In The News
HirePotential’s team of experts are often called upon to provide information regarding the employment of people with disabilities, veterans, mature workers and other niche areas.
Read our recent press releases and link to articles.
- “Job Hunters with Disabilities Crave an Opportunity”
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The Grand Rapid Press, Nov 2007
HirePotential’s president, Sheridan Walker, is quoted discussing hiring people with disabilities. She gives tips on what applicants should focus on in the interview, and how companies that hire people with disabilities can qualify for $1,500-$8,500 in Work Opportunity tax credits…
- “Tight job market? What tight job market? HirePotential helps diasabled people find jobs”
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Colorado Biz, 2000
Writer Stephen Titus writes about how HirePotential helps people with disabilities find jobs.
- “Tapping into vast work force: Disabled people and those over 55 total millions that need jobs”
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Rocky Mountain News, Aug 2000
By Vicky Uhland
With unemployment rates at 4.0 percent nationally and 2.3 percent in Colorado, it's easy to assume that everyone who wants a job can get a job. But recruiters identify an untapped work force: disabled and older workers. Figures from the President's Committee on Hiring People With Disabilities and from the Department of Labor show 54 million people in the U.S. have disabilities, and about 70 percent of them are unemployed.
A disability is defined as a condition that affects one or more life functions, such as walking, seeing or hearing. There are also what's known as "invisible disabilities" — everything from renal failure to schizophrenia. Some substance-abuse problems also are recognized as a disability.
But while the population of people with disabilities is large, the group of workers over the age of 55 is growing quickly. "How are companies going to deal with this 50 percent to 60 percent turnover (projected) in the next three years due to retirement?" said Kelly Egan, president of Denver-based staffing service HirePotential.
HirePotential, an 11-month-old, for-profit company funded by $4 million in venture capital, specializes in placing what Egan calls "the untapped work force" — disabled workers, veterans and people over age 55. The company has offices in Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Clients include Qwest and Pitney Bowes. "People with disabilities are the largest single minority in the U.S.," Egan said. "We look at a pool of about 27 million disabled people of working age. In any event, it's a huge population."
Disabled workers have had problems getting jobs for a number of reasons beyond the fact that they're disabled. Until legislation was passed last December, disabled workers couldn't make more than about $700 a month and keep their Social Security and Medicare benefits. And government agencies and nonprofits that place workers with disabilities sometimes have a hard time filling jobs. "The problem has been that these agencies have had a difficult time connecting with corporate America," Egan said. "There seems to be a language barrier." But technology has, in many cases, greatly improved the job market for people with disabilities. Blind people can become computer programmers. People in wheelchairs can perform jobs that have become automated.
HirePotential specializes in administrative, technological and customer service jobs. Egan said workers range from "senior-level engineers and managers to entry level customer service," with applicants divided fairly evenly between professional and nonprofessional workers. The company works with corporations interested in expanding their diversity programs. It offers consulting services on topics such as disability awareness and accommodation and the aging of the work force.
Community College of Denver also has a program tailored for people with disabilities. CCD, along with Princeton, N.J.-based nonprofit organization Community Options and the Department of Labor, began PASSITON last year. The program, which is also offered in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas, is designed to give computer training, internships and job matching to people with disabilities. Ten students graduated from the 15-month course on Aug. 3; four have jobs. Another 32 students began classes last week, said Rie Kenkel, CCD director for Computer Training for People With Disabilities. The program teaches students computer programming, including COBOL and LAN administration. Students are enrolled in CCD, but most fees are paid by vocational rehabilitation programs. There's also a business advisory council that helps students with job placement.
"The program thrives because senior IT professionals want to give back to the community," said Steven Lawrence, chairman of the Community Options Business Advisory Council. "I've had wonderful opportunities to mentor individual students and to be a guest lecturer."
- ”Staffing Companies Opening New Doors to People with Disabilities”
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Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 2001
By Kelly Egan, President/CEO
1. Introduction
Sometimes the challenge of getting people with disabilities into the work place is like the weather; everyone talks about it, but nobody seems to be doing anything about it. In fact, many people and entities are trying to do something about it. The government passed the American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) more than a decade ago hoping to level the playing field and encourage employment. Last year, President Clinton signed The Work Incentive Improvement Act, allowing people with disabilities to go to work without losing medical benefits. Companies from Microsoft to McDonalds have established initiatives to hire people with disabilities. Yet, the vast majority of people with disabilities who are not now working report that they want to go to work [2]. Further enhancing the employment potential for people with disabilities is the dearth of qualified labor in a market exploding with available positions.
On the surface there should be no problem. It's a classic scenario for success. On the one hand is demand, on the other is supply. However, the demand side of this equation coming from corporations and government, doesn't seem to understand how to recruit qualified people with disabilities, as well as others in the untapped labor force. Meanwhile, the untapped workforce consisting of those with disabilities, mature workers, welfare recipients, veterans, and other special niche groups appear to be having difficulty finding jobs as they become available and getting human resource people to look beyond their wheelchairs, prostheses, physical and/or emotional disabilities.
That's where staffing companies can open doors for employers and potential employees. When the four founders of HirePotential were at Alternative Resources Corporation (ARC), an information technology management and staffing company, designing its now successful REACH program, it was realized that a national staffing company must go beyond the traditional job placement criteria to serve both the untapped workforce and the client-employer.
A great deal of the credit goes to HirePotential's vice president and co-founder, Sheridan Walker. Her background as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Therapist and 15-years experience working with people with disabilities, dovetailed perfectly with her position as Program Manager of Disability and Diversity at ARC. As a national speaker, she is accustomed to getting out in front of client-employers where she clearly and concisely dispels their fears about hiring people with disabilities.
2. Staffing companies facilitating the job match
Similar to Ms. Walker's experience in physical rehabilitation, her organizational talents were a perfect match for developing HirePotential. A common held belief with the program is that everything related to getting people with disabilities placed in good jobs is a matter of finding the right match. The job of a staffing company is to facilitate a match that goes beyond filling a hole to becoming a partner with corporations and government agencies, as well as with the individuals in the untapped labor market.
HirePotential achieves this objective by maximizing current technologies, such as e-mail and the Internet, to recruit potential employees known as E*Cruitment. This strategy allows people in the untapped workforce to post their resumes online. In addition, it allows the staffing company to contact people in remote areas, as well as individuals with disabilities who may have difficulty traveling extensively. While HirePotential believes service can be technologically driven, it must be personally delivered; nothing can replace the human touch, both for recruits and clients.
Staffing companies need to take it upon themselves to discover the talents that people with disabilities have to offer potential employers. Where pre-employment training is necessary, a good staffing company can help coordinate it with an outside facility, or do it themselves in-house. A quality service requires establishing a relationship between a staffing company like HirePotential and the people and agencies that specialize in returning people to work.
Similarly, employers need to be apprized of the talent that exists in the community and how it can fulfill their needs. They also need information to dispel fears they may have about how an individual with a disability might fit into their corporate culture and what reasonable accommodations she or he may need. Further, staffing companies should recommend how to expedite such accommodations, identify where equipment can be purchased or leased, and if necessary, what costs might be incurred. For those who use assistive devices, HirePotential seamlessly integrates them into the work place to ensure a positive employment experience and high productivity.
The manager of a health-care organization in Southfield, Michigan was concerned when HirePotential proposed filling a night computer operator position with a client that was deaf. The employer, Beverly Barra, stated: "I never had to communicate with somebody with a hearing disability. Besides, I was told that communication over the phone would not be a problem." The employer needed reassurance and information about the individual and possible assistive devices to make her hiring decision.
HirePotential demonstrated that the technology was already in place. Generally the equipment costs, if any, are usually around $50 [3]. Better still, those costs are frequently covered by programs implemented by the state, either directly or through tax credits [4]. It is one more major item that a staffing company, working with people with disabilities, will need to research, understand, and bring to the employer. In short, while ADA removed many physical barriers for people with disabilities, it will take high quality staffing companies and others to remove some of the invisible barriers and obstructions that prevent companies from opening their doors to the untapped workforce.
3. Going beyond traditional staffing companies
Businessweek Magazine [1] quoted a 30-year study by DuPont which states, "job performance by workers with disabilities [is] equal to or better than fully functioning peers." The article goes on to substantiate that over ninety percent of workers with disabilities have an above-average job performance with safety and attendance records when compared to co-workers without disabilities. This is the type of research that must be shared by staffing companies to address client fears if large numbers of people with disabilities are going to join the labor force. Vital to this process is knowing the research statistics and understanding what information will help or harm the chances of people with disabilities in obtaining good jobs and ultimately careers. The job of the staffing company is to present those facts to corporations and government agencies so they can take advantage of the huge talent pool that is eager, qualified, and generally very loyal to the company that hires them.
Another way of looking at the situation is as human capital management, rather than that of human resources. Staffing companies and employers should be viewing employees, whether from the traditional or from the untapped workforce, as an asset rather than a resource. Assets are something one tends and nurtures for growth. Resources, on the other hand, are something you mine and use just for profit. Included in the many qualities people with disabilities bring to their employers is the usually high degree of loyalty, making them a true asset instead of a resource.
Among the major misgivings corporations have regarding hiring people with disabilities is the impact that they might have on liability insurance, health insurance, and workers compensation. HirePotential has found that many managers are concerned about their company's workers compensation, health and liability insurance premiums rising. Their concern is based on the possibility of someone with a disability getting into an accident, causing an injury, or creating property damage. Those experienced in this field understand that while these concerns are typical among employers they are simply myths and assumptions.
The first rule that HirePotential impresses on the employer-partners is that people with disabilities should be treated like any other employee. It is important to educate management and co-workers about disability awareness, as part of a typical seminar on cultural diversity. This allows the employee with a disability to work in an environment that is disability neutral. When a business is accurately informed, fears and myths about people with disabilities break down, along with employment barriers.
Such is the case with Wilfredo "Freddy" Laboy, a 36-year-old father of three who lost both his legs in a train accident at age nine. Even with record unemployment, his accomplishments as an amateur basketball star and veteran of the New York City marathon, Freddy couldn't find a job. Prospective employers just couldn't see past his wheelchair and amputated legs. On a whim, Freddy applied at the Gap, which, to his surprise, hired him. "I finally got accepted somewhere because they didn't just see the wheelchair," Freddy says, "they saw me."
4. A four-pronged approach to permanent employment
The subject of termination, among other market factors, leads HirePotential to a four-pronged approach for getting permanent jobs for those in the untapped workforce. In fact one might say that HirePotential went through a paradigm shift and began viewing a traditional staffing company as a 'body shop' that simply filled holes. The paradigm shift for HirePotential is that the company views itself as a hub. More like the ethernet hub in a high-speed computer network than the hub of a wheel.
In this paradigm there is a constant flow of information from our various employer-client partners, the rehabilitation sector, local, state and national agencies, the workforce, and others. It is a dynamic, vital hub where all the connections may be functioning at once, or only a few at time. Flexibility and adaptability are often the name of the game. Instead of the rigid construct of unyielding spokes that all emanate from a central point, HirePotential believes the staffing company must become an integral part of the process.
To effect this model a staffing company that is devoted to placing people from the untapped workforce in meaningful, permanent positions nationally, must offer temporary staffing, permanent placement, temporary-to-hire staffing, and retained recruiting services. In addition, staffing companies should provide consulting and employment solutions, and a variety of resources for their clients. These resources include offering people a choice of when, where, and how they want to work. On the flip side, it offers companies the skills they need to keep fully staffed during busy times.
To facilitate temporary staffing, staffing companies need to hire their own employees and assign them to support or supplement a client's work force in situations involving temporary skill shortages, seasonal workloads, and special projects. Among the benefits this affords employers is the ability to better match staffing levels to actual project requirements, and converting fixed personnel costs which vary with workloads. It affords a significant reduction in recruiting, hiring, training, and de-employment (termination) costs. It increases flexibility, staffing freedom, and provides the ability to focus managerial talent on core business objectives rather than personnel requirements. In this scenario, HirePotential assumes responsibility for all employer requirements, including payroll taxes, benefits, workers compensation, and de-employment when the particular project is completed.
HirePotential recruited a gentleman with experience in package delivery, who injured his back in an auto accident several years earlier. Through HirePotential, state vocational rehabilitation trained him to provide support for workstations, servers, hubs, routers, and mainframe computers as part of their on-the-job training. This man won two certificates of appreciation that included credits toward Microsoft engineer training. Technically, he was an employee of the staffing company, which assigned him to work under a helpdesk service contract. It took this extremely talented and hard working gentleman four years to find a job. It can be assumed that many employers projected that he would be a liability. HirePotential looked beyond the disability and found him to be an outstanding employee.
HirePotential experiences approximately a better than average success rate for assisting individuals from the untapped workforce in obtaining permanent positions within client-companies, following a period of time where the employer has an opportunity to witness first-hand the assets that the individual is able to bring to the company. Once this occurs the temporary position leads to a long-term position. Staffing companies must be structured in a way to allow employers to hire these employees without fear of damaging the business relationship. The mandate must be to secure high quality long-term jobs and careers for as many people as possible.
It is important to note that in today's marketplace eighty-percent of all information technology positions are filled by staffing companies and fifty-percent of all other positions are also filled by staffing firms. It is critical that agencies who work with people with disabilities understand that a staffing company can be the first step in establishing work experience and ultimately a career.
Expanding on this theme, staffing companies provide corporations with employees that will work for a trial period during which time both the employee and the client consider establishing a permanent employment relationship. Temporary work provides a bridge to permanent employment. The increasing need for selectivity in permanent hiring has created the temp-to-perm phenomenon which has become commonplace across all categories of employment, from warehouses to accounting departments and beyond. It also allows the opportunity of hands-on work experience, which many people need to climb the ladder to success.
Exemplary staffing companies also need to enhance the more traditional realm of permanent placement by making corporations aware of the benefits of hiring people from the untapped workforce. These benefits include access to: a vast pool of talent, typically loyal employees, and potential employer tax incentives. Another new aspect to be brought to the table is retained recruiting services. Many corporations and government agencies have quotas or mandates to hire people with disabilities, as well as others from nontraditional labor pools Yet, they report that they have little understanding of how to go about finding those individuals who fit their needs. Staffing companies can provide client-partners with a dedicated recruiter who focuses only on the staffing needs of that company, and who concentrates her/his recruiting efforts on the untapped workforce.
5. Technology advances employability
Whether it's an inexpensive voice-recognition program for operating a computer, or a new microchip that enhances the mobility of an employee with paraplegia; technology is opening the door ever wider for people with disabilities. These new advancements are providing opportunities that did not exist even a few years ago and consequently are delivering unlimited potential for rewarding careers. Staffing companies like HirePotential must stay abreast of these advancements. They need to provide information on these technologies and assistive devices to those they wish to participate in the workforce.
6. Staffing companies must become pro-active
People with disabilities are not different from people without disabilities, they want the same opportunities as anyone else. HirePotential provides assistance and opportunities for people with disabilities by connecting them to jobs and careers without barriers. The company mission at HirePotential is to expand knowledge and break down the typical barriers and thereby increase the labor pool of qualified applicants.
It is said that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. HirePotential's motto is that you can be proactive by showing him how to drink. In order for staffing companies to be able to open doors to people with disabilities, they need to become pro-active. The Company needs to have contacts among agencies that support the untapped workforce ranging from the Social Security Administration and social service agencies; to shelters, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and other government and non-government agencies. Staffing companies must have good working relationships with large corporations and government agencies that are interested in hiring people with disabilities. Finally, staffing companies must have resources that can provide training, technological advancements, and programs designed to benefit employers and employees. Bringing these resources and entities together is like bringing a horse to water. Showing the horse how to drink is the hard part. Extending the parable to staffing companies, this is where one demonstrates, and facilitates, how all the above-mentioned parts fit together into a smooth, unified pattern that benefits everyone.
References:
[1] M. Conlin, The new workforce, Business Week 65 (March 2000).
[2] L. Harris and Associates, The 2000 N.O.D./Harris survey of Americans with disabilities, A survey conducted for the National Organization on Disability, Author, NY, 2000.
[3] President's Committee On Employment of People with Disabilities, Discovering and untapped resource: Recruiting, hiring and promoting people with cogitative disabilities, Washington, DC, 2000.
[4] V. Brooke and L. Hortum, eds, The untapped labor force, (Fact Sheet) Virginia Commonwealth University Rehabilitation Research and Training on Workplace Supports in collaboration with the United States Chamber of Commerce, Washington, DC, 2000
- “Focus on Abilities - An Interview with HirePotential’s Sheridan Walker”
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National Organization on Disability (N.O.D.), November 28, 2001
By Craig Gray, Director of Employability
Sheridan Walker is co-founder and Vice President of Recruiting and Development with HirePotential, Inc., a human capital management consulting and employment firm with a specific focus on people with disabilities as one of the untapped workforce.
N.O.D. and HirePotential are partners in educating workplaces about the skills of people with disabilities. We asked Sheridan to share some of her insights about the job market for people with disabilities.
Q: Describe HirePotential, Inc. - the work you do and your role in recruiting workers?
Sheridan Walker: There are two sides to our business. We have a staffing business where we are the vendor on-site for several large companies. The employees work for us and get their training and benefits from us. We recruit for those jobs from untapped labor market sources, including people with disabilities, mature workers, veterans, welfare-to-work and others, but people with disabilities are our specialty.
The other side of our business is consulting, and there we work with employers exclusively on everything they need to successfully employ and market to people with disabilities. We provide client companies with disability awareness training. That's often a direct benefit to our employees, too, because many of the client companies also have our staff on-site. In addition, we provide clients with a streamlined, businesslike approach to issues related to assistive technology and accommodations. We make a commitment to identify and acquire the assistive technologies or accommodations that will work in their environment within 48 hours.
The other goal of our consulting is to move companies toward what we call universal access. What we mean by that is making the entire operation - from the website to the physical locations and internal systems of a corporation - accessible for consumers and employees alike.
Q: It is not uncommon to hear employers say that they have a commitment to hire people with disabilities, but they don't see the applicants. Why is that?
Sheridan Walker: There are lots of reasons. One is that the applicants are not always educated in those positions. There's also not a single place where employers can find the resumes of people with disabilities or market to people with disabilities in the job market.
The other more basic gap keeping these parties apart is a lack of understanding. That's how HirePotential, Inc. came to be. We are an employment firm who focuses on the skills of a person and has the knowledge of what the business needs. Traditionally, there has not been an appropriate role that understands both sides of the equation. For example, in vocational rehabilitation there is strong focus on helping the person to be able to regain function and return to work. In business, the focus is on the skill sets that are needed in the corporate environment. These are two separate ways in accomplishing the goal of employment. They speak a different language.
There also are gaps in what businesses understand about disability. For example, when a business says it has a commitment to hiring people with disabilities, what they often are really saying is that they have a commitment to hiring someone with a disability if they have had previous experience. That is not the same commitment. If businesses want to employ people with disabilities they need to think about disability more broadly and understand the issues more deeply.
Q: Are there trends in the labor market that you see helping bridge those gaps?
Sheridan Walker: The aging workforce is certainly one trend that will change things. I think it will require companies to be more universally accessible, so they can retain older workers and older consumers too.
Telecommuting is another area that should open doors, but there are some misunderstandings there. Right now, you see vocational rehabilitation specialists trying to get telecommuting jobs for people with disabilities. But they need to recognize that those jobs are usually only available to people who have the most experience. There are still issues in managing people virtually. For example, the entry-level call center, customer service, information technology type job is not as likely to be available through telecommuting now as it will be in the future. Businesses have every incentive to get rid of the buildings and the rents, so those management issues are likely to be solved in the future.
Q: What's the single most important thing an employer must understand in hiring a person with a disability?
Sheridan Walker: Their abilities. If the interviewer is sitting there and all they are thinking is, "I wonder how long this person has been blind," then it's not going to work. Employers need to communicate and not be afraid to communicate. If they integrate with the community and get to know people with disabilities, they will succeed. Companies need to increase their knowledge to begin to decrease the barriers.
Q: What kinds of sources can employers tap for help?
Sheridan Walker: There are so many places to go for information. Everywhere from the Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy, to state vocational rehabilitation agencies and not-for-profit programs that focus on the employment of people with disabilities. But I think more than just information, businesses need to understand that this is a hands-on learning process. The learning is ongoing and person-to-person. You can't change things with one hour of training. The goal for the employers should be to have a real understanding of disability and commitment from the CEO to the hiring managers.
Q: What's the single most important thing for a co-worker to understand about a colleague with a disability?
Sheridan Walker: Their abilities. They also need to feel comfortable and communicate to gain a better understanding. When we work with teams on-site we make sure there is a mentor on the team - someone who has the experience and has an understanding of people with disabilities. That way there is at least one person on the team who can assist and make the person feel welcomed. This should be a practice for all employees, not just people with disabilities. It increases retention and increases open communication.
The other issue you sometimes encounter is that people can be a bit shallow. They see a co-worker with a different keyboard setup and they say, "I want that setup too. Why can't I have that?" That's a more basic lack of awareness. The person needs to know that the setup is not a perk, but an accommodation for someone to do the essential job functions that can not use the standard equipment the company has provided.
Off-site meetings and social events are another area of more basic awareness. You want understanding for all staff members so there is awareness of the accommodations that may need to be made. For example, is the location for a planned staff party accessible? When you get people thinking in terms of universal access and have a better understanding it becomes more of a routine.
Q: From your perspective as a recruiter, what changes in the job market have you seen for people with disabilities?
Sheridan Walker: There is more and more awareness in the media and business world. For example, you are seeing more people with disabilities in advertising and on television shows. We still need to see more people with disabilities in work roles. However, more companies are becoming aware of the consumer market share that people with disabilities command.
I'm still disappointed in some of the speakers that I have seen at large human resources conferences. They focus on diversity, but specifically on ethnicity and gender. People with disabilities are the largest minority and there's no discrimination, anyone could be included. They also have speakers who talk about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in a reactive, negative manner. This is not in the spirit of the law. It is to promote people with disabilities and to assist businesses to become proactive, not reactive. However, I do see a gradual change.
Q: What's your advice to a person with a disability entering the job market?
Sheridan Walker: Document your skills - all of your skills. We still see people getting advice to do a one-page resume. A resume should describe all your skills, whether it takes one page or six. Also, be descriptive about what you have done, especially all skills and experience related to serving customers. I know a person who was looking for a role in information technology and left out past work experience as a crisis counselor. Those counseling skills likely would be relevant and valuable in serving customers in an IT job. The point is, think about everything you know how to do because all kinds of skills have value to employers.
I also tell people to get hands-on skills. If there is an internship or volunteer work where you can get hands-on skills, take advantage. Finally, I would say be confident about yourself and talk about your skills. If you have a disability that is visible you need to state how you do your job and the tools you use. The disability is usually the white elephant in the room, so get it out of the way the second you walk into the interview. It's easy enough to say, for example, yes I'm blind and these are the tools I use. Humor also can be useful in defusing discomfort about the situation. If you can use humor, that can make a difference. But I always encourage people with visible disabilities to set the story straight about the disability from the start. That way the focus can be on your skills and your abilities!
- “The ADA at 10”
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Workforce, Dec 2000
HirePotential’s Sheridan Walker is quoted discussing the lack of knowledge regarding accommodations in the workplace and website accessibility.
- “Disability Awareness Training at American Airlines”
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American Airlines Center.com, July 2001
Sensitivity Training
HirePotential is a national consulting and employment firm that works with corporations committed to diversity by assisting them with integrating, accommodating and employing the Untapped Workforce. The Untapped Workforce is defined as individuals with disabilities, mature workers, veterans and individuals from other niche groups. HirePotential's services enable businesses to create universally accessible work environments, to increase productivity for all employees, and provide access to the greatest number of potential employees. Creating an accessible workplace allows for seamless recruitment, employment, accommodation and management of this talented workforce.
Adina Alford, Director of Guest Services for American Airlines Center engaged HirePotential to provide Disability Awareness/Sensitivity Training to ensure that all American Airlines Center Guest Services employees are comfortable and confident when communicating with and servicing guests with disabilities.
The objectives of the training sessions are to:
- Enable American Airlines Center Guest Services employees to identify their own attitudes towards persons with disabilities
- Increase awareness through information dissemination and activities
- Facilitate open communication regarding service issues for guests with disabilities
- Provide a safe and comfortable environment for American Airlines Center Guest Services employees to ask questions related to disability issues
The training session is comprised of lecture, demonstration and practices on effective communication with persons with hearing, visual and mobility impairments.
The agenda includes the following topics:
1) Disability Defined
2) Stats and Facts about People with Disabilities
3) Communicating with People with Disabilities (appropriate language)
4) Ten Commandments for Communicating with People with Disabilities
- Video and Role Plays
5) Providing Quality Services to Guests with Disabilities
- Serving guests who are deaf or hearing impaired
- Serving guests who are blind or visually impaired
- Serving guests with mobility impairments
- Serving guests with speech impairments
- Serving guests with cognitive disabilities
6) Myths and Facts about the ADA and People with Disabilities
7) Question and Answer session
- “HirePotential: A Sound Plan for Inclusion”
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eSight.com
This article explores how a four step plan can help companies overcome obstacles to inclusion for all employees, including people with disabilities.
- “Employers look to the disabled”
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Denver Post, Sept 2000
By Kristi Arellano
Despite record-low unemployment levels and a tighter-than-ever labor market, Christina Snyder's job hunt is taking longer than she had hoped.A former research assistant with a degree in animal science, Snyder, 28, works two jobs assisting developmentally disabled adults and Alzheimer's patients. She prefers research, but she can't get hired in a lab. Snyder says many potential employers won't give her a chance because of a brain injury that left her with a speech impediment and slower movement of her right side.
But things may be changing for Snyder and other disabled people. With state unemployment at 2.3 percent in June, up only 0.1 percent from May, some companies are looking toward the disabled and other underemployed groups as a source of labor. "Right now, people with disabilities are the largest untapped pool of labor there is," said Roger Van Lieshout, director of the Colorado Business Leadership Network, which helps businesses connect with disabled employees. The exact rate of unemployment among disabled workers is not known because it is difficult to determine who is disabled and if they fit the government's definition of unemployment, said Tom Hale, an economist with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hale said the bureau is working to develop a measuring system, but it will be several years until such data becomes available. Experts agree that the unemployment rate for disabled workers far exceeds the average. A survey conducted this year by the National Organization on Disability says 44 percent of disabled people who say they are able to work remain unemployed. "They can and want to work," Van Lieshout said. "The barriers they face are public fears and misconceptions that tend to focus on their disabilities rather than their abilities." Experts say these attitudes may be changing as companies feeling the crunch of the labor shortage explore alternative labor pools.
"Employers are really looking for ways to expand their labor pools right now," said Kelly Egan, president of Denver-based HirePotential. "Many of them are looking at the untapped workforce as a way of doing so." Founded in 1999, HirePotential is a staffing service that assists with the recruitment and employment of people with disabilities, older workers, veterans, welfare recipients and other groups. The firm works with individuals and nonprofit organizations to connect people with temporary and permanent work assignments and helps companies target those populations. HirePotential also works with companies to integrate new workers. It helps them accommodate disabled workers, makes them aware of various incentives and tax credits available to employers who hire disabled workers and provides awareness training for other employees. "Workers from the groups we serve are often very qualified and committed to their work," Egan said. "They are interested in working and able to work, but they can be hard to find. Employers don't know where to find them or how to go after that segment of the population." In addition to not knowing where to find these workers, Egan said many people aren't aware of the accommodations available to help disabled workers perform their jobs. Most people who are disabled can perform their jobs without accommodations. If accommodations are required, they're usually minimal, said Elaine Senko, an employment consultant at the Center for People With Disabilities in Boulder. Accommodations can range from blocks to raise desks so computers can fit under them to amplifying devices that allow hearingimpaired people to talk on the phone.
Lori Akers, human resources administrator for HirePotential, uses a closed-circuit television that magnifies printed materials, a talking calculator and a 21-inch computer monitor that allows her to enlarge type and change background colors. Akers, who is visually impaired, said she struggled to find a job until HirePotential came along. "I had a lot of doors closed on me when I would bring up the idea that I would have to bring in adaptive equipment," she said. "I had a couple of bad experiences while I was looking for a job." Employers brought her in for multiple interviews and talked about hiring her, then decided to continue their searches once they learned of her disability, she said. Snyder said her experiences have been the same. "They just block you out right away. They don't even give you a chance," she said. As the labor shortage continues, Snyder said she hopes employers are more willing to give her and other people with disabilities a chance. "I think they'll see that we're most likely harder workers than other people if they'll focus on what we can do instead of what we can't," she said.
Copyright 2000 The Denver Post. All rights reserved.
- “Untapped Workforce Placement Firm Expands Companies’ Diversity”
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Special to the Chicago Tribune, Aug 2000
By Maudlyne Ihejirika
When Lori Akers lost the majority of her vision from complications of diabetes, the Denver company she was working for did not quite know what to do with her. It was the early 1990s, and the Americans With Disabilities Act was relatively new. The company knew it could not fire 39-year-old Akers from her clerical job, but it also was not interested in special accommodation for an employee suddenly visually impaired.
"Basically, what they did was try to get me to quit by literally giving me nothing to do," said Akers, of Denver. Akers recently found a new and better job through a job placement agency called HirePotential. Headquartered in Denver and recently established in Chicago, this national consulting and staffing firm helps corporations recruit, accommodate and retain employees from the untapped workforce, including the disabled, mature workers, veterans and welfare recipients.
HirePotential numbers this untapped workforce at 27 million nationally. There are 4.5 million unfilled job openings nationally, according to the firm. When Baby Boomers, who make up the bulk of the workforce, begin to be eligible for retirement in the next five years, corporations will have to learn to recruit, accommodate and retain skilled individuals from a vastly different marketplace, HirePotential's founders say. "We saw no one filling this niche," said Vice President Sara Poticha, who runs the new Northbrook office. "What we really do is expand a company's diversity program," she said. "Traditionally, you might think of diversity as gender and ethnicity. You don't necessarily think of it as people with disabilities and these other specialty groups. It's not that corporations haven't been recruiting from this segment. But what we found is that corporations didn't necessarily know how to integrate and really accommodate the untapped workforce."
HirePotential (www.hirepotential.com) plans to work with Chicago-area companies to develop strategy, solutions and staffing to maximize employment opportunities for this segment of the workforce. In working with a company, HirePotential first assesses the corporate environment, analyzing the type of business, employment needs, technology processes and the potential for assistive and adaptive technology devices to meet the needs of those seeking employment. The firm next presents solutions--from the aforementioned devices to education and training on accomodation. Finally, HirePotential places skilled employees into the corporate environment. "We found them on (the Internet)," said Tina Scott Polsky, director of diversity for Pitney Bowes Mailing Systems in Stamford, Conn., which has worked with HirePotential on an employment diversity program since April. "Here at Pitney Bowes, we recognized that in order to remain competitive, we needed to focus in on a population that comprises 20 percent of American people with disabilities," Polsky said. "We just saw it as something that we needed to do to widen the diversity net we had already cast in many different directions."
HirePotential, founded a year ago and funded by venture capitalists Brinson Partners of Chicago, has quickly become a resource and referral for government and non-profit agencies working with the disabled, veterans and welfare recipients. The majority of its job placements have been in information technology, customer service and administration. Offering direct placement, project-based employment or employment on a project-to-hire basis, HirePotential has a database of some 3,000 registered and available employees. Potachi is quick to stress, however, that HirePotential employees must be skilled and job ready. "We don't take on training of employees" she said. "We focus on the skills of the individual and the jobs that we have to fill, and on ensuring there's a successful transition within the client's environment, regardless of what population the worker comes from," she said. Even so, the firm goes above and beyond, said one worker who recently switched careers because of a disability. Olivia Hernandez, 23, of Dallas, worked at a day-care center before severely injuring her back. With the help of the Texas Rehab Commission, an agency akin to the Illinois Department of rehabilitation, Hernandez received computer training and then a referral to HirePotential. "I felt really comfortable with them. They didn't treat me like other agencies, where they act like they don't believe you when you say you're disabled and can't do certain kinds of work," Hernandez said. "When I went on the interview, my HirePotential manager went with me . . . It's the different way they do things.
- “Untapped work forces pay off for recruiters; Demand rises for disabled, older employees”
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Ft. Worth Star-Telegram Staff Writer
By Glen Fest
Job placement professional Sally Mickel says employment opportunities for disabled and older workers are plentiful. It's a golden time for recruiters who specialize in finding jobs for these traditionally untapped work forces, said Mickel, director of Fort Worth-based Sally Mickel & Associates. "I talk to employers regularly, and they can't fill the bill" with the regular pool of applicants, she said. "Not too long ago, even temporary agencies didn't have much to do with us. Now, they're marketing to us." Her company is a year-old, 10-employee consulting business that guides disabled clients through job training, development and placement services. Mickel founded the company after serving as director of vocational rehabilitation services for Fort Worth Easter Seals. She works with many clients on referrals from the Texas Rehabilitation Commission and Texas Mental Health Mental Retardation. HirePotential, a Denver-based firm that finds employment for older and disabled people, opened a Dallas office in July and now reaches into Tarrant County to contact businesses and advocacy organizations and open opportunities for underused workers.
HirePotential and Mickel train companies and state agencies to give additional resources to disabled people. Traditionally, they have depended almost solely on grant-based programs for placement and training. Agencies such as the Texas Rehabilitation Commission have "always done an excellent job in providing support services and training," said Maggie Laliberte, a placement coordinator for the Fort Worth job retraining company Infotech. "But with their enormous caseloads, they didn't have the manpower to follow up with an individual's employment and making those specific employer contacts."
Laliberte said she was unaware of niche recruiting companies three or four years ago. Human resource experts say the market for specialty recruiting companies is growing as businesses seek to diversify and search for employees who generally work diligently and stay longer, according to various polls and studies. "I certainly think employers are looking at work force pools they haven't looked at in the past," said Kristin Accipiter, a spokeswoman for the Society of Human Resource Management in Alexandria, Va. "They're looking at the disabled, they're looking at older workers and they're looking at [disabled] veterans," she said. "They're looking at whoever can do the job."
Allison Kaplan, a training and development director for HirePotential, said corporations also are looking for improved ways to accommodate the new recruits, especially because the qualified worker pool will be further drained when baby boomers begin to retire in about five years. "We found some companies not only wanted to hire disabled but wanted to take it a step further and utilize us for consulting services for disability awareness training," she said. "One of our programs is geared to hiring managers, on things like how do you interview somebody with a disability," Kaplan said. "And we have training geared to co- workers, who might, for instance, wonder if they have a blind worker with a Seeing Eye dog, `Do I pet the dog or leave it alone?' ". Companies are seeking information about how to accommodate the workers, such as using technology to enhance the workplace for hearing- impaired and visually impaired employees, she said.
Kaplan and others launched HirePotential in October and helped expand it to five offices nationwide. HirePotential has estimated a potential recruiting base of 27 million qualified workers among the population of disabled people, older people, veterans and welfare-to-work program participants. Older workers face as many hurdles as the other groups, particularly among technology companies, Kaplan said. "These dot-com companies are wanting to hire young people and don't see the value in a mature worker," she said. Flexible work schedules and technology assistance are often enough to meet the needs of most mature workers, Kaplan said. Technology also has opened the door for disabled workers. Voice-recognition software and broadband access for home- based employees have given the disabled some of the workplace access sought by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was enacted in 1990. Still, of almost 14 million Americans with severe disabilities, three in four are unemployed, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. An estimated 4 million Texans are disabled, and about 2 million have a severe disability, statistics from the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities indicate. Kaplan said HirePotential believes that more disabled and older workers will use its services because "we know how to procure and provide reasonable accommodations for them. "They also know we will put them in a work environment that is ready for them," she said.
- Press Release: “HirePotential Honored for Empowering ‘Untapped Workforce”
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CHRA recognizes “outstanding performance in HR” for HirePotential’s work to employ the disabled, veterans, and those over 55…read more here.
- Press Release: “Computer Technology Associates and HirePotential, Announce Strategic Relationship..”
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“Computer Technology Associates and HirePotential, Inc. Announce Strategic Relationship to Deliver Untapped Potential of People with Disabilities and the Aging Population”
Computer Technology Associates and HirePotential formed a strategic relationship named AccessNow. AccessNow works with companies and federal agencies to implement end-to- end accessible technology solutions to reach and include individuals with disabilities and the expanding aging populations. It provides expertise with 508 compliance…read more here.
- GettingHired.com Bolsters Service Offerings for Employers
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Exclusive partnership with HirePotential, Inc. provides specialized training courses for national employers on The Accommodation Process, Disability Etiquette Training, OFCCP Compliance, Disability Awareness Training for Recruiters/Hiring Managers and Tax Credit Utilization
BEDMINSTER, N.J., Sept. 1, 2010 — GettingHired.com, the nation’s largest disability employment portal, announced the signing of an exclusive agreement with HirePotential, Inc. to provide specialized training to major employers related to disability employment readiness. The series of courses, including specialized training on The Accommodation Process, Disability Etiquette Training, OFCCP Compliance, Disability Awareness Training for Recruiters and Hiring Managers as well as Tax Credit Utilization, will allow employers to be better prepared to take full advantage of hiring talented people with disabilities.
GettingHired, LLC Chief Executive Officer Thomas Capato stated, “GettingHired.com’s National Consortium of the USA’s largest employers, disability service providers, advocacy and veterans groups, universities and colleges, government agencies and business alliances act as a hub to provide and coordinate workforce preparation, disability employment education, career advice, university outreach, peer mentoring and job postings in a positive, fully 508 compliant, pro-disability, socially networked environment. As part of our full-service commitment to our members, these courses will provide critical education in areas that many employers find complex.” He went on to say, “We believe employer education is the key to lowering employment barriers to people with disabilities and with National Disability Employment Awareness Month coming up in October, the timing of this additional service offering could not be better!”
HirePotential, Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Sheridan Walker stated, “GettingHired.com and HirePotential share the mission of increasing employment opportunities for talented people with disabilities. This partnership will allow us to bring our subject matter expertise in a variety of areas to GettingHired.com’s current and future employer customers. The knowledge and implementation experience we bring to the table will help employers increase their comfort level to improve disability hiring outreach.”
About GettingHired, LLC
GettingHired, LLC is a software and services organization focused on creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities and helping employers find talented employees. The company is well-known for its national employment and social networking portal GettingHired.com - Careers and Community for Talented People with Disabilities. GettingHired.com uniquely connects talented job-seekers who happen to have disabilities with employers, advocacy organizations, veterans groups, colleges and service providers. The company also provides a software platform to improve Return-to-Work program effectiveness for insurers, third party administrators and employers.
About HirePotential, Inc
HirePotential is a national woman-owned firm that offers disability-focused consulting, training and employment solutions to corporations and government agencies. We help corporations achieve OFCCP and ADA compliance, implement technical accommodations, and create and sustain website accessibility. We are a leader in recruiting, hiring, integrating and retaining talent from the Untapped Workforce, which we define as People with Disabilities, Veterans and Mature Workforce.
For more information, please contact:
Robert Kuller
610-539-6948
Robert.kuller@gettinghired.com
http://www.GettingHired.com
- Hirepotential Honored For Empowering ‘untapped Workforce’
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Jul 29, 2008 – At a ceremony in May, the Colorado Human Resource Association presented the 2008 Summit Award – Honorable Mention to Sheridan Walker, CEO and Founder of HirePotential in Denver.
Walker was recognized for “outstanding performance in the field of human resources” for her work to provide corporations access to these underutilized resources through staffing and recruiting solutions, accommodations, training, tax credit administration and assistive technology/individual accommodation solutions.
HirePotential provides a strategic alignment with businesses that have recruiting needs, high turnover issues, an older workforce, diversity initiatives and OFCCP government compliance requirements.
“There are about 27 million people with disabilities of working age, the largest minority in the country,” says Walker. “Currently, the biggest roadblock to employing people with disabilities is attitude and lack of education by employers. They just need help recognizing that employees with disabilities (and veterans and those over 55) can be incredible assets to any company. It’s an incredibly untapped pool of talent.”
Walker is hardly a newcomer to the field. With a clinical background as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Therapist, she brings nearly 25 years of expertise working with people of all abilities. When she’s not traveling the country speaking on disability-related hiring issues, Walker finds time to serve on a committee for the Brain Injury Association of Colorado and Mayor Hickenlooper’s Committee for People with Disabilities.
For Walker, being recognized by her peers is an incredible honor, though she admits that the real reward is seeing people – and the companies with whom they’re placed – succeed.
“We have a pool of qualified candidates that happen to have a disability, whether they’re a veteran with a disability or a mature worker with a limitation. They have the qualifications and skills for us to assist in their careers and placing them in positions we offer in corporate environments is a great joy. With 70 percent unemployment rate for people with disabilities, there is a great need for what we do. HirePotential is the bridge that provides the service and expertise for what corporations and the ‘untapped workforce’ is seeking. And once companies get educated and see all the benefits of hiring from the untapped workforce – skilled labor, loyalty, tax credits, low turnover – they’re eager to rehire from that pool. It’s simply a matter of finding a great match between employee and employer, providing some training and information, and then watching everyone prosper.”
About HirePotential Denver-based HirePotential specializes in providing a full spectrum of recruiting and staffing solutions to employers in support of employing and placing “the untapped workforce” – disabled workers, veterans, and people over 55 – to Fortune 1000 organizations and federal government agencies. The national firm provides a full spectrum of related services, including Web site accessibility assessments, accommodations, job postings, tax credit analysis, pre-hire assessments, recruitment outsourcing and direct hire, training, awareness programs and consulting.
To learn more, call 303-398-6035 or visit www.hirepotential.com.