Not a charity, but a benefit
My vision is that all people with unique abilities who want to work will find employment. By employment, I don’t mean just a job that pays money, but work that uses each person’s unique gifts and skills, work that brings meaning into their lives. Our work gives our lives purpose. People with unique abilities deserve that same opportunity. Employment offers connection to the community where a person lives. It means that employees are contributing to their community through work. It also means that the employee has money to spend in his or her community, which benefits other businesses in that community.
Hiring people with unique abilities is not charity. It is a benefit to the company, to the employer, to employees, and to the community at large.
Research shows that people with disabilities make excellent employees. They show up every day on time and ready to work. They are not hanging out at the water coolers chatting with other employees, talking on the phone or gossiping about others on the job. They are at their desks or elsewhere in the company, doing the work they have been assigned to do.
When Randy Lewis, an executive at Walgreens, designed a warehouse that employed over 40% of his 700 employees with disabilities, he was warned over and over that his productivity would be affected. He disregarded the naysayers because he believed in his idea 100%. Part of the reason he felt so strongly is because Randy has a son on the autism spectrum. He knows what his son is able to do. His employees with disabilities are given the same pay and benefits as his employees without disabilities. As Randy says, “they (his employees) are all on equal ground. They earned their way to employment in his company.” His employees had extra training and some extra supports were put into place, but what was the end result? His productivity was affected alright. It went up 30%!
Randy knows what those of us know who work with this particular population. They make excellent employees! They are anxious to use their unique skills set. They appreciate the opportunity to make a difference. Because of this, they give 100% every single day to the company or business that is fortunate enough to hire them.
Every person has potential and value. It is tempting to look at the disability and miss the person behind it. As a society, we need to look beyond the disability to the abilities of each person. Everyone has the right to meaningful employment. Employment offers opportunities not just for work, but for friendships within that place of employment. At the Walgreens warehouse, employees not only work side by side, but an unexpected benefit was that employees without disabilities began to ask their coworkers if they would like to hang out after work. Suddenly, people who may have been isolated previously were not only working; they had friends in the community who invited them to various functions and outings. This is another win for the community, as people are now spending money at local restaurants, movie theatres, and other local businesses, not to mention the greater benefit of forming lifelong friendships.
There are many benefits to hiring people with disabilities to the employee, employer and to the community as a whole. Offering employment is not only the right thing to do; it is good business.