Workplace assessments come in different forms. But they all aim to provide staff with equity in their roles. By recommending specific equipment and practical support, workplace assessments such as ergonomic reviews, Access to Work, and Workplace Needs Assessments can transform your productivity.
But since there are different workplace assessments to consider, we’ll explain more in this article. With this list, you should feel more confident in choosing the most appropriate workplace assessments to improve your situation.
What are Workplace Assessments and Why are They Needed?
Workplace assessments identify potential barriers that you may face in your day-to-day work. And they review various aspects of working life including behaviour and culture, competency, physical environments, use of digital tools, and accessibility.
The benefit of workplace assessments is that they offer a set of recommended solutions such as tools, equipment, and support to help you carry out your role. But they can also encourage safer, more positive, and more collaborative working environments.
Key points about workplace assessments:
- Workplace assessments include Workplace Needs Assessments, carried out for any staff members with physical disabilities, long-term health conditions or neurodivergence.
- 38,620 people received support from Access to Work in 2022 which is a government-funded workplace assessment.
- Workplace assessments can reduce work-related stress, depression and anxiety. And stats from HSE suggest over 900,000 people in Britain are struggling with work-related mental health.
- All remote workers must receive risk-assessments from their employers to ensure working conditions are safe and appropriate.
- Organisations can also carry out their own separate Workplace health assessment (HNA) to assess the overall health and safety of their company.
- Workplace assessments can help companies meet Quality Assurance obligations and ensure high-quality service provision in customer-facing roles.
Examples of Workplace Assessments
With so many different types of workplace assessments around, it can be difficult to know which one is most appropriate. But with this list of examples you should have a clearer sense of what’s appropriate.
Reasonable adjustments – aka workplace adjustments
Under the Equality Act 2010, companies operating in England, Scotland, and Wales must make reasonable adjustments to working conditions for any staff with neurodivergent conditions and disabilities. And they can do this in two ways:
- Workplace Needs Assessments
A workplace needs assessment is a privately funded workplace assessment carried out by a third party assessor. Since they aren’t diagnostic, staff should disclose their condition or seek diagnosis before assessment. Doing so can help you get the most appropriate support. For instance, Exceptional Individuals is an organisation offering a Dyslexia Workplace Needs Assessments tailored to a person with dyslexia.
- Access to Work assessments
Access to Work is a government-backed scheme that will fund bespoke support and equipment including Assistive Technology. It’s currently underused since studies suggest over 4 million working people have a disability but less than 40,000 are claiming support.
Access to work can also provide support for mental health and workplace stress-related problems including depression and anxiety.
Ergonomic Reviews
As part of any health and safety review, employers must offer an assessment of an employee’s physical space. This will include a range of ergonomic assessments, like the example set out below:
- Display Screen Equipment Assessment (DSE Assessments)
DSE Assessments are a way for employers to adhere to The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992. They’re also important to ensure people who need screen readers or other types of assistive technology are benefitting from their use. DSE assessments look at an individual’s workstation and review equipment including chairs, desks, and furniture. Employees benefit in the following ways:
- Have workstations that meet their needs
- Understand the importance of taking regular breaks
- Get help for eye tests
Skills Assessments
A variety of skills assessments can help staff to determine areas for improvement, training, or support. One example of this is set out below:
- Cognitive Diagnostic Assessments
Workplace assessments can include cognitive ability tests that review an individual’s verbal and non-verbal skills, as well as literacy and fine motor control skills. Independent assessors may also review an individual’s early development such as education and work background.
Behavioural and Personality Assessments
Behavioural and personality assessments can help to understand differences between individuals and inform strategies for improving teamworking.
- Situational Judgement Tests
Situational judgement tests can reveal clues about the types of decisions you might make in certain work situations. They’re often used in the civil service as a pre-employment tool and to assess performance levels in customer service, time management, and conflict resolution.
- Personality assessments
Many firms conduct personality profiling and assessment to better understand how individuals work and as part of a team. This can help to build stronger and more effective teams. Examples include the Big 5 temperament assessment, DISC assessments, Strengths Finder, and MBTI or Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
You can Access Caption.Ed as Part of Your Workplace Assessments
By reviewing potential areas for improvement, workplace assessments can help you work to your full ability and on a level playing field to your peers. And many workplace assessments will recommend assistive technology products like Caption.Ed and TalkType to help.
In particular Caption.Ed is available through the Access to Work scheme. And there are many benefits to users including improved focus during meetings, better communication with colleagues, saved time from downloadable transcripts, and on-the-go captioning.
Talk to our team today about your workplace assessment and how the Access to Work scheme could help.
