Preface
An Opportunity—Not a Responsibility

IN HIS BOOK THE FUTURE OF SUCCESS, Robert B. Reich (Alfred A. Knopf, 2000) identifies several outgrowths of capitalism’s success. Here is an excerpt from his book that I believe is particularly applicable to hiring managers:

In the new economy, there will be no random acts of kindness to employees, suppliers, or communities separate from their positive impact on the bottom line. If being “socially responsible” helps the bottom line by eliciting goodwill from employees, suppliers, or the public at large, then such actions make sound business sense, and the new competitive logic dictates that executives pursue them.

If, however, being “socially responsible” detracts from the bottom line—handicapping the enterprise by drawing resources away from, or otherwise preventing, production that’s better, faster, and cheaper than its rivals—then it creates the risk that consumers and shareholders will switch to a better deal. By the new logic, executives then pursue such actions at their peril.

In other words, businesses today are not instruments for deliberate social change. They probably never have been and probably never will be. They only reflect what’s happening in society.

So, giving individuals with disabilities an opportunity to work is not your responsibility. You are off the hook. It’s not your fault that the employment rate among people with disabilities has changed very little since the ADA became law in 1990.

And it may be comfortable and easy to follow your colleagues, who, like most of us, are understandably uncomfortable with disability because they may not have yet had firsthand experience with it. That’s not prejudice, which is an unwillingness to change a personal attitude in the face of evidence that a certain belief is false. It’s just lack of information and insight.

However, lack of information and insight usually presents an opportunity for decision makers such as yourself who are continually learning how to excel in their work. As a source for distinctive information and insight about disability within an employment context, Perfectly Able: How to Attract and Hire Talented People with Disabilities gives you an edge over your competitors and colleagues. It’s designed to help you effectively tap the skills and energies of those with a disability who are ready to contribute to your organization’s success.

Perfectly Able shows you how to:

Gain a better awareness of disability

Foster a company culture that is receptive to disability

Make your recruiting efforts disability inclusive

Identify job candidates who will thrive in your corporate culture

Approach people management from a disability perspective

As a business leader, here’s how you’ll benefit, over time, by making the most of your opportunity to attract and hire talented people with disabilities:

You’ll build a stronger workforce by including individuals with a personal sense of dignity and self-worth. That means fewer hassles and better teamwork because you’ll have employees who can stand on their own, even though they may have a disability.

You’ll have an opportunity to choose individuals who have learned how to interact effectively with others who are disabled or not. Those interpersonal skills will prove valuable in any employment situation you might have. Such skills will continually upgrade the teamwork, the morale, and the tone of your particular workforce.

You’ll be able to choose from a range of job applicants who have had experience in effectively facing vulnerability, handling tough situations, and solving problems. That will give your workforce the agility it needs to do well in unexpected situations. This is especially important because businesses will continue to operate in an increasingly ambiguous environment in the twenty-first century.

You’ll have an opportunity to cut your turnover rate, reduce time spent in filling vacant jobs, and spend more of your time managing a more effective staff. As a result, you’ll be more effective in your own job, serve your customers better, and set an example for your colleagues. That will help you build your own career.

Perfectly Able helps you incorporate disability into your company’s diversity program. It’s a guide not only for confidently hiring people who are skilled yet considered “different” due to a disability but also for effectively approaching any hiring or retention situation without regard to disability or any other diversity issue.

It also offers you a new model for your diversity initiative: embracing differences among the individuals within your workforce because those differences add value to what you offer your customers. Such inclusion is simply good business. It enhances your bottom line. And it can help you build your own career.

Here’s an example of the unexpected advantage you tap when you broaden the definitions of diversity and difference to include disabilities. By hiring individuals with a range of disabilities (learning, hearing, sight, and psychological), Phil Kosak at Carolina Fine Snacks, Greensboro, North Carolina, pulled the snack-food company out of disaster during the 1990s, according to Fortune magazine. Employee turnover dropped from 80 percent every six months to less than 5 percent, productivity rose from 70 percent to 95 percent, absenteeism dropped from 20 percent to less than 5 percent, and tardiness dropped from 30 percent of staff to zero (http://www.earnworks.com/BusinessCase/
human_cap_level2.asp).

That success story reminds me of another reason why Perfectly Able is unique and why I believe you’ll find it most helpful as a source, a guide, and a model for attracting and hiring talented people with disabilities. It’s based on the real-world experiences of job seekers and employees themselves.

Compiled specifically for you as a human resources professional or hiring manager, Perfectly Able includes a distillation of more than 100 observations from 70 individuals with disabilities who have participated in online discussions or personal interviews focused on disability employment issues since 1997.

As a result, this book provides you with a real-world glimpse into the contemporary North American scene when it comes to disability employment issues—a glimpse that I believe you’ll find informative and inspirational.

Jim Hasse, ABC, GCDF