Transcript AT@Work

AT @ Work
Time is Money:
What is Your VALUE to Business?
National Assistive Technology Technical Assistance
Project
July 16, 2009 Webinar
Presented by,
Joan Kester
The George Washington University
Center for Rehabilitation Counseling Research & Education
Mid-Atlantic Technical Assistance & Continuing Education
Center
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AT @ Work: What is YOUR
Value to Business?
• In today’s climate, it is essential to view
employers as customers and to paint a
clear picture of what AT professionals
offer business partners. Learn about the
landscape of employment affecting
people with disabilities and how analyze
the needs of employers in your area.
During the webinar, participants will also
have an opportunity to discuss strategies
to expand their employer base and define
their value to business.
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Topics of the Webinar
• Employment: Understanding the Landscape
• Who are Your Primary Customers?
• What Do Employers Need?
• Expanding Your Employer Base
• Adding Value to Business
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Employment
Understanding the Landscape
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National Snapshot
According to the National Council on Disability:
• The Federal government operates a large
number of programs designed to assist in
the fostering of employment relationships.
• Despite considerable effort and
investment, an employment rate for
working-age Americans with disabilities of
less than one-half that for the population
as a whole.
• Data show lower incomes when people
with disabilities do work and generally
higher levels of poverty.
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Understanding Barriers
• While we know there is a pool of talented
workers with disabilities, many barriers
exist.
• We need to relieve employers of the
range of fears and misconceptions that
surely have prevented, and may continue
to prevent, all too many from taking full
advantage of the productive potential of
workers with disabilities.
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Myths & Fears
• There is a lack of full understanding of
why myths, fears, and stereotypes about
people with disabilities continue to persist
among employers.
• We must factor in these potential barriers
when developing our outreach strategies.
• What myths and attitudinal barriers
have you experienced and how have
you addressed them?
National Disability Policy: A Progress Report National Council on
Disability January 15, 2008
http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2008/pdf/RevisedPro
gressReport.pdf
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According to the Association of
State AT Act Projects…
People with disabilities want to work. They
want to contribute to society, enjoy personal
fulfillment, and earn a living. The nation
needs workers and technology is the key to
employment for persons with disabilities.
Employers need assistance in identifying the
technology solutions that will preserve or
enhance their workforce.
http://www.ataporg.org/atap/projects.php?id=major_accomplishments
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According to the Association of
State AT Act Projects…
On the topic of Employment:
• The Workforce Investment Act, Ticket to
Work Act and other recent federal initiatives
have created a state environment of
change. One-stops are struggling to
effectively service individuals with
disabilities and are in need of extensive
support and technical assistance to make
their computer labs, telephones and other
media accessible.
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According to the Association of
State AT Act Projects…
On the topic of Telecommuting:
• The increasing use of work related
telecommuting holds promise for increasing
employment options for individuals with
disabilities, which frequently requires
assistive technology in the form of computer
and telephone adaptations. However, many
employers and people with disabilities need
assistance in making this work.
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Who are YOUR
Primary Customers?
Dual Customer Relationship
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The National
VR-Business Network and the
Institute on Rehabilitation Issues (IRI)
on VR Business Partnerships
What Can we Learn from this
Model in Building Partnerships
with Employers?
Source: PowerPoint developed by Kathy West-Evans, Council of State
Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR), Director of
Business Relations, http://www.rehabnetwork.org/busrel/
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Key Concepts
• Customer-Driven Networks
• Building and Sustaining a
Business Partnership
Network: “One Company”
Approach
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Dual Customer Approach
• This term describes a customer service
strategy that recognizes both
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES and
EMPLOYERS or business as a customer.
• We are responsible for educating
employers about the benefits of
accommodations and assistive
technology.
• This requires a dual customer approach
in the delivery of services.
32nd IRI, "The VR-Business Network: Charting Your Course“ located at
http://www.rcep6.org/IRI/tmpt/publications.htm#32nd
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Dual Customer Approach
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National
VR-Business Network
• Through this national network, there is a
Point of Contact in each public VR state
agency.
• Beyond this VR initiative, there may be
many other priorities and projects of the
public VR agency.
• Are you connected to these initiatives
and can this be a potential “market”
for your outreach efforts to
employers?
http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/vrpr
actices/busdev.html
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What Do Employers Need?
Putting your ear to the ground
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Employers’ Perspectives on the Basic
Knowledge and Applied Skills of New
Entrants to the 21st Century U.S.
Workforce, The Conference Board
• The future U.S. workforce is here—and it
is woefully ill-prepared for the demands of
today’s (and tomorrow’s) workplace.
Among the most important skills cited by
employers:
• Professionalism/Work Ethic
• Oral and Written Communications
• Teamwork/Collaboration and
• Critical Thinking/Problem Solving
http://www.conference-board.org/pdf_free/BED-06-Workforce.pdf
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Targeting High Growth Clusters,
Labor Market Analysis
• It is important for you to understand the
potential impact of the labor market:
– Priority career clusters
– Growing industry
– Projected employment trends
• To begin your labor market analysis, it is
helpful to review your State’s Labor
Statistics website
http://www.bls.gov/
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The Bottom Line
How can you address the bottom line of
employers?
• The bottom line of economics
• The bottom line of procedures and
process
• The bottom line of safety
• The bottom line of efficiency
• The bottom line of cost-effectiveness
• The bottom line of workplace community
• Many more…
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What VALUE do you Offer an
Employer?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Help the business save or make money
Expand the business
Increase their customer base
Solve a problem
Use old things in a new way
Improve the way things are being done
now
• Respond to a problem in the community
• Capitalize on or respond to a trend
• What are your ideas?
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Affiliating with Business
Organizations
Questions to consider:
• What business organizations exist in your
area?
• What services do they provide?
• Can you join?
• Can you provide continuing education?
• Can you include your information in their
literature, publications, websites, etc.?
• What business organizations exist and
how have you affiliated with them to
outreach to employers?
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In Their Own Words: Employer
Perspectives on Youth with Disabilities
in the Workplace
The following items are a few that these
employers suggest for practitioners:
• To recruit companies for work experiences,
market the competent service of the
professional or organization representing
youth with disabilities and the potential
benefits to the company. Avoid charitable
appeals based on disability.
In Their Own Words: Employer Perspectives on Youth with Disabilities in the
Workplace, National Center on Secondary Education and Transition 2004,
http://www.ncset.org/publications/essentialtools/ownwords/default.asp23
In Their Own Words: Employer
Perspectives on Youth with Disabilities
in the Workplace
• Get to know the industries and
companies in your area; careful
screening and matching are not possible
without this knowledge.
• Seek out and cultivate internal
champions who can advance the concept
and the value of such work experiences
within companies.
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In Their Own Words: Employer
Perspectives on Youth with Disabilities
in the Workplace
• Be ready to provide both formal and
informal disability awareness training,
tailored to the needs and circumstances of
the company.
• In the long run, it is important to continue
to seek out and listen to the voices of
employers. With improved focus on the
employer’s needs, there is good reason to
expect improved adult employment
outcomes for youth with disabilities.
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Listening to What Employers
Need
• To forge successful partnerships with
business, it is important to connect with
and understand their “world”.
• How do you connect with the pulse of
business in your state to fully
understand the needs of employers,
prior to designing your approach?
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Expanding Your Employer Base
Capacity Building Efforts
Source: Beyond Traditional Job Development, Denise Bissonnette,
http://www.diversityworld.com/Denise_Bissonnette/index.htm
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Twelve Ideas for Expanding Your
Employer Base
1. Start with People you Know
2. Keep up with National, State & Local
News
– Industry trends, upcoming
meetings/events, changes in local
organizations and companies,
business leaders
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Twelve Ideas for Expanding Your
Employer Base
3. Read Business Journals, Magazines and
Other Newspapers
– Local business news, new products and
services, Chamber of Commerce news,
new businesses
4. Attend Meetings where People get
Together on a Regular Basis for a
Common Purpose
– Chamber of Commerce, community
organizations, professional
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associations, volunteer groups
Twelve Ideas for Expanding Your
Employer Base
5. Attend special state, city, town and
neighborhood events
– Public hearings, city council meetings,
community development meetings
6. Join local, state and national
organizations
– Identify networking opportunities (e.g.
Retail Merchant’s Association,
Educational Councils, Independent
Insurance Agents)
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Twelve Ideas for Expanding Your
Employer Base
7. Make Presentations to Clubs, Meetings,
Conferences or Classes
– Who is in need of a luncheon
speaker?
8. Attend Job Fairs and Conferences
9. Sponsor Training or Educational Events
for Employers
10.Hold Special Events Involving Employers
with the Program and Participants
– Award banquets, job shadowing days 31
Twelve Ideas for Expanding Your
Employer Base
11.Initiate and/or maintain contact with
employers through mass and targeted
mailings
– Promotional brochures, flyers, invitations,
articles, newsletters, surveys.
12.Learn about Local businesses by using
directories, journals and other written
and/or electronic resources
– Library, service clubs, chambers,
universities
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Expanding your Employer Base
• What strategies have you
used to expand your
employer base? What
challenges have you
experienced?
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Adding Value to Business
From an employer’s perspective
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Refining our Approach:
An Employer’s Perspective
• Our approach can make or break future
opportunities for individuals with
disabilities to gain employment with those
businesses that we contact.
• Language is key! Eliminate the use of
the field’s jargon.
• Focus our materials on the benefits to
employers.
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Adding Value to Business
In a presentation entitled “Adding Value to
Business” presented by Erin Riehle, Project
SEARCH, Children’s Hospital of Cincinnati
shares her perspective on how we are perceived
by business and why we should provide quality
services.
Source: Training & Technical Assistance for Providers funded by
Office of Disability Employment Policy, US Department of Labor,
located at http://www.t-tap.org/. To view Erin’s presentation and
supporting materials, click on http://www.ttap.org/training/onlineseminars/riehle/riehle_0306ho.pdf.
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Adding Value to Business
The Project SEARCH model teaches us:
• Cold calls can be an anathema to business and
perceived as rude.
• When we “offer” incentives, it may appear we
are using deficit market strategies, especially if
asking for the easiest job.
• If an employer hires a person with a disability
with a job coach, be cognizant how many
support people from agencies come through an
employer’s door.
• Be aware of how many agencies are
approaching employers about job openings – a
business model would provide a point of
contact.
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Adding Value to Business
How might this impact
your approach with
employers?
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Recap
• Employment: Understanding the Landscape
• Who are Your Primary Customers?
• What Do Employers Need?
• Expanding Your Employer Base
• Adding Value to Business
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AT @ Work
Joan Kester, M.A., CRC
Human Resource Development Specialist/Senior
Research Associate
Center for Rehabilitation Counseling Research &
Education
Technical Assistance & Continuing Education
Center, Region 3
The George Washington University
202-489-7112
[email protected]
www.gwcrcre.org
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