How To Attract and Incentivize Skilled Employees With Disabilities

Inclusivity in the workplace is not about ticking boxes, nor is it simply a matter of providing opportunities to those who may have struggled in the past. Inclusivity is a rational course of action that directly benefits your company by turning it into a more welcoming and pleasant place to work. Moreover, it is often the case that the most qualified individual for a new position on your team might be someone with a disability. With these points in mind, it is important to understand how best to attract and incentivize new hires who have disabilities to come work with you. The following guide from the Livingston-Polk County Chamber of Commerce offers some helpful tips.

Offer the Best Benefits in Your Niche

It goes without saying that to bring in the best talent, you need to offer competitive wages and benefits. One survey shows that the most desirable employee benefits are generous health insurance and flexible scheduling. Keep in mind that it may not be enough to merely stay competitive with other businesses in your niche, however;  you should try to exceed employee expectations when it comes to benefits wherever possible.

To best attract candidates with disabilities, you must consider what particular offerings this demographic values. Creating a career development program might go over especially well with individuals who have previously faced difficulties with finding opportunities for professional growth.

Prioritize Accessibility From the Outside In

Accessibility is crucial for a forward-thinking enterprise, and this ideology should extend to your recruitment efforts as well. Start by ensuring that your business website works with assistive devices so that customers and interested applicants can interact with your company without difficulty. You should also double-check that your workplace can provide all reasonable accommodations in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Another way to increase accessibility is by creating remote work opportunities. Providing the option to work from home can make a huge difference for someone with a disability, and can be the deciding factor in your ability to hire the best individual for the job.

Make Your Incentives Known

Implementing the best benefits package in your niche will do you little good if the ideal candidates never find out about it. Your first step should be to create a comprehensive recruitment document that compiles all the relevant information about your company and its incentives into one file. This will typically be a PDF document that you can easily change and update by using a tool to edit a PDF.

When you are done making changes to your document, you simply download it and share it through the appropriate channels to spread the word. You can include your recruitment document in job listings, social media posts, and email recruitment campaigns.

Facilitate an Inclusive Culture Every Day

Being inclusive does not end once you have filled all the open positions at your company. It is a constant endeavor that you must uphold every day, even if it requires some extra effort.

You can promote inclusivity by constantly striving to be the best boss you can be. This means cultivating a healthy relationship with each and every member of your team. If you feel that you struggle to form these kinds of bonds, try taking a leadership course or speaking directly to your employees about what they believe inclusivity in the workplace looks like.

Finding the right employees who can make your company a better place is part of what it means to be a great business leader. Creating attractive opportunities for anyone to join your team is just the beginning of what could become a period of exceptional growth for your enterprise.