|
|
|
|
Register Now for the Working Together Second Annual Symposium
Business owners, managers, human resources personnel, marketing professionals: This interactive symposium is for you.
During the half-day program, learn from experts from a variety of sectors and go back to work with ready-to-use ideas, resources, and contacts to:
• turn your diverse workplace into increased sales;
• access the growing talent pool of veterans returning to the civilian workforce;
• benefit from Maine's aging population.
Visit www.expandingmainesworkforce.com to view the full program and reserve your space at the Working Together Second Annual Symposium, October 30, 2008, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Freeport. Registration is $25 per person.
|
|
Interviewing People with Disabilities
Your business is on its way to expanding its recruiting and hiring methods to attract a more diverse pool of candidates, including some who may have a disability. Now, you need to be prepared to interview an applicant with a disability to ensure that the process is easy and comfortable for all involved.
Here are some suggestions to help you make the most out of the interview process when a candidate has a disability.
Preparing for the Interview
- Have a detailed and accurate job description prepared so that both you and the candidate understand the job as best as possible. In addition, a thorough job description is a great tool to use to evaluate job performance -- this is true for all positions and employees.
- Review your application forms and interview procedures to make sure they do not ask disability-related questions, as such questions are not legal. (See some examples below.)
- Check that your application forms, employment offices, and interviewing locations are accessible to persons with a variety of disabilities. For example, be prepared to provide assistance if an applicant who is blind states that he or she will need help completing forms. Provide details or specific instructions to applicants with cognitive disabilities, if necessary.
- Before the interview, tell candidates exactly what is involved in the application and interview process. For example, inform applicants ahead of time if they will be required to take a test to demonstrate their ability to perform actual or simulated tasks so that they can request a reasonable accommodation, such as a different format for a written test. Such tests are legal and a good idea as long as they are uniformly given to all applicants.
During the Interview
- Relax and make the applicant feel relaxed. If the applicant has a visible disability or reveals a disability during the interview, concentrate on the individual, not the disability.
- Treat the individual with the same respect you would treat any candidate whose skills you are seeking. Likewise, hold individuals with disabilities to the same standards as all applicants.
- Concentrate on the applicant's technical and professional knowledge, skills, abilities, experiences, and interests.
- Ask only job-related questions that speak to the functions of the job, as described in the job description, for which the applicant is applying.
- Do not try to imagine how you would perform a specific job if you had the applicant's disability. He or she has likely developed alternate ways of living and working.
Many employers are afraid of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) during an interview by asking prohibited questions. Below are some issues you should talk about in an interview and some points you may not bring up.
Yes: Can you perform the essential functions (as laid out in the job description) of the job with or without an accommodation?
No: Will you need an accommodation to perform this job?
Yes: Can you tell me why you feel you are a good fit for this job?
No: Can you tell me about your disability?
Yes: Can you describe how the accommodation requested would assist you in accomplishing the task?
No: How much will that accommodation cost?
Yes: These are the essential functions of the job as explained in the job description. Tell me more about how you could perform these functions.
No: This is the way the job needs to be done and cannot be modified.
Yes: While the job is typically performed this way, tell me more about how you could do it with the accommodation you mentioned.
No: People are used to getting this done a certain way and I don't think they'd accept the accommodations you requested.
Following these guidelines will help you create a positive interview situation and allow you to focus on a candidate's qualifications for the job. Remember, the candidate will see how you deal with his or her disability as a glimpse of how you would treat him or her as an employee.
More resources to help you prepare for interviewing are available from:
U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)
Employer Assistance and Recruiting Network (EARN)
Job Accommodation Network (JAN)
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers (DBTACs)
Portions of this article are from:
Focus on Ability: Interviewing Applicants with Disabilities, published by ODEP
EARNWorks Employer Tools, published by EARN
Five Points on Making Reasonable Accomodations
Business Member Perspective by Jennifer Simpson, Human Resources Manager, Custom Disability Solutions
Imagine this scenario: Last week you had a great phone interview with a candidate that seems to be perfect for your open position. The candidate arrives for the formal interview and is put together and makes a great first impression. During the course of the interview, you find that she is bright, intuitive, and a great match for your department and company. You are extremely excited about this candidate. One of the last questions you ask is, "In reviewing the job description, do you have any questions or concerns?"
"Yes," she replies. "I need to have xyz accommodations due to my disability."
Do you start to worry about meeting her needs? Are you concerned about how your employees will react? Are you worried that you will lose this great candidate?
Providing job accommodations can be an intimidating prospect for employers, and you might not know where to begin. To some hiring managers, accommodations mean big expenses, hassle, and a possible slow down in productivity. In most cases, however, employees with a disability need minimal accommodations, with an average cost of $500 or less.
Below are five points to consider when hiring an individual with a disability, or when an employee returns to work after incurring a disability.
- Preparations
- Is your workplace accessible for people with disabilities?
- Did you update your emergency plan to incorporate the individual's needs?
- Flexibility
- Examine the position and consider adding or removing any job requirement that the employee can or cannot do.
- Changes
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that employers make workplace accommodations for people with disabilities when such accommodations are reasonable. By having conversations with your employee about what she needs to do her job, you can work together on a plan and change that plan if necessary.
- What types of accommodations or changes to the workstation could you offer? Adjustable workstations such as a stand/sit work area, larger computer monitor, ergonomic keyboard, or mouse are some examples. Research what other companies use for employees with similar needs.
- Attitude
- A successful working relationship includes a willingness to do things differently. Be willing to think outside the box to ensure that business needs are met. Keep evaluating business needs and the employee's contributions.
- Provide training to your employees so they know how best to work with the individual. If needed, plan sensitivity or awareness training on working with people with diverse backgrounds (more on this topic below).
- Communication
- Keep the dialogue open with your employee about how things are going with the job.
- Communicate openly and honestly about needs and accommodations. Work together to create an appropriate environment.
Keep these points in mind and eliminate the worry when a candidate or employee requests an accommodation. When your employees are comfortable, safe, integrated, and have high job satisfaction, you reap the benefits in productivity, performance, recruitment, and retention.
|
Are You Ready for Diversity?
Best Practices from Merritt Carey, Esq., Working Together Business Partner Liaison
There is a big difference between wanting to diversify your workforce and creating a workplace environment where diversity will thrive. Before embarking on a diversity program, you need to get a read on your workplace culture. Is your company resistant to change and new ideas? Stagnant? Open to new ideas? Ready to change?
Even if you think your company is ready, your employees may have unspoken attitudinal barriers that could impair your best efforts. Statistically, discomfort around people with disabilities is still prevalent:
- 15% of non-disabled people report discomfort at the prospect of working for, or nearby, a person with a disability.1
- 22% of employers report co-worker stereotypes and attitudes a major barrier to employment/advancement of people with disabilities.2
- 40% of workers with disabilities report encountering on-the-job discrimination.3
You need to determine what barriers exist at your company by completing an internal assessment. There are several ways to do this.
If your company has more than 10 employees, the best way to do an assessment is through an anonymous survey. Questions might include: Have you ever worked with someone who has a disability? Have you ever worked with someone of a different ethnicity? Was it a positive experience? If not, how would you rate your ability to work with a person who has a disability or is otherwise different from yourself?
Because this is the start of your company-wide initiative to diversify your workforce, it is important your survey is a good one. If you do not feel capable of creating a survey yourself, you should find an outside consultant who can help you.
If your company is small and a survey format is not appropriate, meet with people individually and gather as much information as you can. Be sure not to put your employees on the spot or make them feel defensive. One way to do this is to ask very open-ended questions and wait a few seconds after an employee has finished speaking—often if you allow a moment of quiet before moving onto your next question, you will find your employee has more to say. Again, if you are uncomfortable with this process, hire an outside consultant to do the interviewing for you.
Once you have the results of your assessment, take the time to study them and get a good handle on what the culture of your company is like and how open to diversity and change your employees are. Taking the results and putting together a concise memo is a good way to synthesize the information into a user-friendly format that will help you as you move forward. In synthesizing the information, you want to look for trends, strengths, and weaknesses. Then you can begin a training process to address issues and create a culture that will embrace diversity.
See you at our symposium in October when I will be speaking about the marketing value of employing individuals with disabilities!
Merritt Carey, Esq., Business Partner Liaison
merritt@expandingmainesworkforce.com
References: 1Gallup and Robinson Survey reported by Training Resources Infolines Update Oct/00; 2Implementation of the Provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Survey of 1400 Members of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), March 1999; 3Harris Poll, 2000.
|
FYI: ADA Update, The Candidates, Ohio Calls for Vets, National Disability Employment Month
On Thursday, September 25, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law S.3406, the "ADA Amendments Act of 2008," which is intended to make it easier to hire, accommodate, and protect employees with disabilities by clarifying some elements of the current Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Click here to read the text of the law. It will be up to the new president to enforce and execute the new law come January 2009.
Speaking of new presidents, here is a glimpse of what the candidates are saying about disability policy and issues.
To start with, Senators Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and John McCain supported the ADA Amendments Act as co-sponsors of the bill in the Senate. And in July, both Obama and McCain participated in the National Forum on Disability Issues. The Obama-Biden campaign has a comprehensive Plan to Empower People with Disabilities available online and the campaign recently hired a Disability Vote Director. On their campaign website, McCain and Palin make a case for helping veterans with disabilities return to a full life. In addition, all four candidates have been consistently mentioning disability issues in appearances along the campaign trail, including the prominent declaration by Sarah Palin that she would be a "friend" to parents of special needs children in her convention speech in August.
The campaign strategists have it figured out. That is, people with disabilities make up a large population of voters and each candidate is working to attract their votes. History shows that the strategy is effective: A recent New York Times article claimed that George H.W. Bush received a 10 percentage point bump "among voters who identified themselves as having disabilities" after endorsing the Americans with Disabilities Act during his presidential campaign 20 years ago.
Tens of millions of votes do not much help the average Maine business owner. But, people with disabilities are also millions of potential employees with skills and aptitude, as well as customers with millions of dollars. Just as the candidates are trying to do with campaign promises, reaching out to people with disabilities through recruitment, accessibility, and marketing can build you a better workforce and attract more people to your products and services. (Learn how at the Working Together Second Annual Symposium on October 30.)
The state of Ohio recently made a move to reach out and build up its dwindling workforce by attracting veterans from around the country to its higher education system. Ohio has been losing its working-age population over several years as college graduates move out of the state. In an effort to reverse this trend, the Governor issued an executive order that would give in-state tuition to any veteran who enrolls in a state university or college. The first of its kind in the nation, the goal of the program is to increase the number of students graduating from Ohio schools, thereby increasing the number of people who stay to work in Ohio.
"America's People, America's Talent... America's Strength!" is the theme for National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Throughout October, advocates and government agencies will be working to increase public awareness of the contributions and skills of American workers with disabilities.
"It is important to note that having people with disabilities in the workplace is valuable to the individual and to businesses," said Neil Romano, assistant secretary for the Labor Department's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). "People with disabilities are the next great wave of diversity, and diversity fosters innovation to drive our economy and our nation into the future."
Secretary Romano took the helm of ODEP in April, bringing not only a strong business background, but also a media and outreach expertise which included taking the message of diversity and disability to businesses across the country. He has been an active member of the U.S. Business Leadership Network and a strong proponent of business networks such as Working Together.
|
|
|
|
