Be honest – on a scale of 1-10, how “merry and bright” do you feel this holiday season?
The holidays can bring a lot of pressure to feel a certain level of happiness. But maybe this is a hard season for you – you’re stressed from being stretched thin financially, or you’re missing a loved one who is no longer near.
Like any other external event, the holidays themselves can’t guarantee joy (no matter what the songs promise you). Because joy, ultimately, isn’t about outward circumstances. It’s more about our inward reality – our mindset.
Now, think about how this concept applies to your team: How can mindset improve your Sugar Land employees’ happiness?
Harvard is pretty sure they’ve got it figured out: Prioritize progress more than perfection and stop chasing the illusory dream job.
A neat formula, right? Of course, emotions can’t easily be boiled down to formulas (even if they are Harvard-discovered). Employee happiness isn’t a year-round guarantee, but it can be one of your priorities as you build your team culture this next year.
Because what Harvard’s research does confirm is that employee happiness isn’t contingent on money. It rests on them achieving small wins in their position – which is something you’re uniquely qualified to catalyze. You see their needs and respond.
Now, to narrow this concept a bit: One specific group of employees you can impact exceptionally as you do this is your disabled employees. But there’s a unique challenge here: Before you can respond to their needs, you have to understand what their needs are.
So, we need to backtrack: What are the needs of your disabled employees?
What Disabled Employees Wish Their Sugar Land Bosses Knew
“There is no greater disability in society than the inability to see a person as more.” Robert M. Hensel
If you have disabled employees, of course, you try to put yourself in their shoes as much as you can. But your understanding (and empathy) is limited.
And if their needs aren’t truly getting met, they may or may not want to speak up about it. So, here are a few changes you can make to better serve them that you might not have previously thought of:
You can serve your disabled employees by…starting the conversation.
We’ve all experienced how intimidating it can be to advocate for ourselves, particularly in the workplace. So if you don’t take the initiative to communicate, your disabled employees might not realize the accommodations available to them.
As the leader of your business, it’s on YOU to ask how they’re doing and what you can do to help.
Make sure to initiate conversations with your disabled employees the right way – use the same formality you would with any other adult, and let them bring up their disability.
You can serve your disabled employees by…fixing misconceptions.
More than likely, disability misconceptions exist within your business (and hurt your disabled employees on a day-to-day basis). It can look like thoughts and attitudes in this vein:
“Disabled employees can only handle small, menial tasks.”
“They need constant hand-holding while they work.”
“They need to be protected from any difficulty or negative feedback.”
“Employees with disabilities disrupt the work environment.”
In reality, they’re just people who face unique daily challenges. This doesn’t make them any less valuable (or competent) in the workplace.
How do you eradicate these misconceptions? Educate yourself. And offer your team training materials on how to interact with and work with colleagues with disabilities (and attack conscious and unconscious biases especially hard).
You can serve your disabled employees by…offering ongoing support.
Offering support to your disabled employees is not a one-and-done ordeal. Offering support can look like:
– Installing ramps, lifts, or handrails.
– Widening doorways and hallways.
– Marking parking spaces (and curb cuts).
– Installing and upkeeping technologies (for example: speech-to-text software or screen readers).
– Scheduling regular one-on-one meetings to discuss how their needs are being met.
– Offering access to counseling services or Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs).
This list is by no means exhaustive – make sure to do your own research.
Now, I would be failing you if I didn’t tell you about the tax incentives available here to help balance out the costs of these structural adjustments: The Disabled Access Credit and the Architectural Barrier Removal Tax Deduction.
To qualify for the Disabled Access Credit, your business must have either grossed less than 1 million in the previous tax year OR employed 30 or fewer full-time employees.
If eligible, you can claim this credit by filing Form 8826 with your federal income tax return. The credit equals 50 percent of the amount spent on qualified accessibility improvements that exceed 250 but do not exceed 10.25k, resulting in a maximum credit of 5k.
Qualified expenses might include costs incurred to remove barriers, provide accessible communication formats, or modify equipment to accommodate individuals with disabilities.
Or, you can use the Architectural Barrier Removal Tax Deduction (which, in my opinion, is the more fun option – you get to demolish things). Any size business qualifies for this one. You can claim a deduction of up to 15k per year for qualified barrier removal expenses on your income tax return (but only in the year the expenses were incurred). This includes modifications like constructing ramps, widening doorways, and installing tactile signs or visual alarms.
Is your Houston business truly accommodating? Are you serving your disabled employees the way that THEY need you to? You may not have thought to ask yourself these questions before – it’s never too late to start. Make it a goal for 2025 to change that.
And if you do decide to make it a goal to serve your disabled employees better in 2025, I’ll be here to help you sort out the tax details:
calendly.com/anna-tncpa/discovery
Looking out for you,
Tina Nguyen