Inclusive Employer Toolkits

Your company has implemented inclusion practices, and your workforce is diverse and thriving! You want to encourage employees to grow with your company, seek out opportunities to develop new skills, add new roles, and advance in the organization.

When employers encourage and support all individuals to develop and grow within the company and take steps to make sure this is possible for everyone, those efforts will pay off in many ways. Employees are empowered to bring their authentic and productive selves to work, and achieve their true talent potential.

Here are some practices to consider that help advance individuals with disabilities in your business:

1. Ensure individuals with disabilities are represented in all levels of your organization. People believe what they see, and they want to see others achieve and flourish in advanced opportunities within the company.
2. Actively encourage development. Keep in mind that underrepresented and marginalized individuals may not pursue advancement opportunities with the same degree of confidence as more privileged individuals. Leaders who strive to advance equity and inclusion in their company encourage individuals to share their aspirations and ideas and find opportunities for individuals to learn new skills.
3. Cultivate relationships and connections. Connect employees with others in the company who can serve as mentors and coaches. Ensure they have an advocate who will listen to their interests, preferences, aspirations, and plans to expand skills and experiences.
4. Get creative! Consider innovative ways to engage individuals with disabilities in roles that provide opportunity for new or advanced skill development. Job shadowing and "role rotations" offer opportunities for new experiences and promote future planning.
5. Support accommodations and universal design concepts. Implementing accommodations and universal design principles help level the playing field and create a strategy that empowers all talent to bring their most productive selves to work!
6. Engage all employees to encourage and celebrate inclusion. Provide all-staff training and events to inform and challenge perceptions and behaviors such as unconscious bias and microaggressions, and to reinforce allyship and active bystander interventions.
7. Seek input from individuals with disabilities. Ask employees and allies how your company can do more to attract, support, and advance individuals with disabilities. This input can come from surveys, workgroups, and employee resource groups.

The economy, labor market, and world of work are ever-changing. Recent events and trends have substantially impacted who is working, how people are working, and the choices people make about the work they perform. Recent trends also indicate that individuals with disabilities have experienced increased access to employment. This upward movement may be influenced by labor shortages, the increase in remote work options, and in part due to necessity/rising inflation. Diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts have become more prevalent in businesses. There is a growing body of evidence and research verifying that including individuals with different perspectives, experiences, and abilities benefits businesses on many levels.

1. Businesses that emphasize diversity and inclusion realize significant gains in profitability. Companies that succeed in incorporating candidates with disabilities have seen 28 percent higher revenue and two times higher net income, according to a report issued by Accenture (Getting to Equal: The Disability Inclusion Advantage | Accenture).
2. Inclusive businesses have an opportunity to expand their market share and customer base. Consumers purchase goods and services from companies they can relate to, and that include them and the people they care about. According to a 2018 report issued by American Institutes for Research, the total after-tax disposable income for working-age people with disabilities is about $490 billion, which is similar to that of other significant market segments, such as African Americans ($501 billion) and Hispanics ($582 billion). In addition, discretionary income for working-age people with disabilities is about $21 billion, which is greater than that of the African American and Hispanic market segments combined. A Hidden Market: The Purchasing Power of Working-Age Adults With Disabilities | American Institutes for Research (air.org)
3. Inclusion enhances morale and community engagement. Embracing inclusion practices and creating equal access to success for all is a great way to engage your workforce in a social enterprise that boosts morale, builds community, and offers people a chance to be part of something positive and meaningful. Seven Reasons Why Hiring People With Disabilities Is Good For Business (forbes.com)
4. Individuals with disabilities represent a substantial talent pool of qualified candidates. In the face of significant labor shortages, expanding efforts to identify and attract all available talent is an essential part of any business's successful workforce efforts. The win-win of disability inclusion - InfoStories (ilo.org)
5. Inclusion fosters innovation. Including people in your workforce who have a unique perspective on your product, services and operations increases the opportunity for creativity, problem-solving, and innovation. Diverse Perspectives: People with Disabilities Fulfilling Your Business Goals | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov)

The number of people with disabilities entering the workforce is rising — good news for the economy, people with disabilities, and employers. Your company has "put in the work" to ensure you've created a work culture that welcomes and celebrates diverse talent. You understand that hiring individuals isn't just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do! Your company embraces inclusion as a talent strategy that provides many benefits. What are the next steps your company can take to connect with and support disability talent?

1. Recruit talent through traditional AND non-traditional sources. One of the challenges companies encounter in tapping the talent pool of individuals with disabilities is finding the candidates. Companies can start to build a talent pipeline by engaging with groups that support people with disabilities, such as the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR). DVR is the largest source of disability talent in Wisconsin!
2. Make sure your recruitment process is accessible to ALL talent. Evaluate your web presence, social media, recruitment processes and written materials to ensure individuals with disabilities can access the information, bring their whole self to the recruitment process, and demonstrate the value they will bring to your company.
3. Identify and change processes that support unconscious bias. Invest in training and activities designed to help existing employees increase their awareness about unconscious bias and misperceptions about disability. Enlist their assistance to design ways to counteract ingrained thoughts and beliefs. The primary goals of training are to help people better understand the challenges their colleagues may face and reduce the stigma of disability.
4. Ensure your recruiting and hiring processes do not unintentionally discourage or exclude applicants with disabilities or limit their ability to demonstrate their skills. For example, interviews tend to largely assess verbal and interpersonal skills. Does the traditional interview process truly connect you to the best talent in all areas? Consider other ways to assess candidates, such as internships or work experiences. Do your position descriptions truly reflect the "must haves" for a position, and the necessary skills needed for a person to perform the job? For example, if materials need to be moved, can this be done mechanically versus lifting? Leave room for creative ways to complete tasks.
5. Share information about your inclusive work culture efforts and achievements with prospective candidates. Encourage individuals to bring their whole self to work and describe how the company strives to create a safe, healthy, and inclusive place to work.
6. Ensure individuals with disabilities are represented in all areas of your company. People want to see others who they identify with succeeding in various roles in your company. Individuals with disabilities can contribute at all levels of an organization, from senior/leadership positions to entry level positions.
7. Consider membership in a business membership organization focused on supporting companies to develop and sustain highly inclusive working environments. These organizations provide opportunities for companies to learn from one another and share best practices and tools to self-assess existing inclusion practices. Two such organizations include DisabilityIN and the National Organization on Disability (NOD).

Individuals with disabilities represent a growing and highly qualified candidate pool, working in all levels of employment and across all industries- in public sector agencies, private companies, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Companies that develop an inclusive work culture and workforce experience many positive gains. AskEARN | Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion

Several practical strategies have been shared by businesses to ensure that a company’s inclusive recruitment efforts are successful.

1. Have a comprehensive, visible, active plan to support an inclusive workforce. Ensure that hiring people with disabilities is part of the company’s overall hiring plan, led through executive actions, and supported at all levels of the business operations.
2. Establish internal policies that prioritize hiring people with disabilities. Ensure job announcements use plain language that clearly describes required qualifications and job duties.
3. Focus on essential elements of a position. Review job positions to ensure requirements or language that may unintentionally screen out individuals with disabilities are not included in the recruitment. Example: "Driver's license required," when in fact the job requires "attendance at field office meetings."
4. Educate leadership, hiring managers, and staff. Provide training and instruction to recruiters on etiquette, techniques, and considerations when interviewing or screening individuals with disabilities.
5. Conduct targeted outreach. Develop a strategy to attract and source qualified candidates with disabilities. Successful recruitment efforts can be built through collaboration with community-based partners, such as non-profit organizations, national and local disability organizations, and federally funded state and local employment programs that have connections to qualified candidates, such as the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR).
6. Conduct a secondary review of candidates. Re-assess candidates who self-identify as having a disability. Assess whether barriers existed to their full consideration. Retain and review applications from people with disabilities for future openings, invite candidates for internships opportunities, and find creative ways to bring underrepresented talent into your company.
7. Ensure accessibility for all. Ensure the company uses fully accessible online job applications and electronic and social media recruitment materials. Visit the Partnership on Employment and Accessible Technology (PEAT) interactive web portal for employer tips on ensuring accessible online job application systems. PEAT - Building a Future That Works - Peatworks
8. Ensure inclusive communications. Ensure that individuals with disabilities are represented in external communications, recruitment ads, and other related sites.
9. Promote inclusion as a priority in your company. Make sure job announcements identify your company as an equal opportunity employer and encourage people with disabilities to apply.
10. Make the process of requesting accommodations straightforward and positive. Provide clear instructions on how to request accommodations in recruitments. Welcome creative and unique ideas that promote productivity and performance.
11. Coordinate internship programs designed specifically for people with disabilities. Employers with internship programs for people with disabilities were 4.5 times more likely to hire a person with a disability than businesses without such programs, according to research from Cornell University and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Recruiting and Retaining People with Disabilities (shrm.org) The Office of Disability Employment provides a useful guide on how to create inclusive internships. Inclusive Internship Programs: A How-to Guide for Employers (ed.gov)

Retaining talent is an important aspect of fostering a robust, healthy, and productive workforce. Retaining excellent employees reduces turnover and training costs, boosts employee morale, keeps the most seasoned and skilled talent on board, and is an indicator that the workforce and culture is healthy and well. Here are some strategies shared by business that can help employers retain their best talent:

1. Ensure employees feel welcomed and valued. Team members should feel like they belong in the workforce and have a place in your company.
2. Encourage individuals to bring their true, authentic selves to work. Take actions that encourage acceptance of every member of your company. Coach attitudes and practices that celebrate individuality and authenticity.
3. Ensure the work environment is accessible. Make sure that each employee has what they need to do their best work. Consider accommodations such as flexible scheduling, remote work, and job sharing.
4. Ensure training modalities match a person's learning style. People learn by observing, reading, experiencing, asking questions, and/or all these methods. Be prepared to accommodate individual needs and match individual abilities. Provide opportunities for the individuals to learn at their own pace.
5. Incorporate disability-specific information into standard employee onboarding and training. For example: "Bringing your best self to work: What is an accommodation and how to talk about this with your supervisor."
6. Ensure work-related materials are presented in accessible formats. Can someone who experiences challenges with hearing or vision access materials?
7. Encourage mentoring. Workplace mentoring programs offer new team members support, guidance, and someone they can turn to when they have questions or concerns.
8. Consider establishing employee resource groups, also known as affinity groups. This group can gather input from various groups and allies within the business, which can help increase recruitment and retention, improve organizational culture, and provide guidance to employers and managers about disability issues.
9. Facilitate networking and a sense of community/comradery by including individuals with disabilities in formal workgroups and informal employee gatherings and events.
10. Know your employee! Evaluate the individual's interests, talents, and skills, and work with them to develop meaningful individual goals.
11. Grow your own talent internally. Discuss career expectations with each employee. Encourage lateral movements, job rotations, team assignments, and creative work opportunities that offer employees the chance to experience various roles, positions, and duties within a company. Train, coach, and support team members to use creative skill sets to support leadership initiatives. Provide opportunities for team members to "lead from where they are."
12. Coordinate ongoing career development. Supporting ongoing education through conferences, training, and tuition assistance are proven employee retention strategies. Ensure that professional development classes, materials, and workplace events are fully accessible and reserve a portion of employee training funds to provide disability-related accommodations for training opportunities.
13. Consult with subject matter experts. The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), Job Accommodation Network (JAN), Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology (PEAT), or similar organization can offer valuable insight.

For more great tips on how to retain individuals with disabilities-and other employees- in your workforce, consider the following resources:

• Retaining Employees with Disabilities (Becoming a Model Employer of Individuals with Disabilities)
• Recruiting, Hiring, Retaining, and Promoting People with Disabilities | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (eeoc.gov)

Wisconsin businesses that want training on a variety of disability and employment-related topics can look to DVR for assistance! Business Services Consultants can customize and provide training for your workforce, hiring managers, and leadership in several areas:

• Wisconsin Workforce Resources (including DVR and other state resources)
• Creating and Maintaining an Inclusive Workforce
• Customized training to meet your business needs
• Windmills Training (DVR-19560-P)
  • DVR offers Windmills training for Wisconsin businesses. This training is designed to identify, challenge, and change beliefs and perceptions about disability and employment. The training consists of 10 separate interactive and customizable modules, which can be packaged in a way that best meets your business's needs. Windmills will help business leaders, hiring managers, and other team members develop a new perspective on the unique abilities of all individuals who add value to any company.
  • There is no fee for this service. The training is provided by DVR BSCs, who are certified trainers through the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR).
  • Training modules include:
    • Examining stereotypes associated with various disabilities.
    • Examining how stereotyping individuals with disabilities may impact employment decisions.
    • Evaluating the potential needs of individuals with disabilities and how to formulate creative solutions for reasonable accommodations.
    • Examining how a workplace interacts with new employees who have disabilities.
    • Identifying effective ways to accommodate employees with traumatic brain injuries.
    • Understanding how miscommunication can impact the workplace.
    • Learning how inaccurate information can affect the employment and return to work for individuals with disabilities.
    • Creating a workplace that encourages open dialogue to help employees feel more confident when talking about disability.
    • The full menu of Windmills modules can be viewed here: Windmills Training (DVR-19560-P)

To learn more about training opportunities for your team, please contact the BSC in your area! DVR Business Services Consultants

The key to creating and sustaining an inclusive workforce is to first develop an inclusive culture. People are drawn to environments that are welcoming, comfortable, and accessible. We want to work where they feel we belong. People thrive when they can bring their true, authentic selves to work. If your company is exploring creative ways to enhance inclusivity, there are many resources that offer ideas and guidance:

1. Make sure you know what you will accomplish. Ask yourself what success looks like. To achieve the highest level of success, your intentions and goals need to be clear. You will need commitment and engagement from all areas of the workforce. What gets measured, gets done! And what gets measured and rewarded gets done quicker!
2. Take the time to learn more about disability and employment, and disability in general. Provide training opportunities to team members to ensure they are prepared to support your company's inclusion efforts. Specifically, make sure your teams have the opportunity to openly share perceptions, beliefs and fears, access accurate information, and develop skills regarding the most successful ways to create an inclusive culture. One way to increase awareness is through Windmills training. Windmills Training (DVR-19560-P)
3. Identify champions. In every company, there are individuals who will "step up" and lead inclusion efforts. Most people's lives have been touched by disability in some way. When provided the opportunity, people welcome the chance to affect positive change at work in a meaningful way.
4. Assess the accessibility of all aspects of your company. Examples include making sure recruitment efforts include individuals you want to attract, on-line application processes are accessible to all, and people who work at your company have the tools or accommodations they need to maximize productivity.
5. Develop a comprehensive, sustainable plan. Invest time, energy, and resources in your company's inclusion efforts by planning for the desired outcome.
6. Get input, feedback and guidance from the people who experience your company firsthand. Develop an affinity or employee resource group that addresses disability-related issues and opportunities.
7. Develop useful partnerships! Develop a partnership with your local Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) Business Services representative. DVR serves thousands of individuals who want to work and can connect you to this talent! As subject matter experts, DVR can offer information and resources on a broad scope of disability and employment topics.
DVR Business Services Consultants (BSC)
8. Network with other businesses. Learn alongside other companies that are working toward similar inclusion goals. Employer membership organizations such as Disability:IN offer the opportunity to connect with and learn from other companies that are advancing inclusion efforts.