Experiences with the Method ‘Inclusive Redesign of Work Processes’

Friday, November 1, 2013
First author:
Ruitenbeek G. van
Symposium:
The Essentials of Belonging: Inclusive Employment
Type:
Oral
Organisations

1 Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands

2 Professor in ‘Inclusive (labor) organization’ at the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, funded by the Atlant Groep, Maastricht, the Netherlands

3 UWV WERKbedrijf, the Netherlands

All authors:

Gemma M.C. van Ruitenbeek1, Marike J.G.P. Mulder1, Fred R.H. Zijlstra1, Frans J.N. Nijhuis2, Henny P.G. Mulders3

Stream:
Inclusive Employment
Trefwoorden:
sustainable work, (re) integration, task differentiation, work redesign
Presentation
PDF icon inclusive_work_redesign_gemma_van_ruitenbeek.pdf

Aim

In this research we investigated the effectiveness and applicability of the method ‘Inclusive Redesign of Work Processes’ (Dutch abbreviation: methode-IHW). This method aims to facilitate the participation of people with a large distance to the labor market in regular organizations. Based on an analysis of work processes and redesign principles, organizations are enabled to make optimal use of the available work capacity and talent in the labor market. The method turned out to be effective for the creation of suitable work for a large group of people with disabilities in an organization.

Methods

Fifty positions were created for the target group in a regular health care organization. A qualitative evaluation approach was used to assess the effectiveness of the work redesign method.

Results

The results suggest that the method is effective for the creation of sustainable employment, and that the integration of people from the target group is economically and socially advantageous.

Conclusion

Although the method has not yet been widely applied, the results suggest that it can be used in a variety of companies to enable the integration of people with disabilities into the work force. However, it is a complex and labor-intensive method that requires expertise in the execution of the analysis and the assessment of the target group.