Abstract
The prominent role of job matching in enhancing workplace inclusion and integration of persons with disabilities has drawn scholarly and practitioner attention. Matching the abilities of persons with disabilities to suitable jobs is crucial for sustainable employment and capacity development. However, an integrated view of the job matching process for persons with disabilities, especially in the context of emerging economies like India, remains elusive. The present study aims to explore how the process of matching persons with disabilities to suitable jobs unfolds in contemporary organizations in India. Participants for this study included management representatives of seventeen organizations that employ persons with disabilities. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts highlighted the following: the job matching process (a) consists of three overarching phases (pre-matching, matching, and post-matching) that encompassed five stages (job analysis, ability profiling, gap analysis, gap resolution and evaluation) (b) is continuous and ongoing, requiring employers’ conscious and voluntary efforts with dynamic strategies (c) entails strategies that span across organization, group and individual levels (d) involves adjustment to various dimensions of the job such as process, duration, schedule, task, resources, location and equipment and (e) can be executed in a formal or informal manner. The findings serve to highlight the inherent complexities in the job matching process that require an individual-centric approach for optimal results. We present implications for theory and practice.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American India Foundation (2014). Best practices in employment of people with disabilities in the private sector in India
https://aif.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/AIF_Best-Practices_Disability-Employment_2015.pdf
Beatty, J. E., Baldridge, D. C., Boehm, S. A., Kulkarni, M., & Colella, A. J. (2019). On the treatment of persons with disabilities in organizations: A review and research agenda. Human Resource Management, 58(2), 119–137
Bonaccio, S., Connelly, C. E., Gellatly, I. R., Jetha, A., & Ginis, K. A. M. (2020). The participation of people with disabilities in the workplace across the employment cycle: Employer concerns and research evidence. Journal of Business and Psychology, 35(2), 135–158
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. Sage
Brzykcy, A. Z., Boehm, S. A., & Baldridge, D. C. (2019). Fostering sustainable careers across the lifespan: the role of disability, idiosyncratic deals and perceived work ability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 112, 185–198
Forrier, A., De Cuyper, N., & Akkermans, J. (2018). The winner takes it all, the loser has to fall: Provoking the agency perspective in employability research. Human Resource Management Journal, 28(4), 511–523
Foster, D., & Wass, V. (2013). Disability in the labour market: an exploration of concepts of the ideal worker and organisational fit that disadvantage employees with impairments. Sociology, 47(4), 705–721
Friedner, M. (2013). Producing “Silent Brewmasters”: Deaf Workers and Added Value in India’s Coffee Cafés. Anthropology of Work Review, 34(1), 39–50
Friedner, M. (2015). Deaf bodies and corporate bodies: new regimes of value in Bangalore’s business process outsourcing sector. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 21(2), 313–329
Friedner, M. (2015). Deaf bodies and corporate bodies: new regimes of value in Bangalore’s business process outsourcing sector. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 21(2), 313–329
Fugate, M., Van der Heijden, B., De Vos, A., Forrier, A., & De Cuyper, N. (2021). Is what’s past prologue? A review and agenda for contemporary employability research. Academy of Management Annals, 15(1), 266–298
Gati, I. (2013). Advances in career decision making. In W. B. Walsh, M. L. Savickas, & P. J. Hartung (Eds.), Handbook of vocational psychology (4th ed., pp. 183–217). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis
Gröschl, S. (2013). Presumed incapable: Exploring the validity of negative judgments about persons with disabilities and their employability in hotel operations. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 54(2), 114–123
Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field methods, 18(1), 59–82
Gupta, A., & Priyadarshi, P. (2020). When affirmative action is not enough: Challenges in career development of persons with disability. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal
Hernandez, B., McDonald, K., Divilbiss, M., Horin, E., Velcoff, J., & Donoso, O. (2008). Reflections from employers on the disabled workforce: Focus groups with healthcare, hospitality and retail administrators. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 20(3), 157–164
Heera, S., & Maini, A. (2017, July). Factors influencing inclusion of people with disabilities at workplace: the unheard voices. In Proceedings of International Conference on Strategies in Volatile and Uncertain Environment for Emerging Markets (pp. 14–15)
International Labour Organization (2005).ILO and disability inclusion
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---ifp_skills/documents/publication/wcms_407645.pdf
International Labour Organization (2015). Job and work analysis: Guidelines on identifying jobs for persons with disabilities. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---ifp_skills/documents/publication/wcms_111484.pdf
Jansen, K. J., & Kristof-Brown, A. (2006). Toward a multidimensional theory of person- environment fit.Journal of Managerial issues,193–212
Jones, M. K., & Sloane, P. J. (2009). Disability and skill mismatch. IZA Discussion Papers No. 4430, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1–200910141102
Kaye, H. S., Jans, L. H., & Jones, E. C. (2011). Why don’t employers hire and retain workers with disabilities? Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 21(4), 526–536
Kristof-Brown, A. L., Zimmerman, R. D., & Johnson, E. C. (2005). Consequences of individuals’ fit at work: A meta‐analysis OF person–job, person–organization, person–group, and person–supervisor fit. Personnel psychology, 58(2), 281–342
Kulkarni, M., Boehm, S. A., & Basu, S. (2016). Workplace inclusion of persons with a disability. Equality Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 35(7/8), 397–414
Kumar, A., Kothiyal, N., Hiranandani, V., & Sonpal, D. (2014). Ableing work, Disableing workers? Development in practice, 24(1), 81–90
Malo, M. A., & Muñoz-Bullón, F. (2006). Employment promotion measures and the quality of the job match for persons with disabilities. Hacienda Pública Española/Revista de Economía Pública, 179(4), 79–111
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (2016). Disabled Persons in India – A Statistical Profile 2016.http://mospi.nic.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Disabled_persons_in_India_2016.pdf
National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (2019). Moving beyond compliance-Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Business.
https://ncpedp.org/documents/Inclusion_of_persons_with_disabilities_in_businesses.pdf
Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria.International journal of qualitative methods, 16(1)
Oldham, G. R., & Fried, Y. (2016). Job design research and theory: Past, present and future. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 136, 20–35
Ostroff, C. (1993). Relationships between person-environment congruence and organizational effectiveness. Group & Organization Management, 18(1), 103–122
Persch, A. C., Cleary, D. S., Rutkowski, S., Malone, H. I., Darragh, A. R., & Case-Smith, J. D. (2015). Current practices in job matching: A Project SEARCH perspective on transition. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 43(3), 259–273
Rousseau, D. M., Ho, V. T., & Greenberg, J. (2006). I-deals: Idiosyncratic terms in employment relationships. Academy of management review, 31(4), 977–994
Schur, L., Kruse, D., & Blanck, P. (2005). Corporate culture and the employment of persons with disabilities. Behavioral sciences & the law, 23(1), 3–20
Schur, L., Nishii, L., Adya, M., Kruse, D., Bruyère, S. M., & Blanck, P. (2014). Accommodating employees with and without disabilities. Human Resource Management, 53(4), 593–621
Shenoy, M. (2011). Persons with disability and the India Labour Market: Challenges and opportunities.ILO, 13(1)
Shore, L. M., Cleveland, J. N., & Sanchez, D. (2018). Inclusive workplaces: A review and model. Human Resource Management Review, 28(2), 176–189
Suresh, V., & Dyaram, L. (2020). Workplace disability inclusion in India: review and directions.Management Research Review, 43(12)
Suresh, V., & Dyaram, L. (2021). Diversity in disability: leaders’ accounts on inclusive employment in the Indian context. Equality Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 41(3), 454–473
Taylor, F. W. (1997). 1911. The principles of scientific management
Vohra, N., Chari, V., Mathur, P., Sudarshan, P., Verma, N., Mathur, N., … and, & Dasmahapatra, V. (2015). Inclusive workplaces: Lessons from theory and practice. Vikalpa, 40(3), 324–362
Villanueva-Flores, M., Valle, R., & Bornay-Barrachina, M. (2017). Perceptions of discrimination and distributive injustice among people with physical disabilities. Personnel Review, 45(3), 680–698
Weisbord, M. (2006). Designing work: structure and process for learning and self-control. Organization development: A Jossey-Bass reader, 583–601
Weller, I., Hymer, C. B., Nyberg, A. J., & Ebert, J. (2019). How matching creates value: Cogs and wheels for human capital resources research. Academy of Management Annals, 13(1), 188–214
Zoer, I., de Graaf, L., Kuijer, P. P. F. M., Prinzie, P., Hoozemans, M. J., & Frings-Dresen, M. H. (2012). Matching work capacities and demands at job placement in employees with disabilities. Work (Reading, Mass.), 42(2), 205–214
Acknowledgements
None.
Funding
The authors declare that no funds, grants or other support were received to conduct this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing Interests/Conflicts of Interests
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest in this study.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Suresh, V., Dyaram, L. Job matching for Persons with Disabilities: An Exploratory Study. Employ Respons Rights J 35, 475–492 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-022-09421-6
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-022-09421-6