Disability IS Diversity: Reaching Employers to Include Disability in Workplace Diversity Plans

March 10 WebinarHannah Rudstam, Ph.D.Northeast ADA Center

Employment and Disability Institute www.edi.cornell.edu

The faces of talent in the work place

The faces of talent in the work

place

The faces of talent in the work

place

The faces of talent in the work

place

The faces of talent in the work

place

The faces of talent in the work

place

The faces of talent in the work

place

The faces of talent in the work

place

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The face of disability is our face. People with disabilities are in all walks of life, in all professions,

and in all ages.

It’s about people, not pity.

It’s about ability, not disability.

Often, the biggest barrier is not the disability, but the attitudes of others.

See the person, not the disability

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Why this? Why now?

How have we viewed people with disabilities

in the workplace?

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The “Tiny Tim” Stage

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The “Hire the Handicapped”

Stage

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Legal Compliance

Stage

The Americans With Disabilities

Act And now… The

ADA AA

Polling question:

After 20 years of the ADA, how well do you think people with disabilities are doing in their employment and economic lives:A.Better than they were before the ADA

B.About the same as before the ADA

C.Worse than they were before the ADA

D.Don’t know

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If we… Then employers will…

Give employers more information about disability laws & policies,

Be more likely to hire, retain,

accommodate and promote people with disabilities.

A tacit, automatic assumption behind much of our programming efforts to reach employers

The Knowing—Doing Gap

Employment Rate (ER) of Working-Age Population

010

2030

4050

607080

90

Peak1989/2000

Mar-08 Mar-09

ER Disab.

ER No Disab

Source: Bjelland, M., Burkhauser, R., Von Schrader, S., Houtenville, A. (2010). Progress Report on the Economic Well-Being of Working Age People with Disabilities. Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities, Employment & Disability Institute, Cornell University.

In March, 2009, working age people with disabilities were 22% as likely to be employed as people without disabilities.

Full-Time/Full-Year Employment of Working-Age Population

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Pk 1985/2000 Yr 2007 Yr 2008

Rate Disab.

Rate No Disab

Source: Bjelland, M., Burkhauser, R., Von Schrader, S., Houtenville, A. (2010). Progress Report on the Economic Well-Being of Working Age People with Disabilities. Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities, Employment & Disability Institute, Cornell University.

In 2008, working-age people with disabilities were 12% as likely to be employed full-time/full-year as people without disabilities.

Poverty rate (PR) of Working-Age Population

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Peak low1980/2000

Yr 2007 Yr 2008

PR Disab.

PR No Disab.

Source: Bjelland, M., Burkhauser, R., Von Schrader, S., Houtenville, A. (2010). Progress Report on the Economic Well-Being of Working Age People with Disabilities. Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities, Employment & Disability Institute, Cornell University.

In 2008, working-age people with disabilities were 3.01 times more likely to be living in poverty when compared to people without disabilites.

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Beyond Legal Compliance--Disability as a

difference, not a deficit

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Legal compliance alone does not link to competitive advantage

or success

About links…

Disability inclusiveness does!

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Disability inclusiveness enhances your

organization’s access to talent.

Link #1

Can your organization afford to ignore 20% of your available talent?

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Disability inclusive workplace practices will be a key strategy for preparing for the workforce of the near future, when

talent will become harder to find.

Link #2Even in the economic downturn…

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In the near future…Upcoming workforce trends*

•Workforce exits through retirement: One-third of the U.S. workforce over next five years

•Employment Policy Foundation: Projected shortage of 10 million workers by 2015 and 35 million by 2030; the National Association of Colleges and Employers places it at 8.9 million by 2011

•Job changing

•It will be very difficult to find talent in several sectors

*Sources: Dychtawald, K., Erickson, T. & Morison, R. (2006) Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills and Talent. (Boston: Harvard Business School Press.Herman, R. & Olivo, T. & Gioia, J. (2000) Impending Crisis: Too Many Jobs; Too Few People (NY, NY: Harper).

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•Enhanced ability to diagnose disabilities earlier

•Better treatments mean more people can work with disabilities

•Improved assistive technology means more types of disability can be effectively accommodated in the workplace

•Our population is aging

In the near future…A greater portion of our workforce will be working with a disability

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And this trend will intensify

Age cohort 25 – 34 will grow by 8%Age cohort 35 – 44 will decline by

10%Age cohort 45 – 54 will grow by 21%Age cohort 55 – 64 will grow by 52%

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Projected labor force growth by age cohort 2000 – 2010.

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And it’s not just about “looking good.”

This links to business success

Link #3 A disability inclusive workforce sends the

right message to your customers

Cone Cause Survey, 2007

– 87% respondents will switch from one product to another (price and quality being equal) if the other product is associated with a good cause (an increase from 66% in 1993)

– Brands that can engage customers emotionally command prices significantly higher than the competitors

– 72% of employees want their employers to do more to support a cause (up from 52% in 2004)

What a company “stands for” increasingly matters for how customers make buying decisions

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93% of customers surveyed said they would

PREFER to patronize a business that has people with disabilities in their

workforce.

*Gary N. Sipersteina, Neil Romanob, and Amanda Mohlera, and Robin Parker. A national survey of consumer attitudes towards companies that hire people with disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 22 (2005) 1-7 IOS

What a company “stands for” increasingly matters for how customers make buying decisions

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People with disabilities perform as well as other

employee.

Link # 4

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Employees with disabilities:

•Had the same job performance ratings as employees without disabilities

•Did not require more of supervisor’s time

•Were no more likely to be absent, late or have off-work time than any other employee

•Did not have more workplace accidents

•Were less likely to leave the job

*DePaul University and Disability Works. Exploring the Bottom Line: A Study of the Costs and Benefits of Workers with Disabilities. Released January 28, 2007. Accessed March 31, 2008 at http://www.disabilityworks.org/downloads/disabilityworksDePaulStudyComprehensiveResults.doc

A study of 314 workplaces

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It’s a key strategy to retain talent

Link # 5 Reasonable accommodation…

Its’ not just about the law

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Direct Benefits•87%--Accommodation enabled us to retain a valued employee

•74%-- Increased employee’s productivity

•55%--Increased employee’s attendance

•54%--Saved worker’s comp costs Indirect Benefits

•69% Improved interactions with co-workers

•61% Increased overall company morale

•57%--Improved interactions with customers

•42%--Improved workplace safety

•41%--Increased overall company attendance

*Source: Job Accommodation Network (2007) Workplace Accommodations: Low Cost, High Impact. U. S. Department of Labor. Accessed May 3, 2008 at www.jan.wvu.edu/media/LowCostHighImpact.pdf

A study from the Job Accommodation Network

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Turnover costs—the impact on the business

Search costs Up-front hiring costs

Separation costs

New employee Services

Lost productivity

Lost organizational

knowledge

Lost customers, contacts,clients,

stakeholdersLost goodwill

The Saratoga Institute estimates that it costs about 100% of annual salary to replace a lost employee.

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It’s about a return on investment

Link # 6 Reasonable accommodation–it’s not just about

the law

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A Job Accommodation Study*

•49% of reasonable accommodations cost

nothing

• 78% cost less than $500

Reasonable accommodations cost less than employers expect

*McNaughton, Tamie and Beth Loy. Workplace Accommodations: A Small Investment for a Large Return. A paper presented at the Job Accommodation Webcast June 12, 23007. Accessed March 31, 2008 at http://www.jan.wvu.edu/Teleconf/Events/2007/6-12-07_Handouts/WorkplaceAccomm.ppt#295,17, Workplace Accommodation: A Small Investment Yields Large Returns

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…it’s also about non-obvious disabilities

Link # 7 It’s not just about being able to

engage people with obvious disabilities…

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•3 – 5% of your current and potential talent will have ADD/ADHD*

•Nearly 10% of your current and potential talent will have a learning disability**

•About 1 in 5 adults has a diagnosable psychiatric disability in any given year*

•Depression is now the second leading cause of off-work time from the American workplace**

*Low, Keith. Prevalence of ADBH: What are the Numbers? U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Dec 27, 2007.**Maja Altarac, MD, PhD and Ekta Saroha, MA. Lifetime Prevalence of Learning Disability. PEDIATRICS Vol. 119 Supplement February 2007, pp. S77-S83.

Will your organization know how to engage people with hidden disabilities?

Polling question:

Which of the following points about the advantages of employing people with disabilities would resonate most with the employers you work with?

A.Enhancing access to talent

B.Being able to find talent in the future

C.Sending a message to customers about what you stand for

D.Workers with disabilities perform as well as others

E.Accommodation as a strategy to retain talent

F.Accommodations cost less than losing an employee

G.Being able to accommodate workers with non-obvious disabilities

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What can you do as an

employer?

Ten keys to best practices & strategies

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1.Cultivate an

atmosphere of trust.

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2.Involving mid-level mangers

and face-to-face leaders

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3.Look at your

health insurance plan

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4.Is your EAP obvious and

accessible to all?

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5.Have a look at

your hiring practices and

tools

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6.De-stigmatize

hidden & psychiatric

disabilities in your workplace

culture

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7.Know how to

walk the fine line: Performance coaching and

disability inquiry

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8.Get creative

with accommodations; keep them engaged!

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9.Do hold all employees

accountable for their conduct

and performance

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10.Consider what

actually happens to

people when they come

forward with a disability

Getting HRCI Credits for this workshopUse code:

ORG-PROGRAM-85236 The use of this seal is not an endorsement by the HR Certification Institute of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met the HR Certification Institute’s criteria to

be pre-approved for recertification credit.

Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center – Northeast ADA

Center

ILR - Employment and Disability InstituteCornell University201L Dolgen HallIthaca, NY  14853

800.949.4232 in NY, NJ, PR, VI

www.dbtacnortheast.orgdbtacnortheast@cornell.edu