With tax season mercifully behind us, now is the time of year when many of us can finally start doing some mid-year planning. Conference room whiteboards will be chock full of ideas about upgrading technology and adapting to the many new tax rules on the horizon. But what about your hiring practices?
Thanks to globalization, demographic shifts, high turnover and technological changes, the battle for accounting talent is only getting more intense. I can’t tell you how many partners and hiring managers have told me they can’t find the right talent they need at their firms. But then I wonder if they’re looking in the right places.
When I mention looking at accounting professionals who have disabilities, I can tell it usually hasn’t occurred to them as a hiring strategy.
As you may imagine, people with disabilities have long been excluded from or underrepresented in the workforce based on low expectations and preconceived notions about their capabilities.
They shouldn’t be.
When President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, it opened the doors for millions of people with disabilities to be included and employed in the mainstream workforce. But a culture of stigma and misunderstanding persisted for many years thereafter. Only recently has there been a significant increase in providing equal opportunity for people with disabilities in the workforce. The working world is changing for the better as a result — and not just in terms of inclusion.
By the way, hiring talented workers with disabilities is not a “pity” hire. It’s smart business.
Talented candidates with disabilities can have a significant multiplier on a business. Here are 10 key drivers we’ve seen in our work with all types of businesses: