Q: Who will use the information I provide?
A: For employees, the information you provide will be shared with your line manager unless you choose not to – in which case it will go to the HR/wellbeing team. It may also be shared on a ‘need to know’ basis with other teams such as your HR department or Occupational Health, but this won’t happen without your agreement. For applicants, your information will go to the HR or recruitment team to make sure you get the adjustments you need throughout the application process.
Q: Will answering these questions be used against me?
A: Any employer using ClearTalents wants all their employees and applicants to perform at their best. They are committed to helping you, but they cannot do so without your input.
Q: Do I get any information back as part of the process?
A: Yes. As well as a summary of your responses the report will suggest useful resources and contacts as well as handy tips that could help you at work, in your application or at home.
Q: I am not disabled, is this relevant for me?
A: Yes it is. ClearTalents asks about any circumstances that an employer could reasonably be expected to provide support for. This includes caring or parenting responsibilities, commitments around your faith or culture, pregnancy or maternity and many others.
Q: How long does it take to complete the questionnaire?
A: Most people take less than fifteen minutes but you can take longer if you have a lot to tell us or want to look at the resources we provide. You can stop at any time and finish later.
Q: I cannot use a computer - is it possible to get a copy in a different format?
A: Completing your profile online makes it easier for your employer or recruiter to manage the next stages of the process. However, if you can’t do it online – either yourself or with assistance – please call us on 0845 2930963 or email enquiries@cleartalents.com and we will provide an alternative format or arrange for you to answer questions over the phone.
Q: Do I have to fill it in all at once or can I do it a bit at a time?
A: You can save your answers at any time and return later to complete your profile.
Q: I don't want everyone talking about me and things that are personal to me.
A: For applicants, your responses are only seen by the recruiter and entirely confidential. For employees, ClearTalents is designed to help you get more support and understanding at work and the report sent to your manager (or HR/wellbeing if preferred) will include instructions on how to support you. You will control whether and how the information is shared with anyone else and agree who is going to be told about your needs.
Q: I have a specific disability. Rather than go through this process could I not just call someone and tell them about it?
A: For applicants, we really need to explore all areas of need to ensure you can perform at your best. For employees, yes you can – your HR or Occupational Health Department should know the best person to talk to. However, the questionnaire is about much more than just disability and you may have other things to report so it’s important to explore those areas too.
Questions asked by employers and recruiters
Q: Will using ClearTalents make an organisation fully compliant with the Equality Act?
A: Properly implementing the ClearTalents process in both the workplace and in recruitment goes beyond compliance to a best practice approach to diversity and inclusion. Every employee and candidate is proactively encouraged to disclose needs across all nine protected characteristics defined by the Equality Act (2010) and our reports empower managers and recruiters to put relevant adjustments in place and our dashboards enable HR, Diversity and wellbeing teams to monitor, manage and address issues.
Q: As well as advice about Reasonable Adjustments does ClearTalents provide any other benefits?
A: Yes. ClearTalents In Recruitment also covers mental health considerations. ClearTalents At Work similarly covers mental health issues as well as workplace safety, a full Display Screen Equipment (DSE) component and an optional bullying and harassment component. Organisations using ClearTalents find that it reduces sickness, staff turnover, compromise agreements and industrial tribunals.
Q: Will employees and candidates be prepared to complete this questionnaire?
A: We’ve researched what the employee is prepared to do and how to encourage them to respond positively and we find that employees in any organisation are taking the time to complete it accurately and thoughtfully. ClearTalents feels supportive, relevant and informative, employees love it and learn from it – and it only takes a few minutes. Candidates may or may not choose to create a ClearTalents profile. This is their choice, but the fact that it has been provided as a supportive means to disclose their needs is significant with regards a compliant, best-practice approach.
Q: Will ClearTalents work with our existing systems and processes?
A: Yes, ClearTalents is designed to fit anywhere in your HR, OH and recruitment processes – with the option of full integration or more separate operation as required.
Q: What help can you provide to help organisations establish the service?
A: Our Managed Service team help set up the system and ensure that it is running smoothly. Once it’s up and running they can assist with more complex cases and provide regular reporting so that the impact of the service is clearly conveyed to senior management.
Q: We already have an OH team in place - what does this system offer that they do not already cover?
A: Research has shown that as many as 56% of employees and candidates could benefit from some sort of adjustment (Forrester research 2005) so an automated approach with embedded expertise is the only effective solution. The main challenge most employers face is encouraging candidates and employees to disclose their needs – and then swiftly identifying and implementing Reasonable Adjustments. ClearTalents highlights issues across all nine ‘protected characteristics’ defined by the Equality Act 2010 and instantly provides tailored advice and recommended adjustments.
Q: How does ClearTalents address the DSE (Display Screen Equipment) requirement for employees?
A: The DSE assessment is a requirement for all employees that use a computer or electronic equipment with a screen at a desk. ClearTalents has a specific section that covers all the DSE requirements, provides detailed recommendations for employer and employee, as well as additional questions and resources around safe working. It reports on the specific ‘health’ of DSE usage across the entire organisation, as well as integrating DSE health into overall adjustment data.
Q: How long are the reports?
A: ClearTalents reports are modular and give information in short powerful nuggets. For recruiters, each stage of the application has its own separate ‘mini report’ providing only that info you need for that stage. For managers or HR who need to refer back to a report, you can dip in and out of the relevant bits with more detailed information always available for those that require it.
Q: Will we get lots of reasonable adjustment requests and not be able to manage them?
A: No, that’s the key point about ClearTalents. It only gathers relevant information from the individual and empowers the recruiter and line manager with the exact information they need to provide the required adjustments. So it doesn’t feel overwhelming or daunting, just sensible and appropriate.
Q: Will this result in lots of claims and set unrealistic expectations about the support an employer can reasonably provide?
A: For employees, ClearTalents makes it very clear that whilst their employer wants to be as supportive as possible the solutions provided must be reasonable. The employee is encouraged to take control for themselves and must work proactively with managers to implement sensible solutions. The result is a distributed approach with very little escalation or central management (or budget) required. For candidates a similar expectation is set. In both cases, managers and recruiters follow the best practice advice provided in the report and ClearTalents provides employers with a comprehensive audit trail of your reasonable adjustment practice which protects you within the law.
Q: We are a large employer with many different and varied stakeholders, how do we ensure that the right people get the right level of information?
A: During the setup process you set the reporting levels and decide on who gets what and when. ClearTalents can advise you on managing this to suit your organisation’s needs.
Q: We're a really small employer - is this going to create lots of extra work for us?
A: The ClearTalents report gives you all you need to put the appropriate adjustment in place – or links you to the person that can provide it – so you save time and money not having to start from scratch on something that is a legal obligation for every employee.
Q: What if an employee really needs to have someone work with them to understand their needs - maybe it's a complex mental health issue for example?
A: ClearTalents helps deal with the vast majority of adjustments in a timely and sensitive way; but it also recognises that for some individuals the personal involvement of an expert is going to be appropriate. In these cases ClearTalents will identify the need to involve an expert and direct them to the right person or team – this could be either internally or externally, as defined at setup.
