This document discusses creating a disability-friendly corporate culture and highlights best practices for employing people with disabilities. It notes that while 43 million Americans have disabilities, employment rates for this group remain low due to barriers. Two case studies are presented: Hewlett-Packard employs people with disabilities and ensures its products are accessible, while Microsoft provides top management support, targeted recruiting, and training to employ this group. Overall, the best practices identified for reducing barriers and integrating people with disabilities include strong leadership support, training, broad recruiting, and focusing on abilities rather than disabilities.
2. Corporate Culture & Disabilities Role in employing persons with disabilities Facilitate vs. hinder employment and/or promotion Develop supportive culture How? Best practices? Case studies?
3. Purpose & Objectives Awareness Disparity Relationship between corporate culture & employment of persons with disabilities (PWDs) Build knowledge Case studies Best practices Significance of topic
4. “When individuals with disabilities attempt to gain admittance to most organizational settings, it is as if a space ship lands in the corporate board room and little green men from Mars ask to be employed.” --John, a 58-year-old employed man with paraplegia
5. Conceptual Framework 43 million Americans Largest minority group You can potentially join Low employment rate Barriers
7. Disability Friendly Culture & Climate Hiring & retaining is business necessity Focus on ability not disability Equal opportunity All treated fairly
8. Hewlett-Packard Products accessible to PWDs 49 million PWDs = products must be accessible Employs PWDs Taking disability employment global Multiple sources for PWD recruits Overcoming coworker resistance HP Accessibility Program
9. Microsoft Top management support Business case for hiring PWDs Employee/Affinity groups Targeted recruiting Multiple training programs Systematic job accommodation approach Attract young PWDs
11. Best Practices Strong, ongoing top management support Training programs Broadening recruitment Encourage development of networks See abilities Categorization and labels
People with disabilities constitute the nation's largest minority group, and the only group any of us can become a member of at any time. People with disabilities represent the single largest minority group seeking employment in today's marketplace. Barriers:From fear to false perceptions, many employers are reluctant to cast their nets wide enough to recruit people with disabilities beyond entry-level positions.Stigma misconceptions In 2005, 12.8 percent of working-age Americans with disabilities had at least a bachelor's degree while 28 percent had some college, according to the 2005 DisabilityStatus Reports by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on DisabilityDemographics and Statistics at Cornell University. Yet, only 22.6 percent were employed full-time.
Despite the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act persons with disabilities are consistently underemployed compared to the non-disabled population
To be effective, hiring and retaining people with disabilities must be viewed as a business necessity or a business value, not a passing fadMatch jobs to persons with disabilities—embrace the hiring philosophy of focusing on ability not disability A disability friendly culture may best be described as one that has value of focusing on ability not disability, equal opportunity, and treating all employees fairly. The organization focuses on valuing what an individual can do, not what he or she cannot do. Equal opportunity implies that PWDs have a chance to perform any job that they are capable of performing; it doesn’t imply that they can perform any job, just that they have the opportunity. Fair treatment implies that PWDs are not arbitrarly discriminated against based upon negative or positive biases. These characteristics of a disability friendly culture most likely would be widely accepted despite whether an individual has a disability. A disability friendly climate is one that uses practices, procedures, and rewards to create an atmosphere such that employees and managers perceive the following:-it is important to provide everyone—including persons with disabilities—opportunities for employment and career development- it is important to hold everyone—including persons with disabilities accountable for making substantial contributions to organizational performance -anyone can acquire a disability at any time—so how we treat persons with disabilities reflects how we would like to be treated ourselves if we became temporarily or permanently disabled
Company actions aimed at connecting people to the power of technology, harnessing it to lift human potentialcommitment to provide leadership in designing accessible products and services to people with disabilities want people to buy products and there is a large market of persons with disabilities , the business case directs what the company doesTaking disability employment global:-country action plans designed to promote and ensure inclusion of persons with disabilities-corporate Leadership Council on Diversity- they believe diversity is a competitive advantage, they have seen that it contributes to their ability to attract new employeesMultiple sources for PWD recruitsFrontline supervisors trained to expand applicant pooloften go to universities they know and interacting with faculty to identify PWDS who also have the necessary skills needed for a particular positionwork with employment agencies that are noted for their training of persons with disabilitiespartner with external organizations including American Association of People with Disabilities, the Department of Labor, Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities, Business Leadership Network, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Overcoming coworker resistance:HP has a number of support groups for different disability categories ex. Physical, intellectual, and emotionalHas a separate support group called the Disability Network, which is not specific to any disability and you do not have to have a disability to join, members can have a family member or know a person with a disability the purpose of this program is to educate, build awareness, and provide developmentThere are a number of training programs provided on the companys intranet which are open to all employeesA company site on the accommodation process—which managers can access if they hire a person with a disability or if an employee gets a disability and they are not sure what to doThe HP Accessibility Program The chief responsibility of this program is to ensure that products and programs, and services and information for HP customers and partners, are accessible to people with disabilities and age-related impairments
Top management supportBill Gates along with other business leaders from 21 companies helped to form the Able to Work Consortium, an independent business consortium dedicated to increasing employment opportunities for PWDsHis active and public role in support of hiring persons with disabilities has helped to establish a disability friendly culture throughout Microsoft Gates and top management stress that knowledge and skills are most important to Microsoft—having a disability is not an issue if a person has the skillsBusiness case for hiring PWDsMicrosoft views persons with disabilities as an integral part of the companyThey provide valuable perspectives on how they develop products and services, how they market them, and how they can improve customer satisfactionBelieve that having PWDs helps ensure that their products will be useable by the greatest amount of customersEx. A software test engineer who is blind holds 5 patents for accessibility in software design Employee/Affinity GroupsSelf organized groups that consist of employees with similar disabilities MS ADD (attention deficit disorders)These groups provide support and networking opportunities for PWDs such as mentoring, college recruiting, working in the community, career development, and cultural awarenessEach group has an executive sponsor Each employee group has connections with community groups that are advocates for PWDsAlso help with accessibility and testing of Microsoft productsTargeted recruitingInvolves interaction with advocacy groups such as the Able to Work Consortium, participation in job fairs such as the Hire Disability Job Fair, and college recruiting at traditional colleges for PWDs, such as Galludet University and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf Microsoft also places advertisements in publications targeted towards persons with disabilities such as Careeres and the Disabled, Ability Magazine, and Diversity Careers in Engineering By identifying sources of employees with disabilities, microsoft is able to identify hidden talent that their competitors may ignoreMultiple training programsRecruiting staff completes disability etiquette training, recruiting staff is provided with online resources to consult for how to ask specific interview questions -they have a process oriented approach to integrating persons with disabilities into their workforce prior to the arrival or shortly after the arrival of a new employee with a disability Microsoft provides opportunities for future coworkers to have their questions about disabilities addressed in an open and safe environment. For coworkers that have not worked with PWDs allowing them to satisfy their curiosities goes a long way toward creating a receptive environment This sensitization process may include exercises such as a silent lunch in which employees have lunch without talking—forcing them to learn to communicate without speechNew employee orientation provides information to all employees about the valuable contributions that PWDs make in the work placeBesides training to sensitize employyees in general to issues of working with PWDs, Micorsoft also provides tailored training for dealing with specific disabilities. For example, prior to the arrival of a deaf coworker, one unit provided training in sign language Systematic job accommodation approach-Microsoft has a centralized budget for reasonable accommodations, this allays concerns of hiring managers that are trying to keep their labor costs within limits-they also have an ADA Accommodations Committee that is responsible for coordinating accommodations throughout the company -also have an Assistive Technologies Team that makes evaluations -there is also an Accessibility Lab which allows Microsoft employees to try out their accommodations before they are implemented Attracting young PWDsRationale: creates a pipeline of exceptional employees when they are olderPrograms include:Job shadowingCareer daysInternshipsScholarshipsCurriculum developmentCampus visits Panel discussions with Microsoft employees who have disabilities Software donations
Strong ongoing commitment of top management support, entails recognizing that diversity is not just a legal obligation, but a moral and business imperative; this sets a tone of inclusion and helps change or reinforce corporate norms and managerial/employee behaviors to improve treatment and opportunities for employees with disabilities Training programs-implement training programs for employees that provide information about disability and help modify expectations and combat stereotypes, and provide skills for dealing with people with disabilities that help decrease discomfort and anxietyBroaden recruitment strategies to include working with disability organizations to help identify qualified candidates for employment Encouraging employees with disabilities to form networks within the company that provide information,
Rationale for this approach is the fact that no one is exempt from the influence of stereotypes and prejudices, and all programs should be reflective of this factIncorporates persons with disabilities into the change equationIt eliminates the perception that change is only needed in persons relying on or utlizing stereotypic information or acting on prejudicesIt decreases the feeling of helplessness and victimization in targetsAssists in developing and maintaining momentum at the individual and organizational levelsIt recognizes that developing competencies in diversity management are necessary
Competition for the best talent requires employers to reach out and embrace an increasingly diverse applicant poolODEP found that when employers hire PWDs they increase employee loyalty and productivity while attracting and retaining the best talent ODEP hiring persons with disabilities can increase market opportunities as well as have a positive impact on an organizations reputation According to a national survey of consumer attitudes towards companies that hire PWDs 92% of the american public view companies that hire PWDs more favorably than those who do not, additionally 87% of the public would prefer to give their business to companies that hire PWDs
