Impact of Social Capital at the Workplace: As an Employee with Cerebral Palsy

To-Do lists, Monthly Credits, People, Engagement Activities - These are the most common attributes that come to our minds when we think of our workplaces.?

But have you ever thought of workplaces as mirroring the society?

A solution-maker to make the world more healthier and inclusive?

Harnessing the power of workplace solidarity and the desire to create an inclusive and safe workplace for all has piqued my interest in the 'well-being inquiry' at the workplace.

Social Capital at the workplace has drawn the attention of many and its influence on the well-being of an individual.?

According to social psychologist Robert Putnam, social capital refers to the collective value of all 'social networks and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other.’ The network operates at the behavioral level through four pathways, namely:

• Provision of Social Support
• Social Influence
• Social Engagement and Attachment
• Access to Information and Goods

OECD - OCDE (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) (2001) defines social capital as ‘networks, together with shared norms, values, and understandings which facilitate cooperation within or among groups’.

Social capital is positively related to health status. Putnam (2002) found a strong linear relationship between the public health and the social capital, particularly due to the benefits of social integration and social support.

For me, social capital at my workplace plays a paramount role in accommodating me as an employee with a disability.

The degree to which an individual is integrated and embedded in a community is vital for their health and well-being as well as the health of the population in general. The empirical investigation of the influence of social relationships on health is backed by rich literature and forms the bedrock for several theories.

“I feel happy at my workplace” or “I feel stressed out and misunderstood”. These statements reflect one aspect of the workplace, underlining its capacity to contribute to one’s life and its significance.

“I feel supported by my team members” reflects more on the characteristics of how the team works rather than the individual’s trait to sync within the team.?

For people with disabilities, the workplace imparts opportunities to channel their body and mind, which forms the base of 'mandatory body movement' or exposure to different physical or social environments, which allows them to be curious about themselves while interacting with the environment necessary to function and assist in disability management.

Social Support can be divided into subtypes namely Emotional, Instrumental, Appraisal, and Informational Support (House, 1981).

Emotional Support: Understanding, care, self-esteem needs are all valuable sources of emotional support available from others. For me particularly, gaining emotional support helped me to express explicitly my specific needs because of the condition, Cerebral Palsy, which I was born with.

Moreover, emotional support facilitates the information exchange between me and my organization including cross-team and top management, which allows them to identify the problems/issues based on facts.

Instrumental Support: It refers to aid or assistance of tangible nature. A reasonable accommodation is any modification to a job or work environment that caters to the individual needs of a person with disability and enables them to deliver to the best of their capacities.

Disability affects different individuals differently. For example, my Cerebral Palsy affects coordination, and posture and comes with spasticity, that is, muscle tightness. It gives me an opportunity to experiment with processes in my preferred way at the workplace.

Appraisal Support: Giving appropriate feedback, assisting in the decision-making process encompasses appraisal support. For instance, at my workplace, my managers and peers have been willing to devote their time to allow me to experiment with processes which has expanded on my capabilities as an employee.

My day begins at 10:00 AM with a call with my delivery managers and they prep me with the priority list of the tasks for the day. The flexibility of the hybrid model gives me the space to take calls as per needed and make up early-on for the days with spasticity, that is, muscle tightness. The work-life balance ensures I am left with time to cater to my personal aspirations and needs; it allows me to exercise and attend my piano class after working hours.

Informational Support: Workplaces have a paramount role in bridging inequality and are a great opportunity to educate ourselves about human diversity. I realized the significance of formal and informal networks in organizations facilitating the “exchange of information”.?

The experience of participation, involving oneself, and the ability to include forms the basis of learning. This further aids people to identify the issues pertaining to employees with disabilities, which leads the way to solutions.

“When we listen and celebrate what is both common and different, we become wiser, more inclusive, and better as an organization”

says Pat Wadors , Chief People Officer, LinkedIn.

Key takeaways from my team at Athena Executive Search & Consulting (AESC) for DEI are:

• People Live with Cerebral Palsy. They do not suffer because of it. Cerebral Palsy is a lifelong, non-progressive medical condition
• Disability is an Individualistic Experience. It could vary from different infrastructures and situations from time to time
• Acceptance towards Reasonable Accommodations. Accommodations make employees productive and the workplace more welcoming for all
• Use of Accessible Software for data management make the workplace inclusive for people of all abilities and ages
• Allowing time for Exploration and Experimentation nurtures employee learning and development

My workplace enables me with the opportunity to observe, contribute, learn and unlearn something to cherish my usual and unusual days and activities with my team, and Athena Executive Search & Consulting (AESC) usually comes with the celebrations and facilitate the creation of inclusive solutions at workplaces.

By Himanshi Sardana , Research Associate (Operations) at Athena.

#disabilityinclusion #disabilitysupport #disability #dei #deistrategy #diversityandinclusion #diversity #diversityequityinclusion #diversitymatters #disabilityemployment #disabilitymanagement #diverseworkforce #diversetalent #cerebralpalsy #cerebralpalsyawareness #socialcapital #diverseworkplace #inclusionmatters