Rapid Refill Ink - Reaping the Benefits
of A Hiring Decision and A Personal Commitment
In
2003, Brian Wernicke and Daren Patera graduated from
Willamette Law School in Salem. While studying for their
Bar exams, the two friends came across a business
opportunity with
Rapid Refill Ink. They jumped on the opportunity
and, within a month of having taken the Bar exams, they
opened their first store. Four years later, they are now
co-owners of three stores (located in McMinnville,
Corvallis, and Salem) with a fourth scheduled to open in
March, 2007 (Albany).
Their Salem store has eight employees. Two years ago,
they departed from their typical hiring methods –
choosing to make a job offer to a young man with mental
health issues. While they took this step with some
apprehension, they also took it with a strong commitment
to make it work. Despite a rough start, this individual
has developed into one of their best employees and the
experience itself is counted as one of the most
personally rewarding investments that the two have made.
To learn more, the OBLN spoke with co-owner Brian
Wernicke.
OBLN: Brian, many
businesses seem to be especially reluctant to hire
employees with psychological disabilities. We understand
that you and your business partner hired a young man
with mental health issues. We hope that our readers
can learn something from your experience. Can you begin
by telling us how this all began?
Brian
Wernicke: We came into this pretty green. We didn’t
know much about hiring employees with disabilities (or
other attributes that hamper their opportunity to get
into the job market). Two years ago, however, a business
associate, another employer here in town, introduced us
to a job developer through whom he had successfully
hired employees.
The
job developer came in and met with me and my partner
Daren. He gave us the background on a young man named
Pete. (OBLN Note: "Pete" is a
fictitious name that we selected to use.) In addition to information about
Pete’s aptitude,
he gave us a basic heads up on Pete’s emotional and
psychological difficulties. Daren and I decided; “Let’s
take this kid at face value, not past history – and
let’s see what we can do.” We told him that we were
willing to give the kid a shot.
Pete
started working for us two years ago, when he was
19, as a part-time helper doing nominal jobs in our
Salem store. After about six months, we hired
Pete
full-time as our Ink Technician. He works on the
machines that remanufacture and reproduce printer ink
cartridges.
OBLN: How did
Pete’s mental health problems come into play? Did they
affect his work? Did you have to accommodate them in any
way?
Brian Wernicke: First of all, you need to know that
since the day we that Daren and I met
Pete, our goal
wasn’t just to have him as another employee. On a
personal level, it also became our goal to nurture this
young man, to help him learn what life is really about –
something much different than what he had grown up with.
That goal became very contagious and was shared by
everyone who worked in this store – including his direct
supervisor, Byron.
The
fist couple of weeks,
Pete came in with a good attitude
– obviously wanting to break away from his past and
secure this new job. He did a great job. However, from
week two until month six, he really struggled with his
commitment. He was often late to work, called in sick,
and performed poorly on his job. He wasn’t taking care
of himself very well either, in terms of diet and
exercise, etc. We regularly had to send him home –
sometimes for a week at a time. Our message was always
clear; “Re-evaluate your priorities. We are here for
you, but we are not going to pay you to mope around.”
The
biggest obstacle that we had to overcome with
Pete
was
getting him to trust us. Because of his previous life
experiences, he had a very hard time trusting people. At
the start he was very, very quiet. When he started, if
we could get two words out of him in one day, we felt
good. After a while, that began to improve. Daily and
continuously became better. He began to interact with
other employees, began to ask relevant questions about
the job – and questions about life in general.
Particularly, I have to give credit to Byron who really
took time to listen to
Pete. He let
Pete
unleash a lot
of concerns about things that had previously gone on his
life. That seemed to enable him move on from those
things and on to the concerns that we all have - to
work and live and have a decent life.
Gradually, things turned around for
Pete. Sometime
toward the end of that first six months, he realized the
commitment that it takes to hold a job here. He’s had
some slight lapses since then but, in the last eight to
ten months, he has been stellar – absolutely stellar! He
has readily taken more obligations upon himself in order
to make us, our team, better. Over the past six months,
he has already received two pay increases.
OBLN: Now, after
two years in your employ, how does
Pete fit into your
workplace?
Brian Wernicke:
Pete’s relationship with the rest of
our employees is fantastic. His interaction has
increased dramatically since he started. It is something
you would have to see to believe. When I said he used
two words a day at the beginning, I wasn’t exaggerating.
I mean it. Now he interacts smoothly with everyone. Just
like everyone else, he communicates his thoughts, his
actions, and his daily work to everybody. He listens
well too. When someone else expresses a problem or a
concern, if Pete can help, he will.
OBLN: How would
you sum up your experience in hiring and employing
Pete?
Brian Wernicke: There were ups and downs with
Pete,
but the self-satisfaction that I, my business partner
Daren, and our other employees got from the experience
was tremendous. Being able to help shape a young man’s
life, at a point where he needs help, is a tough
experience to beat.
Pete is a great person and a great
employee – now one of our most productive.
I
can’t tell you how proud we are of
Pete. I regularly
tell friends and colleagues about his success and just
how lucky we are to have him as an employee. To watch
him grow and succeed over the past two years has been
just awesome.
OBLN: Brian, what
would you say to other employers who are apprehensive
about hiring someone with a disability or similar
employment barrier?
Brian Wernicke: I absolutely advise other employers
to give it a shot! At the time we hired Pete, we were
young business owners. We were slightly apprehensive.
But we gave it a try and it worked for us 100% - not
only from a business standpoint, but also on a personal
level. It is something that we are really proud of and
something that we will definitely do again.
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