These giant corporations are tapping into this under-utilized talent pool - with incredible results
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by Ingrid Muschta and Joe Dale
In this third part of a five-part series, experts from the Ontario Disability Employment Network explain why HR should tap this talent pool.
The business imperative is clear. With demographic and population shifts, globalization, advances in technology and communications, diverse perspectives serving a common purpose have huge potential to drive growth for companies and economies.
Innovation and creativity are spurred by different perspectives, and the perspective and talent people who have a disability bring to the workplace has unexpected and measurable economic benefits.
Take the business case of US pharmacy giant Walgreens, the second largest pharmacy chain in the United States. In 2009, Walgreens employed 238,000 people and had fiscal revenues of $63.3 billion USD.
In 2006 with universal design in mind, Walgreens opened the Anderson, South Carolina Distribution Centre to create a workplace where people who have a disability could work alongside employees without disabilities.
This centre has an employee base of just over 600, of which 280 employees have disabilities (40%), and in their first year of operations posted a 20% higher efficiency rating than any other distribution centre. In 2007, due to the Anderson plant’s success, Walgreens opened a new distribution centre in Windsor, Connecticut following a similar model.
The Windsor plant held true to the Anderson experiment and has posted the highest productivity rating of all Walgreen’s DCs every year since opening. Through their inclusive hiring initiatives in South Carolina and Connecticut, Walgreen’s discovered employees who have a disability also have:
The example of Walgreens is not an isolated one. Oxo Good Grips is an example of a consumer products company that has increased its sales and size of its target market by designing inclusively. Based on a few simple consumer questions, “Why do ordinary kitchen tools hurt your hands?” and “Why can’t there be wonderfully comfortable tools that are easy to use?” Oxo launched its first product line in 1990 with 15 Good Grip kitchen tools. Today Oxo offers more than 500 innovative products and experienced greater than 35% annual growth in sales from 1991–2002.
In Canada, companies such as TD Bank, CIBC, and SAP have firsthand experience of the positive benefit of hiring from a diverse talent pool that includes people who have a disability. In January of 2017, CIBC announced its commitment to hiring 500 new team members with disabilities after a successful program of hiring people on the Autism spectrum for their Risk Management and Technology and Operations Departments.
Laura Dottori-Attanasio, Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer said "We recognize that persons with disabilities are a largely untapped resource pool.”
In a survey of 64 major Canadian employers, RBC research found that almost 90% strongly believe diverse and inclusive teams make better decisions; 66% of employers strongly believe, while another 20% agree that leveraging diverse backgrounds and individuals is fundamental to their organizations’ performance. Half of the respondents take diversity seriously enough to use scorecards to track their annual performance.
In general, the benefits of inclusive hiring practices include an increase in productivity and better access to a diverse customer base. As well, when companies do business with ‘disability confidence’ they better anticipate the needs of their employees and customers who have a disability. It’s also true that managers of employees with disabilities acquire better people management skills that benefit all employees.
Ingrid Muschta is a diversity and inclusion specialist at Ontario Disability Employment Network. Joe Dale is the executive director of Ontario Disability Employment Network.
Related stories:
Win the war on talent: Hire people with disabilities
Can people with disabilities solve Ontario's labour shortage?
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In this third part of a five-part series, experts from the Ontario Disability Employment Network explain why HR should tap this talent pool.
The business imperative is clear. With demographic and population shifts, globalization, advances in technology and communications, diverse perspectives serving a common purpose have huge potential to drive growth for companies and economies.
Innovation and creativity are spurred by different perspectives, and the perspective and talent people who have a disability bring to the workplace has unexpected and measurable economic benefits.
Take the business case of US pharmacy giant Walgreens, the second largest pharmacy chain in the United States. In 2009, Walgreens employed 238,000 people and had fiscal revenues of $63.3 billion USD.
In 2006 with universal design in mind, Walgreens opened the Anderson, South Carolina Distribution Centre to create a workplace where people who have a disability could work alongside employees without disabilities.
This centre has an employee base of just over 600, of which 280 employees have disabilities (40%), and in their first year of operations posted a 20% higher efficiency rating than any other distribution centre. In 2007, due to the Anderson plant’s success, Walgreens opened a new distribution centre in Windsor, Connecticut following a similar model.
The Windsor plant held true to the Anderson experiment and has posted the highest productivity rating of all Walgreen’s DCs every year since opening. Through their inclusive hiring initiatives in South Carolina and Connecticut, Walgreen’s discovered employees who have a disability also have:
- 40% lower safety incident rate
- 67% lower medical treatment costs
- 63% lower absenteeism
- 78% lower overall employee costs (not including payroll)
The example of Walgreens is not an isolated one. Oxo Good Grips is an example of a consumer products company that has increased its sales and size of its target market by designing inclusively. Based on a few simple consumer questions, “Why do ordinary kitchen tools hurt your hands?” and “Why can’t there be wonderfully comfortable tools that are easy to use?” Oxo launched its first product line in 1990 with 15 Good Grip kitchen tools. Today Oxo offers more than 500 innovative products and experienced greater than 35% annual growth in sales from 1991–2002.
In Canada, companies such as TD Bank, CIBC, and SAP have firsthand experience of the positive benefit of hiring from a diverse talent pool that includes people who have a disability. In January of 2017, CIBC announced its commitment to hiring 500 new team members with disabilities after a successful program of hiring people on the Autism spectrum for their Risk Management and Technology and Operations Departments.
Laura Dottori-Attanasio, Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer said "We recognize that persons with disabilities are a largely untapped resource pool.”
In a survey of 64 major Canadian employers, RBC research found that almost 90% strongly believe diverse and inclusive teams make better decisions; 66% of employers strongly believe, while another 20% agree that leveraging diverse backgrounds and individuals is fundamental to their organizations’ performance. Half of the respondents take diversity seriously enough to use scorecards to track their annual performance.
In general, the benefits of inclusive hiring practices include an increase in productivity and better access to a diverse customer base. As well, when companies do business with ‘disability confidence’ they better anticipate the needs of their employees and customers who have a disability. It’s also true that managers of employees with disabilities acquire better people management skills that benefit all employees.
Ingrid Muschta is a diversity and inclusion specialist at Ontario Disability Employment Network. Joe Dale is the executive director of Ontario Disability Employment Network.
Related stories:
Win the war on talent: Hire people with disabilities
Can people with disabilities solve Ontario's labour shortage?
Want the latest HR news direct to your inbox? Sign up for HRD Canada's daily newsletter.