In a tight labour market, with unemployment at historically low levels of 4 per cent, organisations nationwide need to access and attract candidates from a wider pool of talent to ensure their success and growth. It is in this climate that employing people with disabilities goes well beyond "doing the right thing" - to making good business sense.
The business case for employing people with disabilities has never been stronger. In Ireland, it is estimated that the spending power of disabled people is €3.3 billion.
Traditionally, employers often regarded disabled people as particularly hard to employ. Misconceptions include the belief that people with disabilities are restricted to certain jobs. The truth is that people with disabilities are working in all fields, at all levels and in a variety of jobs.
Some disabled people do, and will, require adjustments including training and support. For costs incurred, grants are available from Fás. Without such adjustments, good candidates may not apply for advertised positions and their talents will be lost to the organisation that may so desperately need them.
Another common myth positions disabled people as a health and safety risk. However, research shows that this is far from true. In fact, disabled people tend to have better attendance records, stay with employers longer and are no more likely to have accidents than non-disabled colleagues.
These tired myths are now unravelling. Over the past decade, there are increasing examples where businesses are embracing diversity and disability to leverage their competitiveness. Organisations who have, for example, been awarded O2 Ability Awards for best practice in recruitment and selection have decided to cast their recruitment and selection net wide. They do this because it enhances reputation and loyalty from internal and external stakeholders and customers; allows for a better understanding of the needs and expectations of disabled people as customers; and increases efficiency linked to staff recruitment.
These successful organisations understand the benefits of a high quality and diverse workforce.
When thinking of employing disabled people, it is important to remember to focus on the ability of the candidate. Interviewers should focus on the core competencies required to do the job. The disabled person may have certain access needs once they take up employment. Again, grants (from Fás) such as the workplace adaptation grant are there to help both the employer and the employee.
Once the disabled person is employed, he or she will bring a specific set of skills and values to the job. These skills and values will deepen the diversity of the workforce. Organisations with best practice in recruiting people with disabilities do it because it makes good business sense.
Recruiting and selecting disabled employees is about adequately training staff, thinking outside the box and believing in the value of the resource. It is about making the organisation's recruitment process accessible. Among the ways this can be done are:
Concentrating on what is to be achieved in the job, not how it is to be achieved.
Making time to file job criteria into "essential" and "desirable" groups.
Caroline Casey is the founding chief executive officer of the Aisling Foundation and O2 Ability Awards
