6 Strong Reasons Why Every Small Business Should Consciously Include Candidates with Disabilities When Looking to Hire
This is the first, of what I hope to be many guest contributors for my blog. I am happy to introduce my friend and business associate Justin Caine, Founder & CEO of Beyond Our Barriers for Michigan (BOB). BOB works to help individuals with disabilities connect with prospective employers and employment opportunities.
Featured Guest Blogger: Justin Caine, Beyond Our Barriers for Michigan
March 5, 2020
Look, I get it. I’m a small business owner. If I need a job done and if you can get the job done, you’re hired. Disabled or not. Most small business owners would agree with me on that.
Here’s the problem. I’m also a person with many disabilities and I’ll tell you why that’s not enough.
Many times, people with a disability, whether it’s with them since birth or they become disabled sometime in life, have been taught to keep their ambitions low, not rock the boat and just be happy to be alive. Our egos have taken blow by blow over the years. That’s why 70% of us are unemployed. Even in this economy.
It’s not that most of us can’t work or don’t want to work. It’s just that the thought of working, being a contributing piece of society and making a living, can seem like a pipe dream due to what we’ve been told and what we've seen in society.
So, what’s in it for the small business? Why would they go out of their way to recruit individuals with disabilities? What’s the ROI?
There are 6 strong reasons why every small business should consciously include candidates with disabilities when looking to hire.
Productivity. It’s been proven, time and time again that individuals with disabilities increase productivity. Why? We don’t get many chances to make a good impression, so when we get them, we need to make the best of them.
Sales. Customers and clients gravitate to businesses that hire people with disabilities.
Culture. Team morale gets a major boost when non-disabled employees get to work alongside disabled ones.
Safety. Hiring people with disabilities has been shown to decrease worksite incidents.
Creativity. The world is far from accessible, so people with disabilities have to constantly come up with out-of-the-box solutions to get things done. Bringing that kind of creativity to a business can be invaluable.
Tax incentives. This is my least favorite reason of the bunch, but it’s still a strong reason to hire people with disabilities. There are tax incentives available for companies who employ individuals with disabilities.
Forget that it’s “the right thing to do”. Forget a tight labor market. People with disabilities are not a charity and the economy will change, but even after you take those things off the table, you still have a lot of very good reasons to hire individuals with disabilities.
Small businesses need to take the steps necessary to reach out and welcome people with disabilities onto their teams. Some large businesses have started to do this, but we, small businesses, we have stayed fairly quiet in this arena. No more. Let’s step up and collectively make a huge difference.
Join me and my companies as we push for a more diverse and inclusive small business community in Michigan. Sign our, “Include One”, initiative. A promise to include at least one person with a disability in your candidate pool for your open positions.
About Our Featured Guest Blogger:
Justin Caine is a business owner, philanthropist, athlete, husband and father. He’s also a person with a disability. At age 10, Justin nearly died from a cancerous brain tumor hemorrhage, and had to relearn how to walk, talk and swallow, among other things. Today, Justin owns Good Fruit Video, an award winning video production company that has done work for hundreds of clients throughout the US and even internationally. Justin also founded the organization Beyond Our Barriers, that uses video, marketing and technology to better connect employers looking to hire with individuals with disabilities who are looking to enter the workforce.
Justin has started several other community programs, including the BOOM (Be Our Own Motivation) Awards, a yearly statewide celebration of an entrepreneur, athlete and employee with disabilities and a scholarship to help individuals with disabilities attend college, the Donna Jean Lowery Memorial Scholarship. He was recently reappointed by the governor to serve on the state’s Committee on the Purchase of Goods and Services from Community Rehabilitation Organizations and is serving on the states Special Education Advisory Committee, the mandated state advisory panel to the State Board of Education and the Michigan Department of Education. In 2015, Justin started competing in Para-Athletics and currently owns the US shot put and discus records. He is also a long jumper and sprinter. Justin is married to his wife, Meaghan and together they have 2 little girls, Felicity (6) and Silas (2).