Disability and Employment: Why More People with Disabilities Are Getting Work
The above picture is of a female in a wheelchair at a desk working with a male coworker sitting near her.
Why More People with Disabilities Are Getting Work
Of the 53
million people who deal with disabilities, many of them are hard working
innovators and entrepreneurs. As unemployment plummets, people who might have
struggled with discrimination or to find a job are finding gainful employment.
With all of the conflict between disability and employment, many of those
problems are being solved.
Here are five reasons
why employers are realizing that employing people with disabilities can make
good business sense.
1. High Quality of Work
When employers hire
people with disabilities, they'll often get a high quality of work. Most
employers rank people with disabilities among their most dedicated workers.
People with disabilities
have a special insight into how to struggle to overcome hurdles to success.
They can empathize with customers in a customer service context and make them
feel more comfortable. They can also motivate their coworkers to success.
Since most
rehabilitation and recovery programs following disability take place in
communal settings or alongside others, people with disabilities get
collaboration.
When workers have a
cognitive disability, they can learn how to work with others while helping
others build morale in your company. For people with physical disabilities,
when they succeed, your other employees will feel engaged and inspired.
Morale is difficult to
maintain but when morale is high, all of your employees will perform better and
give back to your company in unexpected ways.
2. You Can Expand Your Reach
For several decades,
companies and executive boards completely overlooked, ignored, or disregarded
minority and disabled communities. Until recently, many companies didn't even
consider women as valid consumers.
People with disabilities
comprise a market segment that could number in trillions of dollars. As one
in five Americans has a disability, there's a huge number of people being
overlooked by businesses of all types. Whether purchasing products or paying
for services, people with disabilities could help just about any business
sector see growth.
When companies hire
people with disabilities, they show a large number of people that they see that
segment of the population as valid and important. When someone walks into your
business and sees someone with a disability, they know that the business
they're visiting is open to all.
When you have people
with disabilities on staff, you can also test out marketing tactics or answer
questions about new products and services. Often new products and services will
ignore huge segments of the population unintentionally and marketing ideas
could even come off as offensive. When you give people with disabilities a
place at the table, you avoid mistakes and broaden your reach.
3. Better Corporate Culture
As we've seen corporate
cultures change in recent decades, companies are inviting more diversity and
welcoming a wider variety of voices to the table. By putting more diverse
voices in positions of power, it inspires employees to see a place for themselves
all the way up the chain.
Hiring people with
disabilities means hiring people who are motivated and can help inspire other
people to get involved. You show the world that you're looking for the best of
the best and are an open and inclusive company. That will inspire a wider
variety of businesses and clients to work with you.
When you hire people
with disabilities, you also breed empathy as part of your corporate culture.
Every employee comes with their own set of challenges, seen or unseen. When
it's clear that some people in your business are overcoming conflict to help
the company achieve its goals, everyone will want to lend a hand.
Even your customers will
see that the corporate culture you have is more inclusive and welcoming than
others.
4. Companies See Improved Productivity
With the unique skills
and understanding that your employees with disabilities can offer to your
company, you'll see an improvement in productivity. As assistive technology
grows, you'll find new ways to serve customers either by using those
technologies or by developing your own. Some of the most interesting
innovations in technology have come from overcoming barriers to disability.
As people with
disabilities deal with more barriers to job hunting, they'll be good team
players accustomed to collaboration. They'll cause everyone on the team to
bring their A-game as they show everyone how to work together to achieve a
goal. Because people with disabilities have a deep understanding of the value
of understanding everyone's strengths, they'll improve team spirit.
Since people with
physical disabilities understand the feeling of being in a position that
requires assistance or teamwork, everyone can build their strengths. All team
members will also be able to see their weaknesses, not as something to struggle
against but something that can be overcome. Companies find that when
collaboration improves, so do profits.
5. Stop Worrying About Turnover
It's hard to find a job
and even in a healthy job market, there's competition for the best roles. When
people are dealing with disabilities, they face discrimination in the world of
recruitment and hiring. While it's illegal to discriminate against someone for
their disabilities, it's a hard thing to prove.
More employers are
learning that when they open the door to people with disabilities, they invite
some great opportunities. They'll have loyal employees who are ready to work
together to help their company succeed.
Talented people could
always resign and move on to another job if they have a strong resume. When an employer provides room for growth to
employees with disabilities, they find that there's some great talent yet to be
tapped into.
Disability and Employment Don't Have to Be in Conflict
Just as people with
disabilities understand their strengths, employers are beginning to understand
those issues as well. Disability and employment were once unhappy bedfellows,
but attitudes are changing as more people with disabilities are given opportunities
to thrive.
If you're wondering what
kinds of jobs people with disabilities are getting in the modern economy, check out our latest
coverage for more.