Disability Experts Share Business Strategies
By Rebecca R. Hastings, SPHR
Published Apr 19, 2007, SHRM Online
http://www.shrm.org/hrnews_published/archives/CMS_021296.asp
Business and government leaders who gathered at Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) headquarters in Alexandria, Va., April 17, 2007, just one day after the Virginia Tech shootings, found an important link between the tragic event and their reason for meeting. “You can be perfectly healthy, have 20-20 vision and be able to walk upright, and just like that you can become a person with a disability,” said W. Roy Grizzard Jr., assistant secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) at the U.S. Department of Labor. “Some of the people at Virginia Tech will now be people with a disability.
“It is the businesses and organizations around this table that are providing opportunities for those people to rise up from the ashes,” Grizzard said. “It is a perfect example that what we are doing is impacting lives of Americans in a real way.”
The gathering was the third “ Circle of Champions ” event for companies who have won the Secretary of Labor's “ New Freedom Initiative Award” honoring entities that have demonstrated exemplary and innovative efforts in furthering the employment and workplace environment for people with disabilities. Participants work with ODEP and each other to share business strategies that result in hiring, retaining and advancing the careers of employees with disabilities.
“We are deeply moved by what happened (April 16), but today we are going to talk about moving forward,” said Loretta Herrington, senior assistant to Grizzard and facilitator of the event. One way in which ODEP is moving forward is by creating an online Disability Employment Toolkit for employers who need guidance on how to recruit, hire and retain people with disabilities. According to Julie Clark of the ODEP Employer Policy Team, the toolkit is written in plain English with legal citations removed but with legal requirements embedded in the content. Employers can simply follow the steps, she said. SHRM, as part of its partnership with ODEP, plans to pilot the toolkit's content on SHRM Online.
Participants heard about three innovative programs during the event. Project SEARCH, a program created by the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, began as a high school transition model for individuals with significant disabilities to gain employment in the health care industry. It has since been adapted to meet the needs of banks as well.
The next presentation demonstrated how Aetna uses disability management products and processes to help employers help employees transition back to work following disability leave.
Medtronic's impact on students with disabilities in Minnesota was the topic of the third presentation. What started as a small career fair has blossomed into an established recruitment event that will be open to veterans as well.
Several Themes Emerge
Several themes came out of these presentations, according to Deb Cohen, chief knowledge officer for SHRM, who facilitated a discussion of issues at the event. In each case there were champions, she said, and replication of activities inside and outside each organization. A supportive corporate culture has been identified as key, she added, as has the integration of recruitment and retention efforts. But she noted how research and metrics have been used to enhance each business case.
Participants then spent time discussing a variety of current issues, such as the impact of the aging workforce. Recommendations included improved workforce planning, increased use of universal design and better training at all organization levels to address changing demographics.
But changes organizations make to meet employee needs will benefit more than those with disabilities, Grizzard said. In addition, they benefit customers.
“What we want is a workplace that looks like America,” Grizzard said. “A job is how we identify ourselves; it gives us human dignity.” But he cautioned employers against simply hiring people with disabilities without preparing the culture to accept them. “You must make them feel welcome,” he said, so they will produce their best results for the organization, which is, after all, what organizations are seeking from any employee.