Ansæt en ordblind?

Du sidder med papirerne i hånden, og hurtigt scanner ansøgning og CV’et igennem. Hans forældre gav ham op for adoption. Han afsluttede aldrig college. Han job shoppet en del, et års ophold i Indien og han er ordblind. Ville du give ham en samtale og ansætte ham?

Hvis ikke, så har du lige sagt nej til Steve Jobs! Er du den eneste der ville have sagt nej, nok ikke. Hvorfor er det sådan? Det spørgsmål har Regina Hartley Human Resources Manager i UPS undersøgt. For hvorfor er det, at alle gerne vil ansætte personer, der er gået den lige vej, uden bump på vejen (the Silver Spoon)?

Getting into and graduating from an elite university takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice. But if your whole life has been engineered toward success, how will you handle the tough times?

Hvad sker der hvis vi prøver, at vende den om. Hvis du hele dit liv har kæmpet, men alligevel er noget i mål, på trods af andre forventninger (the Scrapper)?

That even the worst circumstances can result in growth and transformation. A remarkable and counterintuitive phenomenon has been discovered, which scientists call Post Traumatic Growth.

Det virker ikke til at det er noget problem at være en Scrapper, hvis man er iværksætter.  

In the US, 35 percent of the entrepreneurs studied had dyslexia. What’s remarkable — among those entrepreneurs who experience post traumatic growth, they now view their learning disabilityas a desirable difficulty which provided them an advantage because they became better listeners and paid greater attention to detail. They don’t think they are who they are in spite of adversity, they know they are who they are because of adversity. They embrace their trauma and hardships as key elements of who they’ve become, and know that without those experiences, they might not have developed the muscle and grit required to become successful.

Men hvorfor har ordblinde måske en fordel?

Scrappers are propelled by the belief that the only person you have full control over is yourself. When things don’t turn out well, Scrappers ask, “What can I do differently to create a better result?” Scrappers have a sense of purpose that prevents them from giving up on themselves, kind of like if you’ve survived poverty, a crazy father and several muggings, you figure, “Business challenges? … Scrappers know that humor gets you through the tough times, and laughter helps you change your perspective. … People who overcome adversity don’t do it alone. Somewhere along the way, they find people who bring out the best in them and who are invested in their success.

Nu sidder du måske og tænker, hvorfor skal vi tage det på os, vi har ikke ressourcerne til at hjælpe hele verden. Men det er måske heller ikke nødvendig! En undersøgelse fra DiversityInc viser, et øget positivt afkast for virksomheder, med ansatte der har forskellige baggrunde og bagage.

 According to DiversityInc, a study of their top 50 companies for diversity outperformed the S&P 500 by 25 percent.

Ordblindhed kan godt give et positivt afkast for en virksomhed

Der er også danske virksomheder, der har opdaget det. Her er ISS en af virksomhederne der er taget skridtet og indarbejde det i deres organisation.

Jeg hører bestemt til fortalerne for mangfoldighedsledelse, og jeg mener, at der ligger et stort potentiale i at arbejde med mangfoldighed både i private og offentlige virksomheder.

– Maria Bøge, cand.mag. i kommunikation, leder, Center for Mangfoldighed, ISS Facility Services A/S

Så næste gang du sidder med ansøgningerne i hånden, så overvej om du ikke skulle give en Scrapper en chance!