Best Practices - Employment of People with Disabilities

Johnson: What direction do you give them regarding protection of workers, diversity and enforcing the law?

Shiu: We’ve hired and trained 200 new compliance officers, and we’re engaged in further training both at the intermediate and advanced stages. There are also interim trainings that we provide people on regulations and new development.

With respect to disability issues, I don’t know if you know this, but prior to this administration, there had really not been much attention paid to enforcing section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, which is one of the laws that we enforce, because 25 percent of the American workforce works for federal contractors.

ithin the US Department of Labor, Patricia A. Shiu directs the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Her team makes sure that contractors who do business with the federal government adhere to affirmative action and equal employment opportunities for both job seekers and wage earners.

Recently, OFCCP proposed new rules that will compel contractors and subcontractors to set a hiring goal of 7 percent for workers with disabilities. Shiu discussed the changes on the horizon with ABILITY’s Pamela K. Johnson and Stan Hoskins.

Pamela K. Johnson: I see that you worked as an attorney and a litigator. How would you sum up your background before you joined the OFCCP? Patricia A. Shiu: My first law job was working as a law clerk for Arlene Mayerson, who as you know is one of the leading advocates for the disability community. As a civil-rights litigator advocating for the working poor and their families, I worked on disability discrimination cases, and class action cases—some against the San Francisco Unified School District.

At one point there was not even one totally accessible school in all of San Francisco. I also worked on classaction lawsuits against UC Davis and UC Berkeley on behalf of hearing impaired and visually impaired students.

I have a commitment to this area of civil rights.

Stan Hoskins: How do you manage a staff of 800?

Shiu: I have an excellent team in the national office, and extremely talented regional directors and deputy directors throughout the country, including our compliance officers who are the heart and soul, I think, of the OFCCP in terms of their commitment to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis’s vision of good jobs for everyone.

32

ABILITY

When you think federal contractors, you think big companies. It’s really important that we ensure that we are opening doors for everybody, including people with disabilities. And of course that means that places have to be accessible. So we’re working a lot to try and provide what I call the three-dimensional equal employment opportunity philosophy and affirmative action.

I find that every workplace tells a story. It may not be a story of discrimination, but it may be a story where there’s some mismanagement going on. I want to make sure that my compliance officers are steeped in the law, and understand how to investigate cases with a real eye towards accuracy, thoroughness and completeness, so they can serve the American people and ensure that there’s no discrimination going on.

Johnson: When and why did you hire the 200 compliance workers, and does that mean that your staff is actually closer to 1,000 now?

Shiu: It’s actually around 750. The 200 compliance workers were hired when President Obama was elected, because of his commitment to civil rights. Those 200 employees had been essentially laid off over a number of years, and they were backfilled.

Between the OFCCP, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice, we are working together as one federal civil rights government on one civil rights agenda, which hasn’t been done for almost 50 years. We share resources; we cross train; we talk to each other—and I don’t mean at just the top levels; it goes on at our compliance officer level and investigator levels, as well.

Hoskins: Why is it necessary to update the federal contractor rules dealing with recruitment and hiring of people with disabilities?

Shiu: They are sorely out of date, and to be quite honest with you, they have focused on good-faith efforts for affirmative action and process-oriented steps that federal contractors could take to increase the number

of people with disabilities. But I think the numbers show that over the past 40 years, people with disabilities have among the highest of unemployment rates, and it’s time for us to get serious about this.

Good-faith efforts haven’t worked. What gets measured gets done. This is not something new in terms of the goals that we’re setting, which of course are aspirational but enforceable—enforceable because we can enforce the actions that are taken or not taken with respect to getting to the goal. These are the sort of things that we’ve done to measure progress with regards to race and gender for many, many years.

We’re opening the doors for federal contractors who, up to this point, have really not taken advantage of all of the skills and experience and expertise that people with disabilities can bring to the workforce.

Hoskins: Are there any indications that some contractors are skirting the existing rules?

Shiu: Yes. There is some evidence of that. When there is fear, when there is ignorance, it makes it very difficult.

I’ve represented a lot of people with disabilities, and quite frankly, there are some jobs that not all of us can do, but for the most part, people with disabilities can do the bulk of the jobs that are available, usually with some reasonable accommodation, or even without reasonable accommodation. So the days where people assume that somebody can’t climb a pole because they don’t have a limb, well that’s the Dark Ages.

There are contractors who are committed to doing this, including the Organization on Disability, which is a consortium of very big federal contractors, including Sam’s Club and others. When the regs came out, they actually wrote a press release talking about how supportive they were of the goal. So I think when you have contractors who understand the objectives, and who have a commitment to changing the culture, then things can happen.

Hoskins: What type of penalties are in store for contractors who don’t adhere to the rule?

Shiu: There are a number of specific steps that we’re requiring of contractors, including data collection, and recruitment efforts, as well as measuring those efforts, along with retention. And it’s all of those tasks, including the measurements, that are going to be subject to investigations and audits. So if contractors don’t undertake any of these specific, mandatory steps, they can be subject to violations.

It’s important to look at the goal as something that you want to reach. But even if you’ve reached the goal, that doesn’t mean there isn’t more that could be done. And it doesn’t mean that people who do everything and who don’t reach the goal aren’t successful. But you have got

Patricia A. Shiu

to make the effort to do it. You’ve got to be committed to it. You’ve got to measure what you’re doing, figure out where you’re falling down, and fix it. Our ultimate sanction is debarment.

But we’re here to provide technical assistance to contractors. They don’t have to pay an expensive consultant in order to figure out what they need to do; we have almost 800 employees who are ready to help them. They can call us. We don’t retaliate against people who call us and ask us for advice. We really are very receptive to people who need the guidance, particularly small businesses, small contractors and new businesses. We don’t want them to have to try and understand the regulation by themselves and navigate through it; we’re here to help them succeed.

Johnson: What is the process of a proposed rule being adopted?

Shiu: We actually gave advance notice of the proposed rule because the regulation was so old, and because I didn’t feel like OFCCP had really engaged enough with its stakeholders. We submitted an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, asking a number of questions, and then we went around the country, literally, and spoke with stakeholders about their thoughts, their ideas ABILITY 33

about this regulation, including what’s worked in the past, what hasn’t worked and best practices.

Based on the feedback, we’ve come out with a Notice of Proposed Rule, and then we gave people a comment period, and now we’re looking at all of the comments, taking them all into consideration, before we put out a Final Rule, which then becomes the law.

Hoskins: When the rule is updated, do you expect to see an increase in the number of people with disabilities finding employment?

Shiu: From your lips to God’s ears. (laughter) Yes, I do.

That’s the whole point of this.

Johnson: And how will you verify that companies are complying with the new rule?

Shiu: We have a three-part process: We schedule approximately 4,000 audits. It’s a neutral selection system. We go in and we tell people that we’re going to audit them.

They have certain duties as a federal contractor. When they sign on the dotted line to make that widget or make that ship or provide pharmaceuticals, they agree to not discriminate and to engage in affirmative action, which means that they have to have an affirmative action plan.

You’re supposed to keep data, update it, and actually look at it. It should affect how people get hired and employed and paid. Very often the affirmative action plans are not used to the best extent that they could be.

But it’s that sort of information that we unearth and analyze. We do onsite audits as well. We talk with witnesses, we talk with corporate people, workers, management, etc., to really try and unearth, as I said, the story at that particular workplace.

Johnson: Anecdotally speaking, as you went around the country looking at these various businesses, what challenges did they face in complying with the rule?

Shiu: One thing I can say is that there are a number of very large contractors that stood out in terms of taking this to the next level. Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago has a lot to be proud of. They had people there who took the time to share with other federal contractors what they do in their hospital so that people are included. And they had exuberance, great ideas, and commitment. They are now in the lead in terms of inculcating the notion that all people, including people with disabilities, can be productive workers in that particular environment.

I also see a whole range of people who have never worked with someone with a disability, who have no understanding of what that might mean, and who exhibit a certain amount of fear and ignorance. On one of my webinars, I got a call from a person who said that she runs a small construction company, and she asked, 34

ABILITY

“How can somebody with a disability operate heavy machinery?” I said, “Well, actually, I worked on a case involving deaf individuals who worked with forklifts in big box stores.”

So it’s shattering some of those myths, those stereotypes, I think. That’s just a matter of education and exposure. If you’ve ever known or worked with a person with a disability, you will see that they’re just like anybody else.

Hoskins: Are you frustrated by the pace of change in regards to inclusion of people with disabilities?

Shiu: I am hopeful. It’s been a real pleasure and a privilege for me to work for this administration. I come to the office every day knowing that we’re going to make good on this. This is a game changer. Secretary Solis has said that she thinks this is the biggest change since the enactment of the ADA, and all I know is that I just want to play a small part in making sure that this becomes a reality.

Johnson: Senator Harkin has a goal to have six million people with disabilities employed by 2015. Does your office ever work with his office on these initiatives?

Shiu: We work with Senator Harkin’s office whenever we can. He’s a great advocate on all issues for workers, and he’s committed to getting as many people with disabilities as possible into the workforce.

Johnson: How do you broaden out what’s happening at the federal level in terms of contractors and subcontracts to other companies through America?

Shiu: The history of OFCCP started with President Roosevelt who issued an order that prohibited discrimination by federal defense contractors against AfricanAmerican people. Think about all the various Republican and Democratic administrations that have built upon that principle.

The federal government is always the model employer, and it always should be the model employer, which is why the President has also challenged federal agencies to hire more people with disabilities.

When you talk about federal contractors, you’re talking about Boeing, about pharmaceutical companies, about poultry companies, meat companies, meat packers, furniture companies. It’s everybody. All you have to have is a contract for $50,000 and 50 employees and you’re subject to affirmative action. If you have a contract of $10,000 and 50 employees, then you’re subject to the executive order. So there are some differences in terms of some of the other regulatory jurisdictional limits, but essentially the idea is, if we can do this for one in four American workers, it’s going to have a ripple effect.

Cooper: Given what you’ve learned, what is Starbucks doing that you would like to see other companies do, and how can one expand these concepts from the local to the global?

Swapp: Again, a holistic approach is very important. So we’re always focused on the policies, standards and guidelines inside our company that support a disabilityfriendly environment.

Universal Design by Tony Gale

bit different, because, as we mentioned earlier, we consider accessibility a part of diversity.

Cooper: Right. For years there’s been a push by advocates to remind companies that disability should be included in diversity.

Sometimes they think only in terms of certain accommodations when a person is hired, but not much beyond that. So was that actually a part of the charter of the company when it was founded?

Swapp: No, diversity became one of the guiding principles after the company had been in existence for a while.

But we now see it as a critical component to our work.

Chet Cooper: Are you involved with the Business Leadership Networks (BLNs) in your area?

Marthalee Galeota: Yes, we’re new board members with the U.S. BLN. Cooper: Do you know what your role will be?

Laura Swapp: We’re still figuring that out. We’re prioritizing the national relationship and figuring out what we’re doing locally. Our strategic partnership initiative defines what organizations we engage with, and how we bring them into partnership with the Starbucks family at multiple touch points. So this is one of the relationships within that program.

We will continue to look at how we partner with various communities: African-American, Lesbian/Gay/Bi/ Transgender, Latino, disability… There are other organizations that we’ve worked with or will work with to determine how we move forward in this phase.

Marthalee will identify what the multiple touch points will be, and how we will roll those out. Obviously, headquarters is just one small piece of our world, and it’s really more about how we engage our field operations in these partnerships.

We’re inquiring about education and awareness opportunities. For us that could be offering specific courses such as disability etiquette, deaf-friendly culture or integration into other core areas that we believe would enhance awareness. Marthalee reviews all the marketing that leaves the building from an accessibility standpoint.

So, what we would say to other companies is to recognize that increasing accessibility and diversity require pulling multiple triggers.

Cooper: You just had a shift in leadership at the top.

How does that affect your division?

Swapp: We feel really optimistic about the support for diversity work with this leadership team.

Cooper: Is there anything else that you wanted to talk about or address?

Galeota: Just this year, (chairman and CEO) Howard Shultz participated in Great Hires, a video that showcases the benefit of employing individuals with significant disabilities. The project was produced by the King County developmental disabilities group, King 5 TV and the Washington (State) Initiative for Supportive Employment. The video highlighted three different companies, including Starbucks, which are reaching out to people with disabilities in employment. It’s been seen nationwide, in Europe and in Australia. It’s even on YouTube, and encapsulates our commitment.

In our stores, in particular, we strive to make everything accessible to all of our customers. Usually they order a beverage, wait while it is being made and then pick it up. But each of our stores has a sign at the register that offers customers assistance if they would like us to carry their order to their table. Customers using wheelchairs have let us know how much they appreciate this. One letter of thanks came all the way from a customer in England, who wrote: “I am very restricted in mobility due to severe arthritis. The service received was excellent without a doubt.”

Closer to home, one of our baristas was searching for an avenue to reach out to the community. Since Starbucks is an avid promoter and supporter of literacy, the barista came up with the idea of holding a monthly Children’s Story Hour and partnering with the National Braille Press by using their selections from the Children’s Braille Book of the Month Club. The barista is ABILITY 15

Marthalee Galeota

Laura Swapp

Partner Network with Deb Dagit

legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacy to a different level. Children and parents gather each month to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to them in Braille.

Cooper: Can you talk a little bit about how you approach accessibility for both consumer and partner when you build out a new retail store.

Galeota: In the US, we follow Americans With Disability Act guidelines. The aisles in the stores are sometimes an issue because things get moved and baskets of coffee beans are here and there, which makes it a little bit difficult for people to come through who might be using wheelchairs or canes. So in training baristas, we highlight accessibility so that people realize they need to keep aisles clear.

There’s also a table that’s a bit oversized for people who use wheelchairs. It used to be a bit taller with a decal on it that said: For our disabled customers. But it stuck out like a sore thumb, so now it’s the same height as the rest of the furniture and blends in. The verbiage on it now reads, For customers with disabilities-using people-first language.

Cooper: Anything else?

Galeota: Also, the “hand-off plane”-where customers’ beverages and foods are placed-has been lowered in new stores. When it was higher, people of short stature or people in wheelchairs would have difficultly getting their drinks. Our drive-throughs are still a place where you order by talking into a little machine, and the barista inside hears you. But for people who are deaf, we put language on the drive-through menu board that welcomes them to go right up to the first window and order from there. They can write out what they want or communicate however they choose.

One of our corporate architects is very involved with the 16

ABILITY

Leed model. He’s on the board with the national group and is working to get more of a universal design, rather than just the (less stringent) ADA features that you have to follow. The Leed model is about building in a way that is environmentally friendly.

Cooper: Then you’re also looking at the products used and the energy demands?

Galeota: Right. It’s all of that: the energy, the lighting, how you take advantage of the sun or the way the store is oriented on the land that you have-all of that. That has already been built into the Leed model. What hasn’t been there is the more holistic, universal accessibility features.

Cooper: In our Green Pages section, we write about how a healthier planet leads to healthier people, because a lot of what’s going on in the environment contributes to disabilities. Regarding recycling, have you looked at a program where people bring their cups back in and you recycle them?

Swapp: That’s something that’s handled on a market-bymarket basis. A lot of municipalities don’t have the ability to recycle on a commercial level. But we do back-ofthe-house recycling in a majority of our stores, where space and facilities permit.

Galeota: Any other questions?

Cooper: Yes. Can I get a nonfat soy.... (laughter) For more information about the company go to: www.starbucks.com To watch the Great Hires video, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPXiIYz4uw0

Pimentel1202

12/3/07

12:37 AM

Page 60

his guide is for applicants who may need to discuss a disability-related job issue in an employment interview. I’ve written it in an easy-to-follow, question-and-answer format. My hope is that it will help qualified persons with disabilities take advantage of more employment opportunities, help employers make more informed hiring choices, and reduce the level of discrimination and litigation that has been associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

T

your need for the accommodation and obligates them to consider it.

QUESTION: What are the benefits of bringing up the subject of my disability in an interview?

QUESTION: What is a reasonable accommodation?

ANSWER: When it is done correctly, the main benefit is that it can help you get a “reasonable accommodation” to do the job, if you are otherwise qualified for it.

Bringing this subject up to employers informs them of 60

ABILITY

Keep in mind that you don’t want to make a bigger deal out of it than it really is. The main focus of any interview is who you are, what you can do and why the employer should hire you. The issue of disability and need for accommodation does not change that in any way.

ANSWER: It is some change in the job or the interview/evaluation process that takes into consideration your disability-related job limitations and either enables you to do the job or to be properly and fairly evaluated for it.

Pimentel1202

12/3/07

12:37 AM

Page 61

In the interview these accommodations could be as simple as providing a sign-language interpreter for someone who is deaf or hearing impaired. It could be giving more time for someone to complete a test if they have a learning disability, or assisting someone to fill out an application if they have cerebral palsy and cannot do it on their own.

On the job, an accommodation could be changing the work schedule for someone who needs medical treatments, acquiring equipment such as a blinking telephone or TDD for someone who is deaf or hearing impaired, or changing the way that work is traditionally done, while making sure that it does get done.

You should study what the ADA says about reasonable accommodation. One important thing to remember is that an employer may be obligated to provide an accommodation only if it is not an undue hardship on the business to do so. Reducing performance standards below that of other employees is not considered to be a reasonable accommodation. If an accommodation will not allow you to perform the essential functions of a job, then you are not qualified for the position.

QUESTION: How can I determine if I need a reasonable accommodation?

ANSWER: You should consider these two things: 1: What are the essential duties of the job for which I am applying?

2: Does my disability interfere with my ability to per form these functions satisfactorily?

Your job counselor or placement professional should be able to tell you the essential functions of the job to which he or she is referring you. Essential functions are those that are important and fundamental to the job, not those which are incidental.

If the person placing you does not know the job’s essential functions, then you and your counselor may be able to speculate based on general knowledge of the field or vocation. In this way, you may be better prepared. But keep in mind that each employer may want a job performed differently, and a job’s description can change from employer to employer, and even from department to department within the same company.

When in doubt, ask what the essential functions of the job are. You may have to decide if any accommodations will be needed and when would be the best time to discuss them. Working with the placement organization, you should be able to determine exactly which accommodations you would need.

Applicants who inform employers that they will need a

reasonable accommodation do themselves and the employer a favor.

QUESTION: What if I cannot do one of the “marginal” functions of the job?

ANSWER: If you cannot do a marginal function because of your disability, then the employer has the option of accommodating you so that you can do it, or “forgiving” you the function, which means not requiring you to do it. The employer may not consider your inability to perform the marginal function in the hiring decision.

However, if your inability to perform the marginal function has nothing to do with your disability, then the employer can consider it as part of your qualifications, and evaluate your inability to do it as he or she would with any other applicant.

Example: If being able to drive a car was a marginal function of a job and an applicant could not drive because he or she had epilepsy, then the employer could not hold it against the applicant. If the applicant could not drive simply because he or she never learned to drive, then the employer could consider it as a concern for evaluation in the hiring decision.

Therefore, when it comes up in an interview that you cannot do a marginal function of a job because of your disability, it is important that you make it clear that the inability is disability related, so the employer will not hold it against you in the employment decision.

QUESTION: What if I feel that the employer does not have a right to know about my disability?

ANSWER: An employer is prohibited from making disability or medical inquiries or examinations of an applicant in an interview. They may not ask about current or past medical conditions and, unless a job is offered, may not have an applicant submit to a medical examination unless all applicants who receive a conditional job offer for that position are required to have the same examination.

You should keep in mind that there is a difference between your “disability” and any disability-related work limitations. Information about your disability includes: its definition, how you acquired it, how it affects your life, its prognoses, any medical treatments, etc. Employers generally have neither the right nor the need to know these things.

Disability-related job limitations and your need for accommodation is another issue. If you request a reasonable accommodation, or if the employer cannot evaluate how you can perform the functions of the job with your disability, then that information might be ABILITY 61

Pimentel1202

12/3/07

12:38 AM

Page 62

needed by the employer to properly evaluate and accommodate you.

to see the small print,” the issue of your disability has been raised.

The information the employer should be given should be limited to what is called the job-related “manifestation of the disability.” Put more simply this means how it affects your ability to do the job. You can discuss this aspect of your disability with the employer without revealing the more personal aspects of your condition.

When the employer questions something in your background or employment history that is only explained by your disability, the disability issue is raised.

Example: The employer might have the need to know how the applicant who uses a wheelchair will perform some of the job functions while using the wheelchair, and whether the applicant will need a reasonable accommodation to perform those functions. At the same time, the employer might not have a need to know why the applicant is in a wheelchair, the nature of the injury or illness, the medical prognoses of the condition and how the disability affects the applicant off the job.

If you feel uncomfortable about an employer knowing anything about your disability, it is your right not to discuss or disclose it. But remember, the employer only has the obligation to accommodate known disabilities.

Refusing to assist the employer with information about your abilities, limitations and need for accommodation only hinders the employer’s ability to successfully evaluate and accommodate you.

Ultimately the decision is yours, but the question is, “Are you doing everything you can to maximize your employment potential and help an employer hire you?”

QUESTION: When does the issue of my disability come up in an interview?

ANSWER: While the employer does not have the right to make general medical inquiries of applicants, employers do have a right to ask an applicant if they can perform the functions of the job for which they are applying.

If an employer asks you if you can perform a function that your disability does not permit you to perform, you can answer that you are unable to perform that function.

The employer may then ask you “Why?” which naturally raises the issue of your disability.

Example: The employer asks you if you can lift a 50pound box from the floor to the table repeatedly and you say, “No.” The employer asks, “Why?” and you reply, “Back surgery.” Suddenly, the issue of your disability has been raised within the context of a proper interview.

62

Example: An employer questions an applicant about why the worker left his or her last job and now wants to change fields. The applicant replies that he or she was injured on the job and can no longer do that kind of work. Thus the issue of the disability is raised.

When the disability is obvious to the employer and causes reasonable concern about the applicant’s ability to perform the essential functions of the job, the employer may question the applicant about his or her abilities. Note: The ADA allows the employer to do this as long as the inquiries are strictly job-related.

Example: An applicant comes in who has had an arm amputated. The employer does not see how the applicant can deliver heavy or awkward loads on the delivery route. So the employer asks the applicant to explain or demonstrate how he or she would do the function.

The problem is that many employers do not understand the ADA and are afraid to pursue even valid questioning without support and encouragement from the applicant with the disability. Some employers know the law but are afraid of offending or insulting a potential employee. This creates a problem for both the applicant and the employer. Applicants who help the employer solve this problem are more likely to be hired than those who do not.

QUESTION: How do I know whether to bring it up or not?

ANSWER: The ADA does not require, restrict or recommend to applicants with disabilities when, if or how to bring a disability up to a potential employer.

The following opinions are based on extensive experience in developing jobs for persons with disabilities.

If the disability will require the employer to provide a reasonable accommodation, the applicant should bring it up, explaining the nature of the accommodation needed and how it will enable the person to perform the job effectively.

If you can perform a function but need an accommodation to do so, the need for the accommodation raises the issue.

Example: An applicant who is blind requires a “talking” computer to do word processing. The applicant informs the employer of the need for this accommodation, the nature of the required equipment and details of his or her past performance using such equipment.

Example: If an employer asks if you can proof documents and you reply, “Yes, but I will need a magnifier

If the potential employee has a disability that will not require an accommodation but is visible, and the average

ABILITY

Pimentel1202

12/3/07

12:38 AM

Page 63

employer would have reasonable concerns as to how someone with that disability would perform the job functions, the applicant should bring it up, explaining how the functions in question will be performed.

subject and advise the employer that your counselor or placement professional is available to answer any questions, as well as to provide the employer with any needed assistance.

Example: An applicant has three fingers amputated from his or her dominant hand. The applicant needs to be able to type and take written messages. He or she has learned to both write and type without any accommodations, but since the employer will notice and probably be concerned, the applicant brings it up explaining or demonstrating how he or she can perform those functions.

Whatever you decide should be done with the advisement and cooperation of your placement or job-placement agency.

If the disability is not obvious and will not impact the job’s performance, the applicant should not bring it up, as there is no need to discuss it.

Example: An applicant has been treated for depression.

He or she is currently on medication that controls the depression, so there is no effect on job safety or performance. Again, there is no reason to bring it up.

QUESTION: How do I bring it up?

ANSWER: First, present your qualifications for the job. Focus on your ability to do the essential functions of the position. Next, bring up the functions for which you will need a reasonable accommodation. Do not focus only on the “need” for the accommodation but also stress the resulting productivity and effectiveness of the accommodation to allow you to perform the function.

QUESTION: What does my job counselor need to know?

ANSWER: Interesting enough, job counselors need to know what the employer needs to know: Your abilities and qualifications, your job-related limitations and potential needs for accommodation. Basically, they will be using the same standard for referring you to an interview that an employer uses in considering you for the job.

With your help they can be of great assistance to you by helping to identify the functions of the job you want, requesting any reasonable accommodations you might need, and “coaching” you to present yourself and your abilities in the best possible light.

As a person with a disability, the ADA represents a big change and a new world for you. It’s also a big change and a new world for employers and placement organizations. The best thing you can do for your placement counselor and yourself is to be honest about your vocational goals, be unafraid to dream big and pursue your dreams, while sharing them with others.

Stress your ability, not your limitations. Would it be better for a person with a back injury to describe themselves as someone who cannot stand for more than an hour or someone who can stand for up to an hour? Both describe the same condition but the latter is much more positive because it describes what the person can do, not what the person can’t do.

The ADA may unlock doors that had been locked in the past, but it is still your responsibility to knock on them, open them and walk on through. The most important factor in your job search is you. Good luck and good hunting!

Be ready for the subject to come up in the interviewer’s questions about qualifications and abilities. Be ready to respond with your explanation. If the subject does not come up, then bring it up near the end of the interview.

Remember, remain positive.

This article was adapted from Working with People with Disabilities in a Job Placement Job Retention Environment

QUESTION: What if I want my counselor or job developer to bring it up for me?

ANSWER: Then ask them to. But before you do, remember that it is generally more effective if you bring it up yourself. It sends the employer a message that if you are hired and problems arise, you will be an active and effective partner in solving them.

by Richard Pimentel

Pimentel’s Publications include: • Developing the New Employee: A Trainer’s Guide for

Retaining and Enhancing a Diverse Workforce

• Return to Work for People with Stress and Mental Illness • The Return to Work Process a Case Management Approach • Windmills Trainers program, Hiring and Working With People

with Disabilities

• What Managers and Supervisors need to Know about the

ADA

• The Workers Compensation ADA Connection www.miltwright.com

If you do not feel comfortable discussing the details of your need for reasonable accommodations, or do not wish to talk in detail about them, then you might bring up the ABILITY 63

Gift_of_Opp_SD_1202

12/3/06

2:47 PM

Page 20

State ofEquality Connecticut's Gift of Opportunity Symposium

J

oe Stromondo was born with dwarfism. But dwarfism doesn’t define who he is; it is simply the name of his disability. It doesn’t take more than a five-minute conversation with the 24-year-old Stromondo, who works full time as a career advisor at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, to realize how bright and energetic he is.

Upon graduating from Trinity with a BA in philosophy two years ago, Stromondo had hoped to pursue a PhD in bioethics, with a specific focus in disability bioethics. He applied for entry to nine different PhD programs, only to be rejected by all of them. Never one to be easily discouraged, Stromondo switched his emphasis. At the urging of one of his undergraduate advisors, he applied for a position in the career services

Ted Kenndey Jr., Keynote speaker during last years symposium with Joe Stramondo

department at Trinity. He jokes that he was a perfect fit for the job because “I had a lot of experience applying to graduate schools!”

These days Stromondo spends his time helping Trinity’s students make informed choices about their educational and career goals, reviewing their applications for educational programs and critiquing their resumes and cover letters. At the end of the day, he switches focus from his students’ goals to his own as he pursues his master’s degree in public policy. In the little spare time he has, he serves as the chairman of the state independent living council’s committee on higher education outreach, and also chairs the advocacy committee for the national organization Little People of America.

“Employment is a huge issue for people with disabilities,” says Stromondo. “Understanding how employment issues work for most people enables me to form opinions on policy and to advocate more effectively for myself and others with disabilities.” He feels that if people with dwarfism are seen performing successfully in the workplace, common misperceptions will change.

Stromondo was fortunate to find an employer who did not focus on his disability, but instead saw his enormous potential. Many other job seekers with disabilities are not so lucky. It is this reality that led the Connecticut Department of Labor to launch the Gift of Opportunity Symposium.

In 2004, representatives from the Connecticut Business Leadership Network, the Governor’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities and the Youth Leadership Forum met with the Connecticut Commissioner of Labor. They had all experienced difficulty getting employers interested in even talking about hiring workers with disabilities, never mind actually doing so. All parties agreed that people with disabilities are frequently overlooked as a valuable,

20

ABILITY

Gift_of_Opp_SD_1202

12/3/06

1:53 PM

Page 21

talented and all-too-often untapped resource. To help turn the tide, they proposed a new forum that would bring together a wide range of Connecticut employers to explore how hiring people with disabilities could benefit their businesses.

Out of these discussions came the Gift of Opportunity Symposium, now an annual event that provides multiple opportunities for Connecticut businesses. Employers can observe panel discussions with companies that are active in hiring workers with disabilities, hear personal stories from the employees themselves and learn about organizations that support businesses in working successfully with employees who have disabilities. A question-and-answer session encourages employers to present all the questions they have wanted to know but may have been embarrassed to ask—about accommodations, transportation, universal design in offices, recruitment of workers with disabilities, requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), etc.

Another integral part of the symposium is a disability resource fair, where employers can find qualified workers with disabilities and learn tools for keeping them.

“We want to dispel some of the myths about what is involved in hiring and retaining qualified workers with disabilities,” explains Bridget Kemmling, Connecticut’s equal opportunity officer. “We want to show why employing people with disabilities makes good business sense. We also want to take some of the mystery out of the process for companies by connecting them with people and resources that can help them address common barriers.”

The real challenge for the Connecticut Department of Labor was developing a strategy to get employers to the table to join this conversation. They first tapped into their relationships with 17 chambers of commerce from across Connecticut, as well as the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, to help market the event to Connecticut employers.

The results so far have been impressive. The first Gift of Opportunity Symposium attracted 225 business representatives, with the number growing in subsequent years. Companies of all sizes attend, including some corporate giants. These businesses represent all facets of commerce and industry, including hospitals, banks, large retailers and manufacturers.

Jane Rath of Earnworks, an organization funded through the U. S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy to help companies recruit and screen talented applicants with disabilities to fill their job vacancies, travels around the country promoting employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Rath was a panelist at the last two Gift of Opportunity Symposiums and remarks, “It was great to be at an event with such a terrific employer turnout. I am impressed with what Connecticut has been able to accomplish in only a few years.

Connecticut Burea of Rehabilitation Services Director, Breanda Moore, talks with a representative from the New England Assistive Technology (NEAT)

After a successful inaugural event in 2004, the Department of Labor wanted to further increase the size and scope of the symposium, but it lacked the funding to do so on its own. The agency decided to approach Aetna Insurance to ask if the company would join as a partner in sponsoring the event. The response was a resounding “yes.” Through Aetna’s financial support, the Department of Labor was able to make the next Gift of Opportunity Symposium free for employers, complete with breakfast and lunch for all participants. “We wanted to remove any of the typical barriers that might make an employer reluctant to attend an event of this type,” says Connecticut Labor Commissioner Patricia Mayfield. “We knew this was a challenging topic and we’d have to be creative to get companies to attend.”

Mayfield is delighted that the event has been popular beyond the agency’s expectations, providing so many employers the opportunity to learn. “I certainly think we have a responsibility to ensure that qualified workers with disabilities are afforded opportunities to work. But most employers will find that when they make the effort to employ an individual with a disability, that responsibility quickly transforms into an asset for the company.”

The 2005 symposium featured a panel of high-performing Connecticut employers who shared one common bond: they all employ workers with disabilities who have positively impacted their operations. These companies included Aetna Insurance, Pfizer, Liberty Bank, W.E. Bassett Co. and ShopRite. Ted Kennedy Jr. was the keynote speaker for the event. “We felt it was important for the business community to hear testimony from other employers about how workers with disabilities benefited their businesses, rather than just hearing it from government,” says Kemmling.

ABILITY 21

Gift_of_Opp_SD_1202

12/3/06

1:54 PM

Page 22

The most recent Gift of Opportunity Symposium, again sponsored by Aetna Foundation, featured keynote addresses by John Lancaster, executive director of the National Council on Independent Living, and Kyle Maynard, champion wrestler and recipient of the 2004 ESPY Award for Best Athlete with a Disability. Maynard, who was born with a condition called congenital amputation (giving him arms that end at the elbows and legs that end near his knees), was once described by a coach as “one of the most amazing athletes who has ever lived,” and is author of the book No Excuses.

This year’s symposium highlighted recent successes in expanding employment opportunities in Connecticut for people with disabilities. For example, Jeannie Hamilton, director of organizational development for Walgreens, discussed the company’s plans to build new distribution centers in South Carolina and Connecticut and to recruit workers with severe cognitive disabilities—with an emphasis on autism—to fill one third of the positions at each facility. Both distribution centers will be fitted with custom-made high-tech equipment that will enable workers with severe cognitive disabilities to perform critical jobs.

Lana Smart, from the National Business Disability Council, talked to employers about the Emerging Leaders program, a paid summer internship program for high-performing college students with disabilities.

This program gives employers who may not have an extensive track record in hiring people with disabilities the opportunity to work with talented college students, helping expose the students to the business world while also helping the companies increase the diversity in their workplaces.

The attendees at the Gift of Opportunity Symposium learned about the positive impact of recruiting workers with disabilities

Qualities that make the Gift of Opportunity Symposium unique include the strong public-private partnership created by Aetna Foundation’s financial sponsorship of the event, as well as the creative collaboration between government and the business community in planning its contents. The support the symposium has received from numerous chambers of commerce throughout Connecticut provides strong evidence for the success of this collaboration.

But the most impressive thing about the symposium is the results. Employers are showing up in large numbers to be part of the conversation about employing people with disabilities, and that has helped create a momentum for change within Connecticut.

Dave Ritz, assistant vice president and employment manager at Liberty Bank in Middletown, Connecticut, has attended the past two Gift of Opportunity symposiums and notes, “Each was a very moving experience for me, and I’m sure for the many Connecticut employers and employees who attended. It will always remain with us that hiring people with disabilities can only bring increased productivity to any organization.

The bank I work for highly recommends that these symposiums continue until every employer in this state has gotten the word regarding employees with disabilities. There is no greater cause we could be fighting for in today’s employment market.”

Connecticut Labor Department officials feel that the success of the Gift of Opportunity symposium could be easily duplicated in other states. The key is to tap into the business relationships that a state already has and use those relationships to build momentum. The event doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to get started—it just requires creative planning. The first Connecticut symposium cost only about $4,000 total to implement.

Finding a corporate sponsor in the state helps lend credibility to the event by showing that the business community buys into the goal of promoting the employment of people with disabilities. Labor Department officials hope that this increased awareness in the employer community will lead to greater opportunities for other talented job seekers with disabilities— like the opportunities afforded Joe Stromondo.

Stromondo notes, “You never know what you’re getting into, whether you are the job applicant or the employer.

Fear is the biggest barrier to anything in your life. My best advice to prospective employers is to release yourself from your fears.”

by Mike Bartley For questions about the Gift of Opportunity Symposium, contact Mike Bartley at 800.263.6513

22

ABILITY

18

ABILITY

D

uring the recent Super Bowl, millions of viewers caught a Pepsi commercial, one that some say represents an historic first. The unusual ad featured a silent, 60-second joke: Two guys drive to their friend Bob’s house to watch the big game. Once they get to his street, neither remembers his address. So they sit in the car arguing in sign language until one of them gets a clever idea and lays on the horn. One by one, the houses light up-except for Bob’s.

Clay Broussard, who plays Bob, also developed the commercial and has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for 27 years. Though he is not deaf, the two actors who play his friends, Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault, are.

They’re also Broussard’s coworkers and members of PepsiCo’s EnAble, an employee network for associates with different abilities and for caregivers. The threeyear-old organization was founded to influence and provide guidance to the company, which also owns Frito Lay, Gatorade, Tropicana and Quaker, so that people with different abilities were included at all levels. Now more than 300 PepsiCo associates strong, EnAble has chapters in New York, California, Ohio, Washington, Arizona, Florida and Texas.

Chet Cooper: How did you get involved with EnAble?

Clay Broussard: I have some familiarity with deaf culture, so EnAble interested me; I joined to see what I could contribute. We have a real culture of diversity and inclusion among our various employee networks at Pepsi.

Cooper: How did you get familiar with the deaf culture?

Broussard: My wife and I attended a church where everything was entirely in sign language for seven or eight years. There was no voicing of anything at all. So that was a real immersion.

Cooper: How did you choose that particular church?

Broussard: In the congregation that we were part of at the time, there were a couple of deaf people and there was some interpreting. The deaf people became our friends and taught some of us sign language. As that group grew, there was enough people to form a new congregation where sermons could be held completely in sign language, and where the topics would be addressed directly in the native language rather than interpreted. Sign language interpreting is not a direct way of communicating with deaf people.

Cooper: In the new congregation, what was the percentage of people who were deaf, and what was the percentage of people, such as yourself and your wife?

Broussard: We talked about keeping track, but consciously decided not to because we figured we’re not counting how many black people or white people are

here, so why would we count the number of deaf vs. hearing? I’m one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and we support all kinds of languages. So it was an outgrowth of our work in that community in terms of education, and I would say there’s probably now a hundred or so congregations across the U.S. that are conducted entirely in sign language.

Cooper: You say “now.” Do you think you were one of the first?

Broussard: I think we were among the first 40.

Cooper: So did that experience draw you into what was going on within your work?

Broussard: What happened was a local chapter of EnAble formed here in Dallas, and I thought: This sounds pretty cool. As I have some experience with this aspect of diversity, why don’t I see what I can contribute? I joined and started listening to the goals and missions that EnAble had locally. You may not have heard this, but EnAble wants PepsiCo to be the brand of choice and the employer of choice among people with different abilities. And so we talked about objectives, such as accommodation and acceptability, which foster the conditions for being an employer of choice.

Becoming the brand of choice is more esoteric for people. How do you get to that? You can do it through traditional means, such as participating in Multiple Sclerosis walks and activities such as that, but I thought: How can we bring it into marketing and advertising and really demonstrate to the outside world what our culture is all about at PepsiCo? Because I’m familiar with the deaf culture, I thought: Let’s borrow a joke from it and tell it the PepsiCo way, featuring our products and our people and do it in a language that the rest of the world can get and find humorous.

Cooper: Did you run into any bottlenecks within the company? (Sorry) Broussard: (laughs) As a soft drink company, we try to avoid bottlenecks. Fortunately, everybody from the top to the bottom of this organization who heard about the concept was intrigued by it. For some, it was a little esoteric, so we had to make a demo version. But once we got the demo finished, people could see it, and they got excited.

Cooper: It became tangible. So how did you make the demo?

Broussard: First I hired an artist to do a storyboard of the ad concept. We then took the storyboard and floated it past deaf employees inside PepsiCo to say, “What do you think of this? Is it right? Does it match the culture?

How would it be received by both the deaf community and the hearing community?” This group remained on the project throughout as consultants.

ABILITY 19

don’t know how those things get determined. But we’ve got ideas to contribute.

Cooper: So those ideas will be sent up the flagpole the way you did before?

Broussard: Yeah, and I think marketing will determine if it’s something we want to pursue. But in the meantime, the Super Bowl ad is getting distributed over the Internet, which has really been huge. While the Super Bowl attracted 90 million households, what’s interesting is that when content on the Internet goes “viral”millions upon millions of people forwarding it along to friends and coworkers-it can potentially reach even more people.

The reception the ad received on the Internet was tremendous, beyond anything I would have conceived of, and it quickly went to, like, number three on YouTube. I’ve been told that of the 90 million viewers who watched in on TV, one in 10 households had somebody deaf or hard of hearing in the household.

Cooper: I think there are roughly 28 million people that are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

Once we had their input, I went to marketing and said, “Here’s an idea that the employee network EnAble is exploring. Tell me what your advice and counsel would be.” And they gave us some great advice about focusgroups studies and achieving authenticity and things like that. So we did focus groups and asked maybe 10 or 12 questions to get feedback. Nearly all the survey responses we got were incredibly positive, with less than three percent coming back with anything negative.

Cooper: Those were probably the people who fell asleep during the focus group.

Broussard: (laughs) So then my senior executive allowed me to go forward with the demo. I hired a local video production company to do it, and we used all PepsiCo employees. The hardest part was convincing my wife to let me use our house.

Cooper: Was that your house in the commercial?

Broussard: No, we only used it in the demo, which was a bit different. In that version, we started inside a house and showed them watching a game. After we shot the demo, my senior executive presented it to the senior executive level team, and there was immediate enthusiasm. They green-lighted the project and said, “We want to fast-track this to the Super Bowl and give it as broad an audience as we can.”

Cooper: And the rest is history… So what’s next for you?

Broussard: I’ve been asked, “Are there follow-up concepts?” There are a couple of concepts we’re considering. I’m still a little new to the mysteries of marketing. I 20

ABILITY

Broussard: It struck me what a large percentage of the community would identify with the ad. We wanted to tell a story that featured diversity and inclusion in a way that would appeal to a broad audience and in a way that was humorous.

Cooper: I think humor is a common denominator.

Broussard: On the business end, we figured: “This has a classic element of typical PepsiCo advertising: fun, humor and a good product.”

Cooper: What other activities are you working on?

Broussard: There are some things that I’m working on.

We had a large company reach out to us after the ad was shown, saying, “We’re interested in talking about accessibility awareness, would PepsiCo consider working with us on that?” So that’s something we’re discussing now.

Cooper: That’s interesting, that you might provide awareness training to other companies.

Broussard: I’m currently working with the Dallas Mayor’s Committee for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities-a forum of businesses in the Dallas metroplex - to determine how to create awareness of this topic inside our community. Last year we sponsored a breakfast for local area HR people on the topic of “onboarding” persons of different abilities. There are other things I’m working on, but can’t talk about yet.

The chapter of EnAble that I’m with had a kickoff

meeting for 2008 recently, and we talked about what we want to accomplish this year. Different people volunteered for various committees.

Cooper: I noticed you’re not saying “people with disabilities,” you’re saying “people with different abilities.”

Broussard: That’s very conscious on our part.

Cooper: There’s been a lot of talk within the disability movement about language, such as “people first” language, the word “disability.” Even though the word “handicapped”has been dropped, it’s still a struggle to use the word, “disability”.

Broussard: I don’t know if it’s offensive to people, necessarily, but you know, we’re all-what is the common expression? We’re all “temporarily able-bodied.” What I think “Bob’s House” did is give the outside world a glimpse, not just into deaf culture, but a glimpse into PepsiCo culture. Senior leadership’s advocacy of the concept of “Bob’s House” and their willingness to get behind it all the way to Super Bowl, I don’t think could happen in just any organization. I think PepsiCo is leading the way in the 21st century for how other organizations will become over time.

Cooper: Would you say your chapter is more active than other chapters?

Broussard: I wouldn’t say that. Everybody brings something different to the table.

Cooper: Do you have meetings where all of the EnAble chapters come together?

Broussard: We have some national meetings where representatives from each chapter assemble.

Cooper: In person?

Broussard: I believe so, yes. I’ve not attended one yet. There are other employee networks, such as the Women’s Initiative Network (WIN), the Black Professionals Association (BPA), and a Latino-based organization called Adelante.

Cooper: Of course EnAble cuts across all those groups.

Broussard: We believe that EnAble is the most diverse of any network, because the issues that we’re dealing with are so varied.

Cooper: It’s not gender-specific, it’s not race-specific, it’s across the board.

Broussard: Yes. And it’s not dealing just with individuals who represent that community, but caregivers who support those individuals in that community. The New York chapter is doing a lot around autism. I know one of the gentlemen involved with it there, and he shared some incredible statistics-that one in 10 boys is somewhere on the autism spectrum, and in the New York area it’s even higher than that.

So it’s about creating awareness around this topic.

One person who is very active in that group is a parent of children with autism.

What ends up happening is that other parents who are employed with PepsiCo, who are also parents of children with autism, come together in a support group and say, “Here’s how you handle and resolve this.” It also fosters awareness and understanding in the rest of us about what our fellow employees are dealing with.

So there’s an expression that we’ve got in PepsiCo about, “Bring your whole self to work.” People who are caregivers either of an aging parent or of children with special needs have got some challenges that we can accommodate when we’re aware of what they need. Like our CEO said, “We do better by doing better.” www.nad.org www.pepsico.com ABILITY 21

2. The employer will have a start and an ending date during which they will accept referrals.

3. The employer will interview a number of candidates for the job and select from that pool.

4. The employer will generally not see candidates after the interviewing window has closed.

5. After the order is closed, the job will be removed from the bank.

Unfortunately, this system does not serve candidates who have serious or multiple employment barriers, such as disabilities. These candidates often find themselves not only competing with other candidates for the job, but also competing for referrals.

If the interview process at this stage were simply a measurement of skills and abilities, then persons with disabilities would do as well as candidates who do not have disabilities. But experience shows that this is not the case. Hiring is a process of first impressions, and for many employers the first impression of someone with a disability is one filled with questions and concerns.

W

hen I first entered the field of training and placement, I believed that the most-qualified applicant would be hired. I had been taught that the optimum way to help persons with disabilities seek employment was to match their qualifications with the large data base of available job openings. On paper it made sense, in reality it didn’t work.

The bigger problem is that the vast majority of persons with disabilities who are looking for work, depend almost exclusively on this imperfect system. Fortunately, there are alternative job-search methods that can be used by persons with disabilities, as well as by the training and placement professionals who work with them.

A TYPICAL DAY AT THE OLD JOB BANK Whether it is an employment agency that opens its doors in the morning, an internet service that posts to the World Wide Web, help wanted ads in the newspaper, or three-by-five index cards posted in a school’s placement office, the principle is the same: A company seeking to hire someone agrees to allow a “job bank” to refer candidates. This is the most common way that people look for jobs.

While these can be addressed and resolved over time, the problem with a competitive formal interview process is that there isn’t much time. Decisions are made on the fly, and deciding not to hire a candidate is often made within minutes of the first meeting. The first wave of candidates finds themselves in a screening process, not a selection process. Those who are hired are usually chosen during a second or third interview.

Persons with disabilities are too often screened out in the first phase.

The good news is that persons with disabilities have a resource that they may not have tapped: An alternative hiring system that is being used every day by successful applicants.

THE MODEL If you’re a person with a disability, the best way to look for work is to understand how employers recruit, as well as how they make hiring decisions.

Long before employment agencies or websites know about an opening, an employer knows about it.

When an opening appears, here is what we generally know:

1. The easy way to fill the position is for the supervisor or manager to hire someone that he or she already knows.

2. The second approach is to ask other employees if they know someone whom they could refer or recommend. For many companies, this is the number one way to recruit new hires.

3. The third angle is to review persons who have already been interviewed by human resources or personnel.

1. The applicant must meet a minimum set of criteria and qualifications to be referred.

Consider that at this point, having moved through the first three ways that employers go about filling a position, a lot ABILITY 59

windmills 0403

4/5/07

12:39 AM

Page 60

S

ince the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, many employers have struggled with what is sometimes a difficult balancing act: incorporating people with disabilities into their staff while managing very real stigmas, myths and stereotypes.

With more than 50 million Americans having some type of disability, this community represents a very talented pool of potential employees. Yet no matter how well intentioned an employer may be, if he or she doesn’t address intrinsic beliefs, qualified employees may be inadvertently overlooked.

one of the most sought-after trainers, and believes the program “serves as a powerful tool delivering fresh insights,” which allow those without a disability to see the world from the perspective of those who have one.

So how can this be changed? How does a human resources manager overcome her perceptions? How does a department director encourage his employees to look past a co-worker’s disability and regard her as a typical employee?

Cathy Cole, an employee with Portland General Electric became familiar with Windmills during an event partially sponsored by her employer. She points out that the program has been successful for many reasons, including the fact that it can be easily implemented in pieces. “Everyone enjoys the experience and the implementation of the module is quite simple,” notes Cole.

Another popular component to the training is that the concepts are not limited to disabilities and are written in such a way that other areas of diversity can be addressed as well.

These are the kinds of questions the California Governor’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities explored as they sought to help companies by creating Windmills. An upbeat training program now used by more than half of the Fortune 500 companies, Windmills is aimed at raising awareness of the limitations often imposed on people with disabilities due to a lack of knowledge or low expectations.

Through exercises led by a professional trainer who has a disability and is well-schooled in the program’s concepts, participants are able to identify emotions, stereotypes and attitudinal barriers which may cause them to be less effective managers. Through group discussions, the participants examine unfair attitudes and learn methods and techniques that assist them in becoming more effective.

Finally, employers are seeing what a person with a disability can do, instead of perceiving what he or she can’t.

A leading force behind this program, which has revolutionized both individuals and workplaces, is trainer Alex Valdez. He’s built a reputation as the first comedian with a disability to break into the national stand-up arena, and has been a Windmills trainer for 15 years.

More passionate about his now than ever. He remains 60

ABILITY

The Windmills curriculum is comprised of 11 training modules, with each taking about one hour to complete.

Because the program is easily modified to focus on one particular module or a combination of many, it can be tailored to meet the needs of the smallest or largest companies.

Joyce Phelps of the Oregon Department of Human Services recently employed the program’s training sessions in a project advocating for people with disabilities and found: “Windmills spurs participants to recognize their own perceptions of people with disabilities, the origin of those feelings and how they affect their own behavior in the workplace,” says Phelps. “It really prompts participants to self-evaluate.”

Many would argue that Windmills is the most powerfully effective tools in leveling the employment playing field for people with disabilities, and Valdez would agree: That’s no joke.

by Lynda Jean Groh and Marc Goldman Damon Brooks Associates is the exclusive representative of Windmills Disability Awareness Training seller of the Windmills program, as well as the Disability and Return to Work program, the Disability for Students program and the Diversity and Aging/Mentoring program. For more information call (805) 604-9017 www.DamonBrooks.com

windmills 0403

4/5/07

12:39 AM

Page 61

These are the 11 Windmill modules used for training.

EMPATHY - Establishes group and individual identity.

Provides an opportunity for participants to better understand their own feelings and the feelings that an employee with a disability may experience in a firstencounter situation.

THE STORY - A warm-up experience that allows participants to share experiences they have had with disabilities or with persons of diverse backgrounds.

RUMOR GAME - Rumors can be fixtures in the work place. This exercise demonstrates how and why rumors quickly become distorted, and how they can have a negative impact on the job environment.

PROFILE - This role-model exercise demonstrates how stereotypes can predetermine ability, placement and advancement. This may be attributed to an employer's lack of experience or limited exposure to the wide range of disabilities. Job matches on a case-by-case basis are explored.

DISABILITY: FACT OR FICTION - After completing a short questionnaire, this module teaches participants to anticipate situations that might occur in a workplace employing people with disabilities. It will also present an awareness of etiquette, language and basic employment law.

PICK A DISABILITY - Allows individual fears and stereotypes about disabilities to surface. It brings out participants' fears about disability and demonstrates how easily emotional reactions to diversity can be transferred.

ASK IT BASKET - Provides a safe environment for participants to ask questions about disabilities by giving them the opportunity to do so anonymously. The answers come from the group.

ENCOUNTER - Includes a discussion with a panel of individuals with disabilities in a noncompetitive, relaxed and information-sharing atmosphere.

WHOSE FAULT - Demonstrates how prejudices and negative experiences cause us to limit the employment of persons with disabilities. This module looks at how the experience of one disability affects the awareness of others.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION - Looks at potential needs of workers with disabilities and possible solutions. Includes a review of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) questions/answer sheet on the more frequently asked questions about ADA requirements

ABILITY 61

Walgreens 0930

10/3/07

12:01 PM

Page 38

W

hen you stop by Walgreens to pick up a prescription or a few toiletry items, you don’t see what’s going on beyond the shelves, beyond the brick and mortar. What you don’t see is that the corporation has been busy at work creating distribution centers that employ impressive numbers of people with disabilities. Chet Cooper, ABILITY Magazine’s editor-in-chief, recently spoke with Walgreen’s Randy Lewis, the senior vice president of distribution and logistics, who detailed how his company is tapping into a new talent pool.

CC: Whose idea was it to expand your outreach?

RL: My son, Austin, has autism. He’s 19. He’s been in the school system since he was three. So he’s gone to two different schools a year for the last 16 years, which means 32 different Individual Education Plans (IEP) that have been developed for him. Every IEP is the same. You get there. You wait. You go in. You laugh. You cry.

You come out. There’s another set of parents waiting.

I’ve been in his classes and I’ve seen all these kids with all kinds of disabilities, whether it be Cerebral Palsy or mental retardation or autism—mostly cognitive disabilities—and I’ve noticed when these kids get out of school, they have to compete with a group that’s much better prepared than they are. I’ve come to the conclusion that the disabled die a death of a thousand cuts. They probably don’t drive.

38

ABILITY

Walgreens 0930

10/3/07

12:02 PM

Page 39

Walgreen’s Anderson Distribution Center

ABILITY 39

Walgreens 0930

10/1/07

12:39 AM

Page 40

Transportation is limited. They probably have difficulty with the application forms. They don’t learn the way we’re used to teaching or on the timetable we tend to use. They may look different. On and on and on.

So when we started building new distribution centers with a lot of automation, we thought: Can’t we just take a different approach and maybe make this easier for people to do this job? Then we thought, Well, let’s get rid of the keyboards. What made the job difficult were the keyboards and words. So we said, ‘Let’s go ahead and make our systems with pictures and let’s use touch screens instead of keyboards.’

CC: So you already knew some of the technology was available because of your son?

RL: I knew some of the technology because I knew some of the struggles Austin had, and I happen to know the technology because that’s our business. From building distribution centers with automation, we’ve known about touch screens for a long time. I’ve learned about the icons through working with my son. Also in retail, you go into any quick service chain today, and they’ve started using icons. Plus with all the struggles with different languages, people think in pictures, not words.

So we got down the road and we said, ‘How many people, let’s say, with autism could we hire?’ We said we were going to hire 600 people, and we just talked to somebody and said, ‘Well, gee whiz, nobody’s ever done that before.’ Without job coaches, ongoing support and peer support, how many typically-abled people would we need on the line working, side by side, for each person with autism? And the guess was two. So we said we we’re going to hire 600. So 2-to-1 means we can hire 200 people with a cognitive disability, and that was our objective from day one.

Then we started working towards that end and went to our partners. When we picked a prospective city for our operations, we went and talked to the different partner agencies and said, ‘This is our objective. We’re going to hire 200 people with disabilities—and not just the easy disabilities, but people who might not have ever worked or who have had long-term struggles.’ And they believed in it. We said we were going to make it happen, and lo and behold, we did.

CC: How did you find that many candidates for work within a geographic area?

RL: Well, first of all, we knew we were going to hire 600 from day one. We’ve got about 300 now, and about 40 percent of those have a disability. We’ve got autism, retardation, cerebral palsy and lots of physical disabilities. We started working with agencies such as Vocational Rehab and the Department of Special Needs in South Carolina. They put in a training center, found a building and staffed it, and then we put in equipment on 40

ABILITY

which employees could train. As people started hearing about us, they just started showing up. We found one woman who had heard about the opportunity in San Diego, and moved across the country with her daughter.

They both now work in that distribution center. The only reason I know of her is because we sent a film crew down there to talk to team members, and the filmmaker happened to come across them in the interview.

In some ways it’s like that line from Field of Dreams: Build it and they will come.

CC: Typically, you’re going to be hiring workers within a certain radius so the commute is not too brutal.

RL: We started working on the transportation issue real early. We went in saying, ‘OK, when we’re done, we want to have an example to show other businesses that this is a sustainable model. This is not charity.’ So we purposely did not do things that would make the project seem like charity. For instance, we did not put in our own transportation system. We said that’s what the community is supposed to do, so we worked with the community and they came up with a busing system to help our team members get to work.

CC: There are companies, though, that run car pools, where they own their own vans and transport workers to and from work.

RL: We might do car pooling with our employees, but traditionally we have not gone out and picked up employees. I don’t think we would do car pooling in this case, unless we could make the right business case for it. So far, it’s a bridge we have not crossed.

CC: I think the business case is that people come to work less tired.

RL: If I extended it to that community, I’d probably extend it to everybody.

CC: Oh, absolutely. You’re 100 percent right. I’m just saying—because I know of a company that recently looked into it… They decided to invest in vans and offer it to all employees. What they also considered was making some, if not all, of the vans accessible for individuals who might need a lift, so to speak. They actually came to us and asked, ‘Is there a place we could get a deal on a fleet of vans?’ But they were all over the place. They hadn’t done their homework.

In terms of the business model, have you been able to figure out whether there is a savings via your automated distribution systems compared to the conventional approach?

RL: The building is 20 percent more efficient than any other building we have. We built it that way without regard to the work force we’d be using.

Walgreens 0930

10/1/07

9:23 AM

Page 41

CC: So you have energy efficiency as well?

RL: The greater efficiency actually comes from the level of automation we have. The deal about using people with disabilities is they can do that job as well as a person with typical abilities. The side benefit is that I think it’s a better environment because everybody treats each other a lot better. There’s more teamwork. There’s an awareness of purpose. You can’t tell who has a disability and who does not. Maybe if you spend some time talking to somebody, you would, or maybe if you watch the way they walk for a while.

Everybody is different. But you really can’t tell. It’s completely integrated.

The word we use is ‘inclusive,’ not ‘diversity.’ Everybody talks about diversity, but in that building everybody focuses on what they can do, not what they can’t do. And there are more things in common than differences. That’s where the focus is: on the common humanity. And I think it brings out the best in the typically-abled. If you talked to the typically-abled there, they will say that they’ve learned patience that extends into their home lives. They’ve gotten a new view of the workplace and how things should be. It is transforming to go there and talk to people, and people with disabilities are coming out of their shell, so to speak.

I get a weekly ‘Success Stories’ note, which is my favorite thing to read. This week it talked about how people didn’t realize that the disabled have a different Friday night than the typically abled. Our group of managers usually go out for wings together on Friday nights.

Angela Campbell, career-outreach coordinator,

and Paul Pressley, a team member

One night they said, ‘Why don’t we bring along some of the folks with disabilities who couldn’t get here by themselves?’ Now the bus that takes those folks to their home sometimes drops them off at the wings place, because now they’re part of the social fabric of the building. I’ve seen people who wouldn’t look you in the eye or speak to you, now look you in the eye and speak and smile first. I also hear the typically abled saying this is the best place they’ve ever worked.

Let me read you a little bit directly from our newsletter: “I’ve been seeing many of our former transitional, work-group team members at Wild Wings just having a blast, with some that I would never have anticipated blossoming into social butterflies. Upon recognizing this new-found social network, it prompted me to ask questions. It seems that the always prevalent work bond that most of us have experienced with those with whom we share our professional lives, has not been overlooked … as it relates to our Anderson’s Outreach initiative.

Our outreach team members have gained this aura of confidence, which we have seen grow as time passes, and this confidence has extended across all aspects of their lives.”

I get stories like that every week. And it’s gets to be overwhelming. It’s wonderful to see them.

ABILITY 41

Walgreens 0930

10/1/07

12:40 AM

Page 42

CC: Isn’t it, on the one hand, a little frustrating to think that in all these years no one’s made this happen before, that it took this long? Right now you’re still unique. This should be multiplied around the country, around the world?

RL: That’s what we hope.

CC: Any other thoughts that you would want to add?

RL: Whatever we’ve learned, we’ll be glad to pass on.

We stand on the shoulders of the people who came before us, and we’re ready to have people stand on ours.

While we haven’t figured everything out, it’s the best thing we’ve ever done. I mean, that’s the bottom line.

J. Randolph Lewis Senior Vice President

CC: Have you looked into creating a take-it-on-theroad, if you will, presentation of this, that you’d can share at different employment conferences?

RL: If there were businesses where people wanted us to speak, we’d go there and speak. We will go talk to groups. We have a website that we’re going to expand to show more of the lessons learned as we built and did the initial hiring at Anderson. It’s called Walgreens’ Outreach. We’re expanding it into Connecticut. After seeing the Anderson model, we have committed to hiring 1,000 people with disabilities by the year 2010. We wanted a clear and elevating goal, so that is it. Whatever we can do, we’ll do to help people. It’s something we enjoy.

CC: How many stores do you have now?

RL: Six thousand and some.

Brett Woods, job coach, with Nicole Mercer, one of the team members

CC: And the distribution centers are expanding to support the expansion of the stores?

RL: That’s correct. We’ll be opening the distribution center in Connecticut in 2009, then we’ll build another one. This is the way we’re gonna build our distribution centers from now on.

CC: Are you building ‘green’ as well?

RL: Sure. We try to use solar where we can. All the landscaping is natural, low-maintenance landscaping. We still consume a lot of power because of the automation.

CC: Do you ever think about asking your vendors to green up?

RL: We care about it. But I’m more focused on how diverse they are, than how green they are.

CC: So you’re asking them about their diversity?

Angela Campbell, career-outreach coordinator, and Charles Shealey, a team member

RL: Sure! There’s 100 things we ask them to do, but probably number one right now with our suppliers is diversity. www.walgreensoutreach.com

42

ABILITY

ABILITY 3