Mental Health Month May is Mental Health Month, and an opportune time to learn about successful employer practices to promote good mental health among employees and assist those who may have mental health disabilities. The Partnership for Workplace Mental Health, a program of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, maintains a database of case examples of such practices that employers can browse to identify strategies they can replicate.
Disability and the HR Perspective Two recent articles published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) point to increased interest in disability issues among HR professionals. The first was about a session on recruiting, retaining and engaging employees with disabilities held during SHRM’s recent Talent Management Conference. The second focused on inclusion at the pre-employment phase, highlighting TalentWorks, a new tool from the Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology that can help employers ensure their eRecruiting tools are accessible to all.
Hey Corporate America! In a recent op-ed published by DiversityInc, John D. Kemp, President and CEO of The Viscardi Center, and Brandon M. Macsata, General Consultant, National Business & Disability Council at The Viscardi Center, addressed the importance of embedding disability inclusion in corporate culture. The article emphasizes five key business strategies, such as leveraging accessible technologies and inclusive marketing, that companies can implement to ensure people with disabilities are fully included at all stages of the employment lifecycle.
Autism and Access to the American Dream In a recent post on the Labor Department blog, Scott Robertson, a policy adviser in the Office of Disability Employment Policy, shared his personal experiences navigating education, employment and societal expectations as a person with autism – and how today he works to ensure others with neurodiverse identities have equal opportunity to put their talents to work. Employers should “recognize that all autistic people possess valuable gifts, talents and key strengths, while also experiencing widely diverse challenges in education, employment and community living,” he wrote.
The Importance of Accessibility in Disability Employment
May 19, 2016, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. ET
WEBINAR
In this webinar, Gabrielle Nagle of GettingHired will share information about the experiences of job seekers who encounter inaccessible websites during the application process. Employers can tune in to learn best practices to ensure their technology facilitates successfully recruiting and onboarding people with disabilities.
Our Aging Employees: How to Retain and Keep Them Productive
May 25, 2016, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET
ONLINE WORKSHOP
This online workshop hosted by the National Business & Disability Council at The Viscardi Center will address issues that arise in the currently aging workforce and how best to retain older employees. Topics will include risk factors, disability accommodations, the importance of inclusive employment and solutions to common challenges.
Talent Matters: Leveraging Disability-Inclusive Outreach and Recruitment Strategies
June 30, 2016, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET
WEBINAR
This EARN webinar will address strategies that employers can leverage to build a disability-inclusive talent pipeline. The panel will specifically focus on partnering with community-based organizations, and connecting with service providers that can identify and prepare individuals with disabilities for specific workforce needs.
Employer Spotlight
IBM
In an interview with the Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology, IBM Chief Accessibility Officer Frances West shared insight into her role in guiding the company’s accessibility policies and practices. In particular, she discusses the ways in which an “accessibility mindset is now ingrained in the IBM culture” and makes the business case for a company-wide commitment to incorporating accessible technology across the organization.
Employee engagement is defined as an employee’s connection to their work, company, management and customers – and it’s the cornerstone of effective performance. Engaged employees are more productive, stay with employers longer and report higher levels of job satisfaction. Given that people with disabilities represent one of the largest minority groups, disability inclusion is an important element of an engaged workforce, and employers can use a number of strategies to promote an inclusive work culture that helps them feel fully invested in their organizations.
The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) is a resource for employers seeking to recruit, hire, retain and advance qualified employees with disabilities. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy under a cooperative agreement with The Viscardi Center. For more information, visit AskEARN.org
Preparation of this material was funded by the Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor, Grant No. [OD-26451-14-75-4-36]. This document does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
