Why is it worthwhile to hire a person with targeted work ability?

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Today, the diversity of work communities is considered important. However, employers often have little knowledge of what building a more diverse work community requires from the organisation and supervisor, how to prepare for it and whether it will affect the efficiency of the organisation, for example. Hiring people with targeted work abilities is one way to increase the diversity of the work community. What does this mean in practice?

When it comes to limitations related to work ability, we often refer to either partial work ability or targeted work ability. Partial work ability refers to a situation where the job requirements do not match the employee’s resources. Targeted work ability means the same thing but from a different perspective: instead of a lack of work ability, it focuses on skills and resources.

A person with targeted work ability is able and willing to use some of their work ability. Targeted work ability can be permanent or temporary. In targeted work, the employee’s ability to work matches the requirements and opportunities of the job: a person with targeted work ability is fully capable of performing tasks that have been tailored for them.

Various benefits

The Live Foundation’s HR partner Kaisa Merentie describes the benefits of hiring a person with targeted work ability.

“Hiring people with targeted work abilities will alleviate the labour shortage that continues to have a particular impact on the restaurant and service industries as well as the social welfare and healthcare sectors. At the same time, there are approximately 65,000 people with targeted work abilities in Finland who are not in working life and would like to be employed. The labour market is in a situation where it is necessary to expand our thinking when it comes to finding a skilled and enthusiastic workforce”, Merentie says.

Hiring people with targeted work abilities also contributes to meeting the expectations of social responsibility that are increasingly placed on employers.

“For example, younger generations are very aware of social responsibility, and they take for granted that responsible speech will also be followed by responsible actions. By hiring a diverse workforce, employers increase equality. Additionally, by taking such actions, employers increase the attractiveness of their organisation among job seekers. At the same time, new perspectives and innovations arising from diverse work communities increase the organisation’s competitiveness and productivity.”

The development of individuals and the entire organisation is also a factor.

"People have unconscious biases, which are often an obstacle to development. To build a more diverse work community and manage it equally, we need to be aware of our own biases. Studies have shown that equally managed work communities are more efficient and capable. They also make more high-quality decisions and their cooperation is better”, Merentie says.

Support for hiring

If you are interested in hiring a person with targeted work ability, there are many types of support available.

  • The TE Office may grant a subsidy for arranging working conditions or a pay subsidy. Municipalities also offer various hiring subsidies.
  • The work capacity coordinators of the TE Offices serve both people with targeted work abilities and employers interested in hiring them.
  • There are various guides available that provide more information on targeted work ability as well as the recruitment and training of people with targeted work abilities.
  • Support for planning the training of a person with a targeted work ability and their successful placement in the work community is available through free on-the-job instructor training.
  • At your workplace, a targeted work walk can be organised to map out the preconditions for hiring people with targeted work abilities, along with different alternatives.

The Live Foundation's HR partner Kaisa Merentie discussed the hiring of people with targeted work abilities during the Työmaailman parannusviikko event on 11 September 2024.

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