Employers need Disability Awareness

16 Jul 2012: In a past blog I mentioned how the government and disability employment services need to educate employers on how people with disabilities are just like any other employee they would hire except they have some extra qualities that would make them more appealing.

Ok, I'm just gonna state the obvious right now – if you hire someone in a wheelchair, they bring their own chair to work and so, that is one less chair you have to provide for your office staff.

On a serious note:

The report titled “Improving Employment Opportunities for People with a Disability” by the Department of Family and Community Services listed one of its actions being:

“Build employer awareness of the contribution people with disabilities can and do make.”

Their research exposed that:

“Many employers were wary of hiring people with disabilities - or did not even consider the possibility – simply because they knew little about them and were fearful of the risks they perceived could be involved. Such perceptions do not belong only to employers: employer attitudes reflect the broader attitudes of the community. Broader attitudinal research shows the community is similarly unsure of the work capacities of people with disabilities.”

So, in order to overcome the fear of the unknown, information and communication needs to be implemented into work places in order to change perceptions as stated in the report:

“The employers also displayed a willingness to change during the focus groups once they were provided with information about the positive aspects of employing people with disabilities. This suggests the potential power of information and communication in changing their perceptions and influencing their subsequent recruitment behaviour

My question is:

1. How can we communicate and share information with employers about having people with a disability in their workplace?

a. In person

b. Via media – TV & internet, DVD

c. Public forum

d. Networking meetings