“My decision to hire people with a disability is motivated by my desire to give people a chance and to benefit from their special skills. I also want to foster a more tolerant atmosphere within the team and set an example for diversity. I knew it was a big responsibility, so I contacted a service provider for disabled jobseekers.”

“This service provider had one candidate: Mr Barth. His qualifications, area of expertise and attention to detail matched the tasks in the accounting department, where we needed extra personnel. The service provider suggested starting with an internship to see if it was a good match for both us and Mr Barth. During the internship, the service provider provided intensive supervision for Mr Barth. I quickly realised that this would work out very well. Fortunately, this was also the case for Mr Barth and one of my staff members, who was to be his supervisor. We decided to continue our working relationship and offered him a contract, which he accepted. He now works six hours per day and is paid according to his qualifications.”

‘Mr Barth has become a valuable colleague. He works in a very focused and precise manner. His responsibilities include accounting and account maintenance. We have familiarised ourselves with his daily routines and working methods. For Mr Barth, processes must be exactly right. If something doesn’t go according to plan, he gets confused. For example, the account statement is not done every day, but only four times a week. However, Mr Barth is accustomed to doing the account statement at the start of the working day. Otherwise, he cannot start the day. Therefore, we decided to produce the account statement daily to support Mr Barth in his work routine.

“Also, he has to say goodbye to everyone when they leave. Otherwise, he won’t be able to leave the building. His colleagues join in, but sometimes they can’t see him because they are busy serving guests. He then stands for a long time, waving continuously. At first, his colleagues found this annoying. Eventually, however, they accepted it and tried to wave goodbye in all circumstances. However, Mr Barth has also learned to accept that this is not always possible, and that he can still leave the workplace. His counsellor helped him a lot with this. Dealing with Mr Barth requires patience, but this strengthens team spirit and fosters appreciation. We do not want to lose him as an employee.”

“Fortunately, we all pay attention to Mr Barth’s need for fixed routines. We also take care not to disrupt the workflow, introducing new tasks slowly and carefully. His colleagues take these specific features into account in their daily communication. I have noticed that this brings the team together. They are also tolerant of mistakes and misunderstandings among themselves.”