Top Tips and Strategies to Make Your Company More Attractive to Job Candidates With Disabilities
Updated: Aug 24, 2023
Today we share with you some top tips and strategies to Make Your Company More attractive to job candidates with disabilities
Diversity and inclusion have become buzzwords in recent years as more and more companies are taking steps toward creating a more diverse and inclusive work environment. But despite these efforts, people with disabilities continue to face barriers to employment.
According to recent statistics, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is twice that of non-disabled people. This is a concerning stat and a missed opportunity for organizations looking for talented and skilled workers. Below, Courtney Rosenfeld shares with Inside Fashion Design, top tips and Strategies to Make Your Company More Attractive to Job Candidates With Disabilities
Compensated Skills Assessments
Before hiring, it’s essential to understand each job candidate’s skills and abilities. One way to do this is to provide a compensated skills assessment. This will help you better understand the candidate’s abilities while demonstrating that your company is willing to invest in your team. Through these assessments, you’re sending a message that you value your employees’ skills and abilities and are eager to invest in their growth. There are several ways to make your skills assessments fair and enticing:
Financial incentives: Offer a monetary reward to candidates who successfully complete the skills assessment. This may range from a fixed amount to a percentage of their potential future salary.
Gift cards or vouchers: Provide candidates with a voucher or digital gift card API for popular online retailers, restaurants, or entertainment venues as a token of appreciation for their time and effort.
Professional development opportunities: Instead of monetary compensation, you might provide candidates access to industry-specific courses, conferences, or workshops to enhance their skills and knowledge.
Feedback and career advice: Provide valuable feedback on the candidate’s performance during the skills assessment and personalized advice to help them progress in their professional journey.
Making Your Website More Accessible
Having an accessible website is critical in the age of online research. Making your site more accessible will help you attract more customers with disabilities. You also want to ensure people with disabilities who are looking for a job can apply easily. Simple steps like making your site screen reader-friendly and incorporating easy-to-read text and contrasting background colors can make all the difference.
Creating an Internship Program
Internship programs are an excellent way to attract new hires with disabilities. They expose candidates to your company and culture and present a platform for building relationships with potential future employees. If you don’t know where to begin creating an internship program, you can partner with local disability organizations or vocational schools to find interns.
Revitalizing Your Recruitment Process
Every business needs to revamp its recruitment process occasionally, but it’s even more critical when making your organization more appealing to skilled workers with disabilities. Updating your job descriptions to be more inclusive and actively recruiting from disability organizations are two goals to establish from the start.
There’s no denying that updating your recruitment process will be a significant project. But it’s crucial to get it right to attract suitable job candidates.
Ensuring Reasonable Accommodations
Lastly, you must ensure that you can offer reasonable accommodations in the workplace. This can include everything from redesigning workstations to be more successful, offering flexible working arrangements, or providing assistive technology. Offering reasonable accommodations will show potential hires that you value their abilities and will work with them to ensure long-term success.
Wrapping Up
Building a diverse and inclusive workforce takes time, effort, and investment. Still, doing so has countless benefits, including attracting a more diverse customer base, boosting team morale, and improving overall business performance.
Implementing some (or all) of the above strategies will help your company entice new hires with disabilities to join your team. And they’ll bring fresh perspectives and unique skills with them!
Remember that inclusion isn’t just the right thing to pursue. It will also prove to be a valuable business practice that benefits your organization for years.
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