Integrating people with disability into the workforce: the case of a retail chain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into diversity management practices in the Baltic states and present experience of HRM practitioners' in initiating the integration of people with disability into the workforce at a multi national retail chain. Design/methodology/approach – An interview with HR managers of a retail chain on issues related to the integration of people with disability into the workforce, providing background for the relevance, motives, implementation difficulties and organisational benefits of such practices from a business perspective. Findings – Main challenges related with integration of people with disability into the workforce are as follows: attraction of people with disability, work adjustment to meet the abilities of employees with disability, and preparation of managers and co‐workers to work along with these people. Attraction of people with disability works best on the basis of references from their peers. These people make highly loyal employees. Besides they contribute to the development of a more positive climate in the organisation. Originality/value – This paper presents a good practice case on the integration of people with disability, one of the most discriminated groups of employees, which is still a rare business practice in the Baltic countries. It also provides recommendations on integration issues for other practitioners.