Throughout my years of promoting disability in the workplace I have often heard employers complain: “I don’t understand the services for people with disabilities and how they work” or make statements like: “Why can’t there just be one service where I can find all the candidates who have a disability and all the services I need?”

Personally, I’m not a proponent of this ‘one-stop shopping’ concept. I think this would quickly lead to mediocrity. People don’t make similar statements about the myriad of car manufacturers, models, number of dealers, etc. or the number of stationary and computer suppliers. Businesses tend to make their purchase decisions based on an assessment of value – price, quality, reliability, customer service and so on.

Perhaps the real question is: “How do I make this kind of value assessment of an employment agency representing people who have a disability?” given there are some unique qualities to these services. Hopefully this article will help take some of the mystery out of this question.... [read more]

“It’s really understanding where you audience is,” says Brenda Brown, senior vice-president of human resources. “And working with that audience.”

First, a diverse employee base implies that the organization is searching widely, aggressively and creatively across all population sectors (and not only in the white male sector) for qualified personnel. The larger the pool of candidates reviewed, the greater the probability of finding the best people available.