Unfortunately Starbucks have got themselves into a situation with an employee that could have been easily avoided. The news of their employee Meseret Kumulchew winning her disability discrimination case hit the headlines today – and it’s not good for the company’s employer brand, especially as the financial reward part of the claim has yet to be decided.
Like me, and around one in ten people, Meseret has dyslexia – but unlike me, she wasn’t provided the support she needed to do her job. The details of her case make for distressing reading, especially when there is a whole range of simple solutions you can use in the workplace to support employees with dyslexia.
Of course it depends very much on the individual and the job they do, but nowadays there is bound to be a technology solution that won’t cost the earth and will literally transform your employee’s life. Sometimes something as simple as changing the font style of your copy or the background colour of the computer screen will make the difference between someone being able to read a text and not.
I set up Recite Me because I wanted mobile technology solution that supported my dyslexia no matter what kind of computer device I was using or whether I was at home, in the office or out and about.
We went on to develop Include Me for the workplace which can be rolled out company-wide by your IT team to support your employees with dyslexia – as well as people with visual impairments, learning disabilities and people whose second language is English.
