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Improving employment opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities can significantly improve the economy, community, and individuals’ lives. But did you know that businesses enjoy certain social benefits when they hire a person with a disability?
Not only do employers receive financial benefits and assistance for hiring people with a disability, but they also enjoy harder-to-quantify perks. In this article, we’ll look at ten such benefits. Could any of them improve your business?
1. A Culture of Problem-Solving
People with disabilities can bring uncommon tenacity to their jobs. They’ve been solving problems their whole lives, and they can bring that problem-solving mindset to work. Because people with disabilities often have to find different ways to get things done, they may approach their work with a new vision, which can be contagious.
2. Better Collaboration
When team members from diverse backgrounds work together, they often develop creative solutions to problems because they have a richer understanding of your customer base. Hiring an employee with a disability can bring an essential point of view to your discussions.
3. A Welcoming Environment
Employees with disabilities bring additional insights into your customers who find themselves in similar circumstances. And since 18 per cent of Australians live with a disability, these insights are invaluable.
Customers with disabilities (along with their families, friends and associates) represent a huge market segment. Like every other consumer group, they purchase products and services from businesses that best meet their needs.
4. Improved Reliability
Social pressures in the workplace can improve employee performance and engagement, and people with disability tend to take off fewer days and remain in positions longer than other workers, according to the Government of Western Australia’s Disability Services. These traits may rub off onto your other workers, improving attendance and tenure.
5. Strong Connections with Customers
Most companies work hard to improve the loyalty of their customers, and it’s no easy task. With so much competition in most industries, you have to find some way to stand out. The people you hire can give you an edge.
People with disability often create strong connections with customers, which can encourage clients to return to your business again and again. 
6. Less Turnover
A business with high employee turnover struggles to create a cohesive team. With people coming and going all the time, it’s challenging to develop a strong social culture.
Since employees with a disability typically stay in their positions for longer than average, they become a steady social influence in your business.
7. Improved Branding
A diverse workforce improves your company’s brand. Hiring people with disability shows your commitment to the talents and contributions of all kinds of people in our society. Seeing people of different abilities working together to accomplish a goal is inspiring.
8. A Morale Boost
A survey conducted in conjunction with the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) and Deloitte found that diverse workplaces lead to happier workers.
Deloitte spokesperson Alec Bashinsky said, “By being more inclusive and supporting workplace diversity, you can create an environment where innovation and a different way of thinking are brought to the table by employees with culturally diverse backgrounds.”
9. A Tilt Toward Innovation
Another social benefit of employing a person with a disability is a change in the company’s culture toward more innovation.
Many people with disabilities rely on technological innovations in their everyday lives, from closed captioning and voice activation to spell check and robotics. Because of their familiarity with technology, they may bring a unique perspective and encourage coworkers and supervisors to approach their work and customers in new and innovative ways.
10. A Well-Rounded Team
Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino said, “That our decisions get sidetracked by biases is now well established. While it is hard to change how our brains are wired, it’s possible to change the context of decisions by architecting the composition of decision-making teams for more diverse perspectives.”
Bringing on a person with a disability can provide a different perspective and a slew of social benefits.
Where to Begin
If you haven’t hired a person with a disability before, you might wonder where to start. Here at Asuria, we can guide you through the process, from writing your job listing and navigating the interview process to training and fitting a workstation that meets your new employee’s needs.
Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can help you enjoy these benefits. Talk soon!
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