December hosted by Citi; RSVP to Nicola@kanchi.org to gain insight into Engagement as a business strategy and changing mindsets around disability through the disability business case.