Broaden your diversity plan to encompass people with disabilities. Your firm will reap the benefits.

In the not-so-distant past, Americans with disabilities were relegated to "selling pencils outside the subway station," Jim Hasse notes in Perfectly Able: How to Attract and Hire Talented People with Disabilities (AMACOM, 2010).

Not today. More often than not, a person with a disability has an education and wants what any of us wants from work: to contribute in real ways to important goals.

The 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) helped. But surveys suggest that two decades later, people with disabilities haven't made major employment gains.

The Causes and Problems
Employers help problems linger, Hasse argues. They make incorrect assumptions about what people with disabilities can't do. They're also not familiar with adaptive equipment that levels the playing field. But two trends make it critical for employers to move past these roadblocks:

• The graying of America's baby boomers is likely to cause age-related challenges in the workplace. Cases of impaired vision will increase, for instance.
• Large numbers of servicemen and women--about 180,000 since 2003--are returning from duty with injuries requiring accommodation. Both groups have one thing in common: experience. And they want to put their unique skills and valuable knowledge to work.

One in 10 working-age Americans has a disability. Employers who want to remain competitive ignore this talent pool at their peril.

Changing Perceptions
Do you need help breaching mental barricades about disabilities? Perfectly Able suggests you start by imagining you've just become disabled. That's not far-fetched: Nearly 3,000 potentially disabling accidents occur every hour in America, the National Safety Council says. Could you do your job using a computer reader or other equipment? With the range of assistive devices on the market, it's likely.

Then, consult people who live with disabilities, treating them as unique, adult individuals. Collaborate. Learn what they need to succeed.

Accommodations aren't as expensive as some employers think. Hasse cites studies showing that half of them cost $50 or less and 88 percent cost $1,000 or less. Government and private assistance may be available.

Gain Inclusivity's Benefits
Perfectly Able notes what employers with formal disability hiring plans can expect:

• Creative problem solving. People with disabilities often see the world differently, because they interact with it differently. This can yield fresh perspectives on old problems.
• High emotional intelligence. Navigating a world that often has not considered them, people with disabilities have learned to be patient, persevere, and engage others.
• Decreased turnover. Some studies show people with disabilities stay 50 percent longer in jobs than their nondisabled counterparts.
• Greater productivity. The benefits above help get more work done. Improvements that help a person with a disability sometimes benefit all employees, too.

Remove Hiring Obstacles
To find candidates who possess transferable skills, contact community service providers, disability advocates, or veterans' groups. Start prepping your workforce to welcome differently abled workers. And revise your application process as needed (with bigger type, for instance, for vision-impaired people).

With modest modifications, you may meet your next rising star--and learn something new in the process.

By Stephanie Molnar, a feature writer for Vitality. For more information, visit the American Management Association at www.amanet.org.

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