Disability Inclusion In The Workplace: Mikael Bäckström Of Tobii Dynavox On How Businesses Make Accommodations For Customers and Employees Who Have A Disability
An Interview With Eric Pines
Trust yourself. Don’t listen too much to the loudest voices and have them steer the direction when you don’t think they’re going the right way. Sometimes I’ve tried to please the ones who shouts the loudest but that has made me spend my time on things I knew wouldn’t help at all instead of focusing on the right thing. Which then have made us lose focus, energy and tempo as a team more or less going the wrong direction and taking the company back rather than forward.
As we all know, over the past several years there has been a great deal of discussion about inclusion and diversity in the workplace. One aspect of inclusion that is not discussed enough, is how businesses can be inclusive of people with disabilities. We know that the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. What exactly does this look like in practice? What exactly are reasonable accommodations? Aside from what is legally required, what are some best practices that can make a business place feel more welcoming and inclusive of people with disabilities? To address these questions, we are talking to successful business leaders who can share stories and insights from their experience about the “How Businesses Make Accommodations For Customers and Employees Who Are Disabled “.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Mikael Bäckström.
Mikael Bäckström joined Tobii Dynavox in 2021 to manage people and sustainability globally. He leads a team that strives to build a workplace where passionate people who want to change lives can thrive. He has worked previously in senior HR roles at Spotify, Klarna, and the telco carrier 3, among other global companies.
Mikael has a Bachelor’s degree in Personnel, Work and Organization with a focus on Sociology from Stockholm University, Sweden.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you ended up where you are?
I come from a small town in the Northern part of Sweden, very much a working class boy that completed my education through high-school successfully, but without any specific ambitions or goals. I had no idea what I wanted to do in life and in a small town you have very few role-models. Since school was easy for me, I thought why not University? But before I could decide what to study I ended up working for the Swedish Army for 8 years. I was a civilian training volunteers which kicked off my interest in adult pedagogy and behavior sciences that got me to study at Stockholm University. HR felt very interesting as it has to do with developing, growing and being part of something bigger. After University I’ve had the opportunity to work in almost all areas of HR. Someone once told me that there are 173 different occupations within HR, I think I’ve touched upon them all, always in a generalist role, with different companies and industries trough hyper growth, mergers, down-sizing and even a bankruptcy which has made me grow in so many different ways, and I hope I will continue that for a long time still.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Thank you, I think what’s helped me is that I’ve been able to see the full picture and connect the dots to figure out and improve the most important things for the business. I’ve also set a rule for myself to take the time to understand the audience, and then to make things simpler and easier for them, even if it’s more work for myself and my team. I am also inspired by Nike’s tagline “Just do it”, as I like to take action and make decisions rather than sitting around and waiting for someone else to get it done.
Can you share a story about one of your greatest work related struggles? Can you share what you did to overcome it?
Struggles are often a way to make sure that first, your compass is set right and second, you are enabling growth. I’ve been through a lot of fast-moving phases in companies. When moving quickly, it’s hard to figure out where to start when so much needs to get done. I’ve sometimes made the wrong choices because I’ve listened to the ones that have screamed the loudest — that taught me to listen to my own voice more. I’ve also worked for companies where I didn’t feel like I fully belonged . For me, the companies that don’t take risks are not a good fit as well as the ones that don’t stick to what they believe in and change opinions on directions and what they stand for.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
As Tobii Dynavox recently became a stand-alone company after the spin-off from Tobii Group, we have the opportunity to develop our own set of company values. interesting work, that involves setting the direction, strategies , values and leadership criteria’s on how we operate. Sustainability is also a focus area of mine, and some of that work is new to me, including environmental sustainability. Our business focus is social sustainability as we improve people’s well-being with our solutions. We are a very mission driven company that is continuously working on becoming an even better employer. We continue to evaluate what we can do to help prevent climate crises.
Fantastic. Let’s now shift to our discussion about inclusion. Can you tell our readers a bit about your experience working with initiatives to promote Diversity and Inclusion? Can you share a story with us?
I’ve always had a “save the world” gene in my body. I stand up for people, probably because I don’t feel like I fit the norm, and from feeling like an outsider from a young age. From that perspective, inclusion is very important to me. I want to be a part of a society and workplace that sees people’s differences as assets. Diversity to me is giving all people a voice to share their diverse experiences and knowledge and not to just be with people that think the same, it’s much more than what you see on the surface.
Several years ago, working for another company, I realized the company didn’t reflect the customer base. The employees were a homogenous group. So, we started discussing with the senior management team and focused on how it could help our business if we had more diverse teams that reflected our potential customer segment in a better way. We then updated all our recruitment marketing material and events to reflect more on who we wanted to be and visually presenting diverse teams. That was the easy part. What was harder was putting the candidates we attracted through the interviews. We realized that when the hiring managers met someone who wasn’t like them, their biases were significantly interfering with the process. At that point, we decided to present even more candidates that weren’t normative, even if they didn’t fit the full requirements, just to get the interviewers used to people that weren’t like them. As our hiring managers continued to interview diverse candidates, they gained the ability to see past the surface and focus on skillsets. Maybe a bit controversial to some, but practice really helps.
This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for a business or organization to have an inclusive work culture?
Yes, I remind myself constantly that not everyone has the same experience or thinks like me so I shouldn’t assume anything. Having an inclusive work culture helps to build sustainable businesses that will live on for generations to come. If everyone feels safe expressing their different views and opinions, we can find new ideas to innovate, do things, adapt, change direction if needed and help the business grow. Inclusion also helps avoid big mistakes being made. If people are able to express their viewpoints because they feel safe to do so, this can help businesses avoid certain failures. Companies should stay true to their beliefs, make bets and take risks, but I’m sure a few of the companies that are no longer here are gone because they didn’t listen to their employees. Maybe they could still be here if they had a different company culture.
The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. For the benefit of our readers, can you help explain what this looks like in practice? What exactly are reasonable accommodations? Can you please share a few examples?
As a global provider of medically certified communication aids, Tobii Dynavox empowers people with communication disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, autism, ALS and aphasia, with a voice. These solutions enable many of our users to complete their education, begin careers or re-enter the workforce after the onset of acquired speech or other disabilities.
We strive to make sure that the full scope of our business activities — including recruitment, onboarding and ongoing work of new employees — reflects our mission to empower people with disabilities to do what they once did, or never thought possible. This commitment grew stronger even as the COVID-19 pandemic spurred a transition to new practices in those three areas along with predominantly remote work arrangements for existing employees.
We continue to pursue opportunities to host virtual career exploration with a “hybrid approach”, offering employees the chance to work both remotely and at the office, selecting what works best to provide both effective team collaboration and satisfying life/work balance.
We also provide job shadowing experiences, with particular attention to students in the disability community through organizations such as City Connections and Evolve, and attendance at employment-related events (live and virtual) sponsored by such groups. Leveraging these partnerships we have successfully managed placement and ongoing career development opportunities for new staff. One example is a person who uses a Tobii Dynavox device for communication on our technical support team.
Tobii Dynavox employees must complete a training module on AAC awareness and etiquette to help them more fully understand our mission, how to interact with individuals with complex communication needs and the disability experience as it relates to those we serve. Creation of follow up trainings (live and virtual) on AAC and broader disability topics is currently in progress.
Often, reasonable accommodations are associated with tangible adaptations that improve the physical accessibility of the workplace, such as wheelchair access. Federal law requires employers to make these changes unless doing so would cause undue hardship. Reasonable accommodations also include workday breaks or time off for medical purposes, creating a sensory-friendly environment and supports that promote an enriching work life for everyone in the workplace at minimal or no cost to us as an employer.
In general, I believe that employers can become better at dealing with reluctance or refusal of employees or potential hires to disclose disabilities or the need for accommodation. By adopting and communicating an open mindset for hiring people with disabilities and highlighting successful examples, we can all make it easier for people to be open with their disabilities and thereby help with their integration into our workforce.
Aside from what is legally required, what are some best practices that can make a business place feel more welcoming and inclusive of people with disabilities? If you can, please share a few examples.
Most important is that employers make people with disabilities feel like a natural part of the company, so they are viewed as individuals that have various personalities, skill sets and needs. People with the same diagnoses are still different individuals and the disability they have can be very different from person to person. Also, make sure that they have a job where they feel that they contribute to the team to fulfill the needs of the company. As an employer, it is important that we aim to treat people as they want to be treated. People with disabilities may sometimes need to communicate in a different way, or have more time when communicating, and it is important that we respect the differences, to enable everyone to express themselves and make their voices heard. We welcome challenges related to non-disclosure of disabilities and building reconstruction as opportunities for relationship-building among stakeholders (including the employees with unique needs and abilities themselves) to find creative solutions for successful workforce integration. Natural supports, as previously described, are paramount to such solutions. Examples include seeking input on accessible venues for company social gatherings, offering rides or physical assistance (such as carrying supplies or equipment), granting extensions on project deadlines, facilitating introductions, companionship and mentorship that may be key to fostering an inclusive atmosphere and the employee’s long-term job satisfaction.
While all things related to accessibility and inclusion remain top of mind for us at Tobii Dynavox, we continue to make improvements, often with the input from our staff with disabilities. Even though we always strive to be at the top of our game in this respect, we are not perfect — there’s always more to consider and do.
Can you share a few examples of ideas that were implemented at your workplace to help promote disability inclusion? Can you share with us how the work culture was impacted as a result?
A major initiative in our effort to be a welcoming and inclusive workplace is the 2019 implementation of an employee-driven Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion committee. Corporate DE&I initiatives are becoming commonplace across the US in the wake of political unrest heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Knowing that we were somewhat ahead of the curve is a real source of pride for us. This again goes back to our mission of actively supporting a better quality of life for individuals with disabilities. Tobii Dynavox DE&I initiatives are not disability-specific but cover the full range of dimensions of diversity — from race and gender orientation to ethnicity and religion to socioeconomic status. Nonetheless, our day-to-day business addresses speech, language and communication disabilities through technology. Many of those we serve also have physical, sensory, learning and behavioral disabilities — from birth or acquired throughout the lifespan. If follows naturally that our DE&I focus also allows for greater awareness/sensitivity and is a great resource for a more universal understanding of the disability experience.
Two more concrete things we do:
- Periodically host companywide visits (virtual and live) with individuals who benefit from using Tobii Dynavox technology, their families and care teams. Such visits have proven to be terrific opportunities for fostering a culture of inclusion as well as a passion for honoring our collective differences and even celebrating our similarities.
- At this late stage of the pandemic, we’ve adopted a flexible work policy, giving employees the option of working from home OR in the office the majority of the time. This helps level the playing field for those with and without chronic health or disabling conditions, allowing all to choose the work mode that best reflects their unique abilities, needs and lifestyles.
This is our signature question that we ask in many of our interviews. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started My Career”?
1. Trust yourself. Don’t listen too much to the loudest voices and have them steer the direction when you don’t think they’re going the right way. Sometimes I’ve tried to please the ones who shouts the loudest but that has made me spend my time on things I knew wouldn’t help at all instead of focusing on the right thing. Which then have made us lose focus, energy and tempo as a team more or less going the wrong direction and taking the company back rather than forward.
2. Spend time on explaining the context, because if others understand the why around a decision, then they are more likely to follow the decision even though they might have done it a different way. So, be inclusive and listen before making a decision and then explain why you made the decision you did and people will respect you.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask for help to solve tasks or prioritize, sometimes we all feel overwhelmed by what we have on our plate — it’s ok to have a sit down with your colleagues and/or your manager saying I need some help. I’ve had times during my career when I’ve tried to fix everything on my own and haven’t been able to see the forest because of all the trees in front of me. What’s helped me get out of those situations is to talk to the team and clearly state that I have too much on my plate and I need help. I remember a time quite a while ago where I couldn’t hold back my tears actually admitting I’d taken on too much and that was very hard to admit to myself as I saw myself as invincible. The team was super supportive and my manager, who was a bit remorseful for putting too much on my shoulders, was also supportive and I learned that I should have said it’s enough rather than saying yes to everything.
4. It’s ok if everything isn’t perfect. Sometimes we make mistakes that we learn from and that’s totally ok. I’ve spent way too much time to make things really great and then realized that if I’d just spent 20% of the time, it would have been even better, as I’ve ended up in more than one anti-climatic feeling, realizing no one noticed the extra work that was done. The small the things I’ve done on the fly have been more appreciated.
5. Realize that we all are humans, don’t assume people are ignorant or ill-intended, we are all on a learning curve. Have big ears and a small mouth, listen and learn from others. We all are teachers as well as learners, so be humble and help others. Instead of getting annoyed or angry about what people say and assume what they intended, I’ve learned that if you are less defensive and just ask a question without shaming someone, they actually learn rather than ending up in a defensive mode themselves. I’ve had numerous instances where I’ve asked right out if someone has been less thoughtful about, for instance, an underrepresented group. The question might have been “how do you think that women would interpret that comment?” and that have opened up for a reflection from the person and changed behavior for the future. But sometimes it’s totally ok to just spit out, ”Hey, we don’t talk that way,” and if they didn’t understand, hopefully they’ll ask a question.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story about how that was relevant in your own life?
“Just do it” fits this well and is a good repetition, don’t sit and wait for others to do it especially if you don’t like the situation. I’ve made life choices many times leaving things in the past that I thought were right at first.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
My northern soul is not used to the superlatives about myself, thank you for helping me adapt 😊. The teacher learner movement should be created, where listening and learning are paramount, but also teaching and keeping an open mind. This would focus on possibilities and what you can offer rather than what other people can be offering to you.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
I used to work for my role model in that area, Katarina Berg. She is the best on sharing what she and her team do to keep everyone willing to listen and I have much to learn from her still. Keep a look out on my LinkedIn page.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!
Likewise, it was a pleasure.
About the Interviewer: Eric L. Pines is a nationally recognized federal employment lawyer, mediator, and attorney business coach. He represents federal employees and acts as in-house counsel for over fifty thousand federal employees through his work as a federal employee labor union representative. A formal federal employee himself, Mr. Pines began his federal employment law career as in-house counsel for AFGE Local 1923 which is in Social Security Administration’s headquarters and is the largest federal union local in the world. He presently serves as AFGE 1923’s Chief Counsel as well as in-house counsel for all FEMA bargaining unit employees and numerous Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs unions.
While he and his firm specialize in representing federal employees from all federal agencies and in reference to virtually all federal employee matters, his firm has placed special attention on representing Veteran Affairs doctors and nurses hired under the authority of Title. He and his firm have a particular passion in representing disabled federal employees with their requests for medical and religious reasonable accommodations when those accommodations are warranted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (ADA). He also represents them with their requests for Federal Employee Disability Retirement (OPM) when an accommodation would not be possible.
Mr. Pines has also served as a mediator for numerous federal agencies including serving a year as the Library of Congress’ in-house EEO Mediator. He has also served as an expert witness in federal court for federal employee matters. He has also worked as an EEO technical writer drafting hundreds of Final Agency Decisions for the federal sector.
Mr. Pines’ firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has offices in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. His first passion is his wife and five children. He plays classical and rock guitar and enjoys playing ice hockey, running, and biking. Please visit his websites at www.pinesfederal.com and www.toughinjurylawyers.com. He can also be reached at eric@pinesfederal.com.
Disability Inclusion In The Workplace: Mikael Bäckström Of Tobii Dynavox On How Businesses Make… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.