Genpact took serious note when a visually impaired employee had to seek the help of his supervisor for a mandatory training programme on information security and data privacy rolled out earlier this year.
So, when the global business process management, services and IT firm launched an upgraded version of the module, it added a ‘508 version’ to ensure that the employee would be able to access it easily — 508 compliance means that all users, regardless of disability status, can access technology.
“The 508 version of our training is in keeping with the inclusiveness of all our processes, policies and initiatives,” said Neelu Chawla, vice-president of learning and development at Genpact.
An increasing number of companies are similarly tailoring their learning and development programmes to the needs of the differently-abled employees.
Technological manufacturer Flex is rolling out training programmes in Tamil as well as English to facilitate learning of differently-abled employees. Further, supervisors have been trained in sign language to conduct workshops for those who have special needs.
IT firm Wipro has rolled out customised training for employees with disability, right from the induction period to the upskilling level. While there are support systems such as sign language interpreter options, differentlyabled employees are given specific support on the basis of their individual needs.
“We organise exclusive training batches for hearing-impaired employees and carry out visual demonstration of all concepts,” said Sunita Rebecca Cherian, senior vice president of human resources at Wipro. For those with low vision, special screen readers have been installed in designated computers, and seating arrangement is close to the whiteboard or projector to ensure easy visibility.
Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India has almost 60 people with disabilities (PwDs) among its workforce.
“Training programmes for our PwDs are typically of a longer duration and include a blend of classroom sessions conducted in regional language and practical training sessions aimed at developing functional knowledge and skills,” said Prashant Khullar, chief human resources officer at Mahindra Holidays.
The company also runs visual depictions of standard operating procedures to help them overcome language and listening challenges.
For companies, it is not just about being inclusive but also about ensuring that PwDs do not miss out on valuable learning and development opportunities.
Two years ago, Accenture set up the India Accessibility Council to ensure adequate focus and structural support for people with disabilities. The company runs a mentoring programme with its own learning programmes to ensure that individuals who sign up as mentors are able to provide tailored one-to-one support to mentees who may have a disability. This apart, more than 80 assistive technology devices are available for employees who are differently abled.
“We’ve also made sure that our new joiner orientation process is fully accessible — all videos are subtitled, and sign language interpreters are available as required to assist new joiners with hearing impairment. All new training modules prepared for MyLearning — our online learning space — are accessible with the modules built ground up to enable text to speech conversion,” said Rohit Thakur, lead of human resources at Accenture in India.
Mahindra Holidays’ Khullar said it is difficult to find resources trained in hospitality skills in this segment, pushing the organisation to step up focus on special learning and development programmes for differently-abled employees.
Sometimes, PwDs also need extra support during the learning sessions.
At Mahindra Holidays, all PwDs are assigned dedicated mentors to help them with the learning. They are also part of monthly connect sessions with resort leadership to keep engagement high and address additional requirements.
Wipro also runs a buddy system during trainings for differently abled employees, to explain or reiterate any visual concepts. Besides, the training teams undergo regular sensitisation sessions on addressing the learning needs of each disability type so that customisation can be done based on the requirement.
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