Hiring someone with a disability isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the lagniappe thing to do. What is lagniappe? Minnesota author and playwright, Kevin Kling tells us it's that extra "something something" found in Cajun cooking that keeps you coming back for more.
When you hire someone with a disability, you lead by example. It shows you trust a new perspective and that you’re confident in yourself, that person and your team.
Kevin remembers talking to an employer who mentioned that when they first interviewed him, he wasn’t what they were looking for, but he’s exactly what they wanted. That employer said, “If you hire by checking off boxes, then you're going to be limited by those boxes.”
Kevin says any good employer should also be a good listener and search for not what you expect to find, but what is actually there in a candidate. If your company isn’t open to new ideas and thinking outside the box, then your company won’t grow beyond what’s already there.
Nearly 11% of Minnesotans report some type of disability. That means for every ten people in your organization, it’s likely one person has a disability.
A few of the many benefits a person with a disability can bring to your organization include:
- High levels of productivity and loyalty, which in turn helps build stronger overall employee engagement
- Significant contributions to innovating your company processes and products through different perspectives and experiences
- New market opportunities because you’re showing people with disabilities—and their families and friends—that you value them
Most workers with disabilities require no special accommodations, and the cost for those who do is much lower than many employers believe. Studies by the Job Accommodation Network show that 59% of accommodations cost absolutely nothing to make, while the rest typically cost around $500.
Find more resources for employers hiring people with disabilities on CareerForceMN.com to help get you started.
You can find more stories from Kevin Kling on his website.
