Reflection: Story-telling.

Challenge.

Workplace inclusion for persons with a disability has been a major discussion theme in my country. Most  of the Persons with a disability expect a job where they can rest and settle. In this VUCA world,  employers are expecting more agility and growth mindset from their employees. This has caused a  concern among employers when they consider a person with a disability for an employment  opportunity.

Story-telling as a tool.

As a blind Human Resources professional, I have a great successful story to express. It is my story where  I became blind when I was an undergraduate. With proper training and with a growth mindset I was able  to get employed and climb in my career ladder.

Story-telling tool will be beneficial because the story is designed for the audience and they will be  emotionally connected to the story because it is similar to their present experience. The story is about  how I faced the challenge of loosing my eyesight, what did I do to grow myself and how it contributed  towards my current career success. The structure of the story will help the audience to get inspired and  to see themselves in a future state of success in their professional life.

Application.

The story-telling tool made the audience more closer and was a great resource to find insights about the  mindset of a person with a disability when it comes to employment. I was able to create different  personas of the audience. By having discussions with all the stakeholders employers, team members of  an employed person with a disability I was able to gain great insights about the current situation.

Insights.

Story-telling tool inspired the audience and many of them accepted that they had a fixed mindset about  their potentials. It was clear from the findings persons with a disability required more training in soft  skills and counseling in career selection and development. Employers should develop inclusion strategies  which meets the expectation of the employee. By using design thinking and human centered approach I  was able to empathies my customers/ the disability community. “What is?” stage of design thinking  method was rich with insights which helped to structurally brainstormed in the “What if?” stage of  design thinking.

Approach.

The story-telling tool will not be effective when it is used on employers. learning launch will be handy in  the “What WOW?” and “What works?” stages in design thinking to innovate a great solution for the  current challenge.

