Many people with disabilities want employment, but often cannot get past the interview stage. If employed, they face challenges with accessibility and space, so there are forward-thinking companies developing inclusive workplaces based on the advice and assistance of people with disabilities. - BY Donna Benjamin

Millions of people with disabilities want employment. They have the necessary skills, can be trained and developed for careers, and bring creativity and financial success to organizations. So why are so many unable to find a job? Part of the answer is the deep-seated cultural bias that says people with disabilities are not able to be productive and cost too much money to accommodate. Fortunately, there are some companies out there that have developed inclusive hiring practices focused on people with disabilities. These companies have created and implemented strategies to retain the employees, knowing they increase organizational innovation and financial success. Firms like EY, Walgreen’s, Boeing, and Accenture are leading the way in inclusion and in helping employees with disabilities thrive once employed, and the people who have benefited willingly share their experiences and advice.

“Curb-Cut Effect”

Lori Golden, EY Global Disability Leader, lives with non-visible disabilities and works to build an enabling environment and inclusive culture for people of all abilities and disabilities. She founded EY America’s AccessAbilities disabilities professional network, launched the We Care mental health education and peer support initiative, and the EY Neuro-diverse Centers of Excellence. Interviewed by Steven Aquino at Forbes, she shares a wealth of experience from living with disabilities and working in the space for decades. One insight is that given diverse teams are stronger and more innovative and creative, people with disabilities are an ideal fit. “The world is not built for them, so they need to navigate with agility, flexibility and ingenuity. While all diversity tends to lead to superior business solutions, the diverse perspective that people with disabilities bring to the table is born of the constant need to iterate and innovate to recalibrate and figure things out.” Golden also emphasizes that compliance with the American Disabilities Act (ADA) is only a starting point because detail-oriented gestures that can create an inclusive environment for everyone are not legislated, i.e., placing supplies on lower shelves for more reachability. She says businesses should also go above and beyond what the law says about reasonable accommodations.

Something not often mentioned is the “curb-cut effect.” Named after wheelchair ramps cut out of sidewalks that were targeted at people with disabilities but which benefit many others, like people pushing strollers. EY’s use of captions during presentations helps people who are deaf, but they also help other people assimilate information. EY has a full-time staff of professionals who work in the full-time assistive technology function and an IT accessibility desk open to everyone who uses the website.

Preparing for Employment

Walgreens has been recognized for its efforts to hire and support employees with disabilities. The company's Retail Employees with Disabilities Initiative (REDI) program partners with community organizations, vocational rehabilitation agencies, and state and local social services agencies to identify potential participants. People with disabilities get in-store training and retail expertise, experience skills evaluations, and complete standardized training on primary competencies and skills for the Customer Service Associate (CSA) role. The participants in the 3-4 week REDI training program in Walgreen’s retail stores are supported by the appropriate agency during training. Though this is an opportunity and not a job guarantee, graduating REDI can lead to a “recommended for hire” designation and the ability to apply for a CSA position nationwide. Walgreen’s notes that REDI graduates report that the experience enables them to build lives that otherwise might not have been possible, simply because opportunities were not presented to them.

Walgreen’s also offers a Transitional Work Group training program for people with disabilities. The 13-week training program includes classes on work-appropriate skills, social skills, and company policies and processes. Participants get some paid work in the warehouse and the opportunity to rotate among three major departments.

Nick Perry, a member of Boeing’s Global Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (GEDI) team, previously worked as a Georgia public policy specialist and lobbyist. He has a “couple of disabilities” and a younger brother who is significantly impacted by disabilities. His initial GEDI focus is on neurodiversity and creating an inclusive and safe space. Boeing has a diverse workforce and employees with a range of disabilities. He says, “It’s about acknowledging sensory disabilities such as vision and hearing loss, making accommodations to physical spaces, or sometimes rethinking how work gets done.“

For example, Thomas Breitschwerdt, now a Boeing employee, had previously had difficulty getting past the interview phase of recruitment because he experiences social skills difficulties when nervous. When he learned of Boeing’s Neurodiversity at Work program, he recognized an opportunity. Engineering leaders and third-party consultants developed the program. It provides recruiting, coaching, counseling resources, and neurodiversity in the workplace education. As a participant in the program, Breitschwerdt was able to participate in a non-traditional interview process that was like a workshop session, allowing him to demonstrate his programming and problem-solving skills. As a result, Breitschwerdt was able to land a position as a software engineer working on major projects.

For People with Disabilities by People with Disabilities

Accenture developed the Disability:IN program to leverage the talent pool of people with disabilities. The comprehensive approach led to changing the interview process, partnering with local groups to identify potential job candidates, establishing a support services team split into different locations, sponsoring community events, establishing an employee resource group for people with disabilities, and offering mentoring, coaching, skilling, and reskilling programs for people with disabilities. Today, Disability:IN has numerous elements that include the Digital Accessibility Program, Disability Equality Index, Early Career Talent Accelerator, Inclusion Works, Neurodiversity@Work Employer Roundtable, Global Initiatives, NextGen Leader Initiatives, Procure Access, and Supplier Diversity.

As an example of how these programs help, consider the Early Career Talent Accelerator, designed by people with disabilities for people with disabilities. It focuses on ensuring professionals with disabilities get equal professional development opportunities as their peers. Accenture believes that “creating clear and consistent pathways for career development and advancement for employees with disabilities are critical signals of a company’s commitment to a disability-inclusive culture.” Without advancement and retention programming focused solely on employees with disabilities, the organization is not fully committed.

Many Rewards with Few Risks

Many other companies are leading the way in inclusiveness for people with disabilities, such as Microsoft, SAP, IBM, JP Morgan Chase, and Amazon. The examples here highlight different approaches, but they all share one thing. These companies are committed to hiring, retaining, and advancing people with disabilities because it is an expression of corporate social responsibility and good for company success. A landmark Accenture research project found companies hiring and supporting people with disabilities average 28 percent higher revenue, twice the net income and 30 percent higher margins as compared to other companies. As Accenture points out, not hiring people with disabilities is overlooking a source of many rewards with few risks.