Disability Community Outreach

PARTNERING FOR SUCCESS

Tips for working with disability rehabilitation organizations

Employment service and rehabilitation organizations can provide employers with strong candidates for jobs, and a wealth of information and resources to ensure successful placement and retention of new employees with disabilities. These groups can save you time and money by helping to facilitate outreach efforts through all phases of your employment recruitment, hiring, orientation & training, and long-term support process.

There are often numerous organizations representing job seekers with disabilities in your community, and these groups are ready, willing, and able to go to work for you. They include:

• Employment training & rehabilitation services community agencies (non-profit/for-profit)

• High school transition programs

• Government rehabilitation and employment services programs

• Representative organizations of/for people with disabilities

• College and university resource centers for students with disabilities

Each of these groups represents a segment of your area disability community and their supporting organizations. Collectively, they have contact with hundreds of people with disabilities on a regular basis. Utilizing this network can get you connected with a huge pool of prospective job candidates with disabilities. To ensure that your business receives the highest service quality from these organizations, consider the following tips for Working with Rehabilitation Organizations:

1. Research the network of organizations

There are usually numerous organizations representing people with disabilities throughout the region in which your business operates. Learn about the groups working in your area, and get familiar with who's out there.

2. Carefully select new partners

A quality employment service organization values and appreciates the needs and interests of both the employer and job seeker with disabilities. These organizations understand and appreciate their roles and responsibilities in serving your business needs, and recognize that getting the right person for the job is their ultimate priority. Look to establish a long-term, mutually beneficial working relationship with those organizations that can deliver strong candidates in a timely manner, and provide your business with the training and support that you need to ensure successful job matches.

3. Network

Build a network of employment services organizations. Attend career fairs and events that include these organizations, and develop contacts with a variety of employment specialists. Invite representatives to meet with your recruiters, and have them explain all the features of their programs. What can they do to help you hire and retain people with disabilities? Do they ask good questions and conduct themselves in a professional manner, and provide you with the information and choices you need to make good business decisions. Don't limit yourself to one or two contact people, or you'll run the risk of substantially reducing the pool of prospective applicants that are available to your business throughout the broader community network.

4. Demand immediate referral results

As an employer, you want immediate referrals. Ask your referral sources to assist you with pre-screening and recommendations on strong candidates. It is the responsibility of employment service organizations to provide quick referrals and recommendations to your job postings.

5. Applicant pre-screening

Does the employment service provider understand and respect my need to hire the best candidate? Quality employment service providers will pre-screen applicants and ensure that candidates who apply meet the qualifications outlined in your job notice. Take time to respond to inquiries from job developers and employment specialists who call and want more information about your job. These individuals are demonstrating their commitment to you in learning more about the kind of person you really need - and they will ultimately save you time in having to later review applicants that won't fit. Pre-screening is a valuable time saver for you - make sure providers are careful about who they refer.

6. Industry experience

Some employment training and placement specialists have specific industries and job classifications that they specialize in. Community colleges, for instance, may operate customized skill-based training programs for people with disabilities, and specialize in placing graduates into jobs that met a particular industry or employer's needs. Is the provider you are working with familiar with the types of jobs you are trying to fill, and has experience working with companies like yours?

7. Expect professional service

Ask the provider to explain to you the professional qualifications, skills and experience of their employment specialist staff. Have they been thoroughly trained and do they know how to effectively service both the employer and employee with disabilities? Are the trained personnel proficient at facilitation skills, and capable of instructing supervisors and coworkers on how to best work with the candidates they referred? Are they adept at doing front-end work to prepare the employer for successfully integrating the new employee, and are they sensitive towards ensuring that they don't overdo it - that is - overly stigmatize the new employee by doing too much, rather than enabling the employer to provide orientation, training and support? Do they help us to help ourselves?

8. Pre-employment preparation

Does the services provider do a thorough job of reviewing the job description and essential functions, visiting the job site, becoming familiar with job responsibilities, and accommodations? Does the service provider review the orientation procedure and training plans, detailing performance expectations, and helping the employer to communicate these to the new employee? Again - are they asking the right questions and really listening to what the employer is saying, and then helping to get things organized so that the new employee gets off on the right foot?

9. Training services

Are their staff really good trainers and teachers - will they teach coworkers and supervisors to do as much for themselves as possible in helping to orientate and train the new employee with disabilities? Do their trainers have excellent facilitation skills, and proficiency for discovering new ways to get the job done that maximizes the new employees' performance and the employer's production and quality expectations?

10. Who's doing what?

It is important that the employment services provider work with you to customize a recruitment, hiring, training, and support plan that complements your needs. What will be expected of the employer, and what types of services and level of involvement will they provide? Some employers may request that the provider prepare a service quality agreement that details the roles and responsibilities of the employer and the employment services provider. This agreement sets the ground rules for who's doing what, and the quality and service standards that the employer will expect of the employment specialist they will be dealing with. Does the agreement include a confidentiality clause that maximizes partner trust and confidence?

11. Trouble shooting and follow-up

How will they help deal with problems that may arise, and does the provider provide ongoing support to the employee, supervisor and coworkers - how often, how much? Do they have a formal response service and immediate follow-up capacity? How long do they take to respond to problems? How adept are they at anticipating problems, providing suggestions for addressing these well in advance, and providing alternative strategies and corrective action when problems occur?

12. Service fees

Some providers charge fees for their employment services. These may include head-hunting fees upon successful placement/match, and fees for training and follow-up services. Make sure to ask about fees and have the provider detail what you get in return for your fee. While most of the employment services providers charge no fees at all for any of their services (as government funding sources typically underwrite most of their expenses), you may wish to negotiate and pay a modest service fee for any or all of the services you receive from the provider. Incorporate the fee within the service quality agreement, and tie the fee directly to the roles and responsibilities detailed in this contract. While this may seem like a waste of money that need not be spent, by paying a fee you may cement your business relationship and thus demand greater accountability from the partner. Either way, a lack of services fees doesn't excuse poor service by the provider. Think about it though - as government-funded programs get hit with cutbacks, employers may need to plan for and expect service fees in the future in order to help support the organizations that serve job seekers with disabilities.

PARTNERING FOR SUCCESS

Tips for working with disability rehabilitation organizations

Article written by: Roger Van Lieshout

Development Specialist - Business Leadership Network October, 2002