How To Welcome Employees With Disabilities
Guest Post by Elijah Dawson
As a business owner, you want to hire the very best talent, and you recognize that sometimes people with disabilities can make important contributions to your company. Therefore, you should provide a welcoming environment for them so that they know how valuable they are to you. Read on for some ideas about how to do this, presented below by To the Rescue.
Some Housekeeping
Before you recruit any new employees, set aside a little time to take care of some housekeeping issues at your Cedar Rapids business. Make sure your business plan, including your budget, is up to date and that you can afford new employees. Also, reexamine your registration with the state and your tax compliance. You should have a current EIN when you’re hiring and maintaining employees so that the IRS can use it for payroll taxes and you can offer retirement plans.
The Basics of Recruitment
When you’ve done your housekeeping and double-checking, turn your attention to the basics of recruiting new employees, especially those with disabilities. When you run help-wanted advertisements, for instance, make an effort to assure applicants that you’ll certainly consider people with disabilities and that you value their talents. You may reach out to potential employees through organizations that support people with disabilities as well and run special advertisements.
An Inclusive Environment
As you interview and hire people with disabilities, make sure that your business provides an inclusive environment for them. This might include reasonable accommodations in the workplace or online, but it should definitely focus on the attitudes you and your other employees present. You might hold a seminar on inclusivity, for instance, and you should prepare a recruitment document for applicants that outlines your efforts toward an inclusive environment. A PDF format is usually the most flexible for a document like this, and you can use a convenient PDF editor right online to make changes to your document before you download and share it.
Reasonable Accommodations
Employees with disabilities will appreciate your efforts to provide reasonable accommodations. Think about the layout of your office, for one thing. Make sure walkways are wide and easy to navigate. Check the accessibility of restrooms and other common areas, and provide furnishings that people with disabilities find comfortable and functional. You might also invest in some software that can assist employees with disabilities as they use your computer network and your website. While you may have to work some of this into your budget, it’ll be worth every bit to keep your valuable employees happy in their jobs.
Opportunities for Growth
Finally, consider offering all your employees, including those with disabilities, opportunities for growth in their skills and careers. This may include providing funding for continuing education that allows your employees to take advantage of the many online degree programs available these days. They might choose to pursue a master’s degree, a certificate, or specialized training. Remind your employees to look for accredited programs with competitive tuition.
A Welcoming Company
Your business should be a welcoming company for employees with disabilities. By following some of these tips, you can create exactly that. Visit the To the Rescue website for further services your employees with disabilities may want to look into.