Recruiting: Think Out of The Box
Finding great talent takes time, effort and creativity. Where do you go to find the right person who can do the essential functions of the position and be happy and productive while doing it? Too often we go to the most obvious places, which has managers competing with other companies in the industry. What if you were to think about people with disabilities?
I saw a post on CFO “Why You Should Hire Autistic Employees” by David McCann. This type of disability could be an advantage in that they could do repetitive work without getting bored.
A corollary idea is that it’s not good business to cling too tightly to notions about what kinds of people will make attractive employees. Much good might be accomplished by throwing away many such assumptions.
Another article I saw on Forbes “The Benefits of Disability in the Workplace” by Judy Owen addresses some of the business concerns hiring managers have when considering hiring a person with disabilities. How much accommodation does the company have to make to insure the employee can perform their responsibilities?
Employers reported that providing accommodations resulted in such benefits as retaining valuable employees, improving productivity and morale, reducing workers’ compensation and training costs, and improving company diversity. The report also found that other accommodations had an average cost of $500. How much is that cost compared to the cost of employee turnover? It is clearly much less expensive to provide the accommodation than to have an employee leave.
So where are you in your hiring practices? Do you consider a candidate that has a disability? Would hiring a person with a disability enhance workplace performance and increase retention?
Can you see around the disability to think out of the box how this potential employee can be a benefit to the company.
Be well,
Pat
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