New Program Works To Connect Employers with Employees With Disabilities

The Right Fit helps people with disabilities find a job that matches their unique skills and provides on-the-job coaching to ensure employment starts off on the right foot.

'The Right Fit' is a new program in Hope that seeks to facilitate supported employment opportunities for people with disabilities and help create a more diverse, inclusive workforce.

Due to the current labour shortage, many employers are looking toward hiring people with disabilities. However, many of these employers cannot get past stereotypical preconceptions about this untapped resource and could benefit from guidance and education in regards to recruitment and retention of people with disabilities.

We also understand how difficult it can be to return to the work force when you have a disability and our program aims to make the process a little easier for our clients. We will support our clients throughout the process of procuring meaningful employment by assisting in the job search, accompanying clients to their job interview, and we will even accompany clients to their first shifts to support them in their training until they are confident in their new roles.

Our ultimate goal is to support our clients in achieving a permanent employment placement by matching clients with employers thus reducing the labour shortage while providing guidance to employers at the same time.

Whether you are a person with a disability hoping to find work or an employer looking to hire, 'The Right Fit' would love to work with you!

Meet the Team

Karen Legere – Community Engagement Coordinator

Certified CDP Employment Services Professional with a demonstrated history of working within the employment services industry. Skilled in Intake and Assessment, Case Management, Workshop Facilitation, & Skills Training Applications. Experienced with diverse groups of clients including immigrant, disability and older workers. Proficient with online database and case management systems. Effective with building successful networking relationships with service providers and community groups within the Fraser Valley. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me by email (karen.legere@freereinassociates.ca), phone (604-991-2278), or check out our Facebook page at your convenience.

Kirsten Pellow – Community Engagement Worker

Hello. My name is Kirsten Pellow, and my family and I are new to the community of Hope. My husband is a first responder in town, and we have two children who are in the local elementary school. We have enjoyed discovering all of our new favourite places in this great community. I have recently re-joined the work force, and am looking forward to helping individuals with disabilities find meaningful employment in this wonderful town! If you have any questions about what employment is right for you, or you would like information about hiring a great member to your team, please contact me via email (therightfit@freereinassociates.ca) or on Facebook.

Many Employers Know Creating An Inclusive Workplace Is Important, But They Need Help With The How

How do you create an inclusive workplace? Research shows that some of the keys to creating inclusive environments are exactly as you would guess: researchers see that when an employer focuses most on what a potential employee can do, instead of what they can’t, employees are more likely to succeed. Similarly, when an employer is willing to be flexible, and consider how an employee might work best, perhaps remotely or with a less than traditional schedule, talented people stay in their jobs longer.

In today’s labour market, where many industries are experiencing critical staff shortages, we know employers are primed to do what is needed to tap into talent they may have overlooked before. It’s prime time that employers looked to people with disabilities to fill their labour needs.

When Open Door Group and Presidents Group, two BC based non-profits focused on disability and employment, decided to partner on a project to help employers tap into this underutilized labour pool, that’s where we chose to focus. How do we make a practical tool that can help employers understand what it takes to create a truly inclusive workplace? How do we connect them to the knowledge and resources to get there?

The result is The Disability Inclusive Employer Self-Assessment.

Presidents Group and Open Door Group collaborated to dive deep into recent international research on practices that truly increase inclusion and retention of people with disabilities in the workplace. The result is a 35 question self-assessment which identifies the top practices in areas such as hiring and retention practices, employee benefits, physical and digital accessibility, organizational culture, and metrics.

The Disability Inclusive Employer Self-Assessment is the first of its kind: a disability inclusion self-assessment designed for Canadian employers which helps them gauge their current state and connect to resources to help them improve. It takes about 15 minutes to complete, and it’s free to access. After answering the 35 questions in the assessment, employers immediately receive a report with recommended resources and offers of free support in finding and retaining talent with disabilities.  

If you’re looking for one meaningful action you can take during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, consider taking 15 minutes to gauge your own company’s practices.

If you’re looking for two meaningful actions, fill it out yourself, and tell one other business leader about the tool. Your business will be better for it.

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Trish Kelly is the in-house Accessibility Consultant for Open Door Group, and was project lead in the development of the Disability Inclusive Employer Self-Assessment. She lives in downtown Squamish on unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation).

The Business Value For Inclusive Hiring

An engaged and reliable talent pool is vital to the success of any business, big or small. Who you bring on to your team can be the difference between the success and failure of your business. With labour shortages impacting employers across the country, inclusive hiring practices have become more important than ever.

An inclusive hiring practice is the process of interacting with, interviewing, and recruiting a diverse group of people, and having set policies in place to ensure bias does not interfere with the hiring process. It involves recognizing that employees come from a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs that can strengthen your company. Inclusive hiring should be intersectional, taking into account a number of factors other than gender and race. Inclusive hiring includes hiring people with disabilities.

According to Statistics Canada, there are 645,000 Canadians with disabilities who have the potential to work and are not currently working. Not only will inclusive hiring practices strengthen a business, but it can address the challenges that businesses face due to the labour shortage.

So why aren’t employers engaging more employees with disabilities? This is likely due to the misconception that a person with disabilities wouldn’t be able to perform the duties required of the role and the belief that hiring a person with disabilities would cost the business too much money.

The reality is, employees with disabilities strengthen businesses and support business growth. Here are 6 reasons why you should ensure to follow inclusive hiring practices and not hesitate to hire a person with a disability because of their disability.

Employees with disabilities are productive workers

Ready, Willing & Able is a Canadian national program designed to increase the labour force participation of people with an intellectual disability or on the autism spectrum. Recently, they reported that 76% of the businesses who had hired staff through their program rated their productivity as equal to or better than average.

When employers take the time to learn and understand a person’s disability, it allows employers to make informed decisions on what roles and responsibilities will suit this person best. Many people with disabilities are highly detail oriented and will notice flaws or mistakes other employees will miss. Many people with disabilities find support through routines and become highly effective and efficient in completing their specific tasks.

Every employee will bring different skills and abilities to the work place, including employees with disabilities.

Employees with disabilities are reliable

When a staff member doesn’t show up for their shift, it can greatly hurt the business and staff moral. According to WorkBC, employers have rated the attendance of employees with disabilities as average or better 86% of the time.

Research from the Centre for Inclusion and Citizenship found that employees with disabilities tend to be as punctual or more punctual than other employees 94% of the time. And while many have the misconception that people with disabilities will require the use of more sick days, that same research rated employees with disabilities as well as or better than average 98% of the time in their use of sick days.

Employees with disabilities are loyal

More than ever, employers are struggling to not only find employees but are struggling to keep them as well. However, research shows that inclusive hiring contributes to a stronger, more stable workforce. WorkBC has found that staff retention was 72% higher among employees with disabilities.

Higher retention rates help to reduce costs associated with recruiting, hiring, and training new staff. The higher your retention rate for your business, the higher your profit margins are as well.

Inclusive businesses are more innovative

The pandemic exemplified the need for businesses to be innovative, creative, and flexible enough to pivot quickly and easily. Diversity cultivates stronger creativity. Employees with disabilities are able to bring a new perspective to the workplace. In addition to this, the creativity and flexibility used to meet the needs of an inclusive workforce strengthens those skillsets amongst all of your staff. This allows your entire team to be able to innovate and adapt easier in rapidly changing markets.

Inclusive hiring strengthens your corporate culture

Every business has a corporate culture, whether you hire one employee or one hundred. It is just as important for smaller businesses to consider how the corporate culture is perceived by their staff as it is for larger organizations. Corporate culture plays a role in not only employee retention, but customer satisfaction as well. Happy employees tend to make happier customers. And happier customers tend to spend more money on your business.

Diverse and inclusive teams have been reported to have higher employee moral, enhanced connectedness, and enriched leadership and management skills amongst senior level staff. The same research from the Centre for Inclusion and Citizenship found that employees with disabilities rate as well as or better than average on contributing to a positive workplace morale 99% of the time. Employees with disabilities tend to have a more positive attitude towards their work and that attitude can be contagious amongst other staff.

Inclusive hiring improves customer satisfaction

A 2006 survey of consumer attitudes towards companies that hire people with disabilities found that 92% of respondents regarded companies who hired people with a disability more favourably than their competitors. That same survey found 87% of people indicated they would prefer to give their business to companies who hire inclusively. These days, customers are willing to seek out and work with businesses that reflect their communities and values just as much as they are willing to seek out a good deal.

There is immense value to engaging in inclusive hiring practices. It has been shown that inclusive workplaces see a substantial return on investment not only in profits, but in developing an innovative workplace with strong employee moral and high customer satisfaction rates.

To learn more about hiring people with disabilities, including resources for employers, check out our resource page here.