Personal experience helps acceptance of workers with disabilities – research

According to the research, people with clearly visible, clear physical limitations, such as those with mobility, vision or hearing impairments, or those with diabetes or cardiovascular diseases, can expect great acceptance.

The acceptance of employees who are not always immediately recognizable, such as those with psychosocial, intellectual or neurological difficulties, is even less natural. This may partly be due to the fact that these conditions are often hidden, so their behavioral manifestations can have an unexpected effect in certain situations. At the same time, these experiences can trigger a learning process, says the research, which examined social attitudes as well as feedback from companies and employees.

One of the most encouraging results of the research is that those who have already met a disabled employee in a store or restaurant typically recall this as a positive experience – in fact, in many cases they considered such service to be specifically better. Every second respondent would be happy to be served by a disabled person.

This confirms that personal encounters play a key role in strengthening acceptance. The degree of tolerance is closely related to the extent to which someone has already come into contact with such an employee – so the first impression not only matters, but often also has a long-term impact on thinking.

For service companies that employ employees with disabilities, it can be a challenge that guests find it easier to accept them if they see them in a background position (cleaner, dishwasher, loader, kitchen staff) than in the guest area or serving customers.

During the research, respondents were also asked about their perceived social attitude. This helped to avoid socially expected answers and gave a more nuanced picture of where we are now. Based on this, it seems that while many people are personally open and supportive, our view of society as a whole is not so optimistic – this can also be helped by having as many positive experiences as possible.

It is reassuring that McDonald’s restaurant and regional managers interviewed by Kantar Hoffmann say that in reality there are fewer prejudiced or negative reactions than we generally assume about society. They essentially do not, or only rarely, encounter derogatory or offensive expressions towards employees with disabilities. That is, the respondents paint a worse picture of Hungarian society overall than what restaurant managers experience firsthand.

Similar to McDonald’s, other companies committed to the topic can shape the perspective of guests in the long term and build their empathy.

The focus discussions with the restaurant chain’s employees with disabilities revealed that McDonald’s can credibly represent this aspiration, as it provides them with a lot of support that is not only spiritually important, but also essential for managing their everyday lives.

Among these, flexible working hours stand out, which is essential, among other things, due to medical visits, check-ups, and treatments that often occur during working hours. In addition, it is also an advantage that they can choose their workplace with similar flexibility, since thanks to the chain’s nationwide presence, even those who have difficulty with transportation can find a restaurant nearby. Finally, from a psychological point of view, the inclusive, non-discriminatory, and supportive attitude of the environment is important to them.