Retail is one of the industries most open to hiring people with disability, now employers have more tools to go from willing to hiring.
There are so many benefits that come from disability employment. New research shows that retail employers understand this. 77 per cent agree that a workplace should reflect the diversity of its community by including people with disability, and 79 per cent of managers in the retail industry are willing to hire.
Creating more diverse teams brings fresh perspectives and often a more innovative approach to problem solving. Businesses that reflect the diversity of the community, generate higher levels of engagement from customers and in some cases this contributes to an improved bottom line.
But with companies citing barriers around the logistics of hiring and a lack of knowledge around where to start, disability employment rates do not reflect that willingness to hire.
That is why JobAccess has released a comprehensive Employer Toolkit as part of the Employ their Ability campaign, designed to convert this willingness into definitive action by building disability confidence and competence within organisations.
The Employer Toolkit is an online resource to guide employers through the entire process
of employing people with disability, using simple, straightforward videos, downloadable resources and highlighting real-life case studies. It takes hirers through every step of the process, providing the support and information you need to get started.
This is a huge opportunity for the retail industry, whose managers can now benefit from putting disability employment into practice, and give the one million Australians with disability looking for work the same opportunity as everyone else – to demonstrate that they are capable, reliable and employable.
The Employer Toolkit covers a range of topics relating to disability employment, including creating inclusive policies, finding and interviewing job seekers with disability, and making adjustments in the workplace.
The resources are specifically designed to be user-friendly, so that time-poor managers have fast access to the practical information that will assist them with navigating disability employment.
With this in mind, the newly launched resource encourages more employers from organisations of all sizes to hire people with disability.
So now it’s up to the managers of the retail industry to take action and lead by example. As an industry known for being open to embracing disability employment, the onus is on us to engage with the Employer Toolkit – working from willing to hiring.
The Employer Toolkit is available online through JobAccess.
Retailers can show their support on social media by sharing the link below, and using #EmployTheirAbility: