Our method of Inclusive Job Design is mentioned in the new White Paper No. 33 – A Strengthened Work Line on page 122. It is highlighted in section 5.6.4, Changes in Work Organization and Task Distribution, as follows:

“Task distribution is also relevant for other sectors beyond healthcare. The government will therefore support efforts toward appropriate task distribution and good organisation in the workplace, which can facilitate employment opportunities for more groups.

A variation offered by employment and inclusion companies is ‘Inclusive Job Design,’ which involves identifying opportunities for tailored jobs with an employer. The starting point is the needs of the employer. The method entails reorganising work processes by analysing them, identifying relevant support tasks, and redistributing tasks among employees. In this way, qualified staff can focus on tasks for which they are particularly skilled, while others can be recruited to perform tasks that, for instance, do not require specialized training. This service highlights the benefits of this type of recruitment for employers in both the public and private sectors.”

Such recognition is very positive and reinforces the direction we have pursued within the industry association in recent years. By training personnel in our member companies (as well as staff in NAV, municipalities, and more), 140 people to date, we can now offer employers a method that the labour market authorities endorse.

Soon, Maja Venås Eriksen and Lene Beate Olsen (AFT job specialist) will share their experiences with an Inclusive Job Design process conducted at the construction company Grande in Verdalen. Excitingly, they used this method to help a long-term sick employee return to work. This is a special project financially supported by the Industry Program for Construction here at NHO, which also funded an evaluation report from NTNU Social Research expected soon.

This represents a new “use case” for Inclusive Job Design that might be of interest for a new Inclusive Workplace (IA) agreement!

Paal Haavorsen

NHO/Senior Advicer in Work & Inclusion