• Consumers Support Companies That Hire Employees with Disabilities
• Governor Kulongoski's Message to Business: Workers with disabilities are part of the solution to skill shortage
• Journey to Success: The Three Rivers Community Hospital Experience
• Additional Resources

The Center for Social Development & Education has released results from its study: “A national survey of consumer attitudes toward companies that hire people with disabilities”. According to the study, 92 percent of customers surveyed felt more favorable toward companies that hire individuals with disabilities and 87 percent said they would prefer to give their business to such companies.

According to a current article in AOI's Business Viewpoint, Oregon currently has the 6th fastest growing economy in the country. This is generally good news, but with many workers reaching retirement age soon and a smaller available labor pool, it is a harbinger of the challenging times ahead.

In the article Susan Reece, Vice President Strategic Development at Leupold & Stevens, Inc., highlights the urgency of the situation by profiling just one segment of the manufacturing sector, "Economic development indicates that the Portland area metals industry will have at least 16,000 new and replacement family wage jobs over the next decade, and this assumes that manufacturing companies won't grow much," says Reece. "We need people with the skills to fill these jobs, and we need them today."

Governor Ted Kulongoski explains that Oregon’s economic boom can only be sustained by workplaces that include and accommodate the talents of all Oregonians – including people with disabilities: "Oregon's new employment numbers tell the story that Oregon is on the right track," says the Governor. "We have fueled the creation of more than 81,000 jobs over the last three years, and we are building a strong new foundation for Oregon's future. But Oregon also has a changing demographic of an aging population, which does demand us to respond with more flexible solutions to ensure we have the skilled workforce to replace those retiring over the next 20 years. We must ensure that every Oregonian, even those with limited literacy or language, has an opportunity to contribute to our economic success. We must develop more flexible work environments so people with disabilities can participate, and we must offer opportunities for all of our citizens to attain the skills they need-and that our businesses need-to be successful"

(Above content reprinted with permission from the article “As Oregon’s Economy Booms, Workforce Shortage Looms” by Kirk Richardson published in Associated Oregon Industries’ Business Viewpoint, Jan/Feb 2006.)

Christina Leippe works in the Imaging Department of Three Rivers Community Hospital (TRCH) in Grants Pass, Oregon. Very little distinguishes Christina from the other busy employees in this workplace – except for the special headsets that she uses when answering the phones. Almost deaf without the aid of assistive hearing devices, Christina is a disabled veteran. Since landing a job here two years ago, she has excelled as an employee. Her employment journey, however, hasn’t been an easy one. Christina readily gives credit to several people who were instrumental in giving her the chance to demonstrate her talents in the workplace.
 

Her job hunt began about three years ago - shortly after she graduated from Rogue Community College with an associate degree in Applied Science and Business Technology. Christina was supported in her job search by Russ McBride, a Disabled Veterans’ Representative. As Russ told us, Christina has some excellent credentials, “Christina was an excellent student. She had a 4.0 average at the college. After she was out of school, for a year or so, we worked hard at finding her a job.” It was a frustrating time for Christina. Although everyone had told her that she would have no problem getting work, she was consistently turned down for every job she applied for.

Fortunately, that all changed for the better when Russ called Sharon Rogers at TRCH. It wasn’t a cold call. As a Veterans Representative, Russ had already built a working relationship with Sharon. “She would take a look at other veterans that I sent to her and give them feedback on their resumes and applications. Whenever she had an opening and we had a good candidate, she would consider them, for sure.”
 

Sharon is a Recruitment Specialist for the Asante Health System’s Three Rivers Community Hospital. She told us a little bit more about her working relationship with Russ, “Before recommending Christina to me Russ McBride had previously contacted me about several candidates. He is so enthusiastic about his candidates! He believes in his job and he believes about what he is doing. I give him all the credit for this. If it hadn’t been for him developing a working relationship with me and opening my eyes to the talents of disabled veterans, none of this would have happened.”

When he called, Russ asked Sharon if she would meet with Christina for an informational interview. “One day he called and told me that he had a wonderful person that would be an asset to any employer. He asked if I’d be willing to interview her. Knowing Russ and how he feels about his candidates, of course I said yes – knowing that would be the smart thing to do. Christina turned out to be everything that he said she was.”

Christina was very open about her disability with Sharon. In discussing different positions at the hospital she was expressed caution about positions that required direct interaction with the public or extensive use of phones.

An experienced recruiter, Sharon recognizes a good employee when she meets one – and she didn’t want to let this one get away. Sharon told us that she immediately contacted several departments that might have had openings. As it turned out the Imaging Department was the one that jumped on the opportunity. “We didn’t have a position open in the area that she ended up being hired into; but I contacted the Director of the Imaging Department and it just so happened that they had need of someone to work some extra hours. I asked if they would interview Christina. They said ‘Yes’ and the rest is history.”
 

Wendy Ellis is the Imaging Office Supervisor at TRCH. It is a constantly busy unit, with 10 secretaries filing and scheduling procedures. “We weren’t hiring at the time, but Sharon Rogers came down and said ‘I have an amazing person to tell you about. She sounds like a very hard worker and she’s very knowledgeable.” It was interesting to learn that, just as Sharon’s confidence in Russ opened one door for Christina, Wendy’s confidence in Sharon opened another one: “When Sharon actually comes down to your office and tells you ‘This is a good employee.’, you sit up and listen!”

Wendy told us that once they interviewed Christina for the Imaging Office, and checked her references, they were also extremely impressed. They offered her a position almost immediately. “We started her in the File Room and right away we liked her. She was a very dedicated, hard worker.” The folks in the Imaging Office saw a lot of potential in Christina. Wendy told us, “Once you discover a great employee, you use them in the best possible position. She was such a good worker that Christina, my manager and I started looking into devices that we could invest in to make her work experience here broaden.”

To advance within the department, Wendy told us, Christina would have to be able to use the telephone. “At first we started talking to our telecommunications people and we were thinking we were going to have to install a whole new phone system – which would have been extremely expensive. However, Christina found amplifying equipment that could easily attach to our phones so she could start answering same phones that we do. We had this equipment attached to every phone that she might use. It was only a few hundred dollars. We were surprised at how cheap it was and how easy it was to attach! “With this in place, we were able to switch her from the Filing Room to the Scheduling Office. Now she is actually scheduling procedures here, using her headsets.”

We asked Wendy if Three Rivers Community Hospital had put any other accommodations in place for Christina. “There are occasional times on the phone when, if the caller has a strong accent or speaks in too soft a voice, that Christina will politely put them on hold and asks one of us to pick up on the call – while she answers another line. She is such a good worker that I don’t even think of her as having a disability.” We also asked Wendy if she had to adjust her supervisory style in any way to accommodate Christiana. “It is just so natural now for me to speak a little louder, or make sure that she is looking at me… I don’t even think about it any more.”
 

Christina, herself, can’t say enough good things about her experience at TRCH. She loves her job and she loves being a valued part of the team in the Imaging Office. We asked Christina what it was like, as a person with a disability, to come into a new workplace… “Different individuals sometimes don’t know how to handle working with someone who is hearing impaired. When I first came, some of the other employees seemed uncomfortable. It got better when they found out that I could joke around and wasn’t offended. Now it’s a great working environment.”

Christina thinks that it is important for people with disabilities to take responsibility for creating that kind of working environment – and she thinks humor is a key. “When I talk to other people with disabilities, I tell them they have to respect the folks that don’t have disabilities. You have to work together with them. You’ve got to let them know what you can and can’t do. You’ve got to lighten up. I can joke about my disability and sometimes my coworkers do. They don’t just tease me. Everybody in the department jokes around with everyone else.” Does everyone readily accept her disability? Not in Christina’s experience, but she says, “If my disability offends someone, that’s their problem. I’m not going to be limited by that. I’m here to help others and do my job.”

On the subject of her accommodations, Christina told us, “When they were first talking to me about becoming a Scheduler, they were talking about $5000 - $7000 to replace their phone system. I said; ‘No, all I have to get is this little amplifier and this special headset and I’m good to go!'” She told us how important it is for other employers to realize how inexpensive most accommodations really can be – so that people with disabilities don’t lose job opportunities because their accommodations are thought to be too expensive.

When we asked Christina what other companies could do to create the kind of inclusive workplace that she enjoys at TRCH, she said, “Once you learn about each others' limitations, and how to support each other, it’s really easy. It is all about teamwork.”

What about Three Rivers Community Hospital? Do they benefit from having such an inclusive workplace? Wendy Ellis thinks so, “Before coming to us, Christina had applied for work at multiple places. She was very qualified, yet she got turned down from so many places! We were just glad that we were able to get her. She turned out to be such a great employee!”
 

Now available in our store!!

This terrific little book testifies to the phenomenal success of Habitat International, a Tennessee-based carpet manufacturer that proactively seeks out employees with disabilities. Based on experience, they shatter the erroneous myths about employees with disabilities that are commonly-held by employers.

In a time when companies are outsourcing abroad, Habitat International, a Tennessee-based carpet manufacturer, has managed to achieve superior levels of productivity at home, often two to three times greater than its competition. Habitat’s business has grown enormously, with much of its new business coming from work outsourced to them by competitors who could not come close to matching its productivity.

At Habitat three of every four workers have a physical or mental disability. They earn normal wages and are cross-trained on every job. They work harder, with less supervision, lower turnover and an unparalleled level of loyalty.

On March 14, the Job Accommodation Network will host a one-hour audio conference on Disability Etiquette. Participants will learn etiquette strategies for effectively interacting with applicants and employees with all types of disabilities. The strategies are relevant to recruiting, interviewing, and employing persons with disabilities and are appropriate for interacting with people who have sensory, cognitive, psychiatric, and mobility impairments. Registration fee: $25. (Four other teleconferences are also scheduled on related topic areas).