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Inclusive employer behaviour

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This project is done in cooperation with Unizo and Verso and with the financial support of the European Social Fund (ESF).

European Social Fund (ESF)
Research project

Inclusive employer behaviour: a matter of will, ability and doing

Research shows that many employers are willing and able to take the step towards being an inclusive employer. They just don't get around to actually doing it. What do they need to make their intentions come true?

Many employers are what we call inclined abstainers. They have no need for additional sensitisation or counselling. The question is: what do they need in order to bridge the intention-behaviour gap and actually adopt inclusive employer behaviour? And how can they best be supported in doing so? This question - the question of effective ways to get employers to adopt more truly inclusive employer behaviour - has so far received little research. Time to change that.

Objective

On 1 June Odisee started the ESF innovation project 'Inclusive employer behaviour: a matter of wanting, being able to and doing' together with employers' organisations Unizo and Verso. The aim is to look for what employers who say 'yes' to being an inclusive employer but do not act accordingly need in order to convert their intention into actual behaviour.

We start with a thorough behavioural analysis based on various theories of behaviour and behavioural change, such as the Integrative Model of Behavioural Prediction (Fishbein, 2008; Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010), the Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2008) and the theory of habitual behaviour (Aerts et al., 1989).

After we have a clear understanding of the behaviour of the employers we want to support with our service, we will start with the concept development of our service (i.e. choosing and working out the interventions that will make up our service). At the end of this first phase, we will prototype this new service for the first time. If the evaluation of the prototype is positive, we will start in March '21 with the further development and practical testing of the new service.

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