Positive Experience Debunks Myths About Hiring Persons With Disabilities
James Hanley has been an employee of Hyatt Regency Vancouver for seven years, and within that time he has been nominated several times as Employee of the Month, as well as one of the company's Top Ten Employees of the Year a few years ago.
As the hotel's mini bar porter, on a typical workday James will visit 130 guestrooms over 34 floors, and he holds a record of visiting 200 rooms in a single day.
As well as replenishing supplies, maintaining stock and attending to guest's needs, James easily maneuvers a fully loaded cart through the maze of elevators, corridors and doorways that comprise the hotel, and he has developed solid miming skills that enable him to communicate with guests who don't speak English. He also holds the highest seniority in his department.
Standing out as such an exceptional employee with many duties and responsibilities, many may be surprised to learn that James has Cerebral Palsy (CP). CP affects individuals in different ways including fine motor control, speech and walking. James describes his CP as "manageable", meaning he has mastered his challenges in the above mentioned categories.
The Hyatt has been successfully employing persons with disabilities for years, and it continues to learn effective management skills that help benefit employees who have a wide range of abilities.
Mark Gruenheid, Client Manager of Greater Vancouver Business Leadership Networks (GVBLN), connected James with the Hyatt in 2001. The GVBLN is an employer-led coalition of business, government and community organizations dedicated to improving employment opportunities that benefit businesses and persons with disabilities. As a program of the BC Centre for Ability, it commits to furthering employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.
Since the successful placement, the Hyatt has become a member of the GVBLN and has hired a number of persons with disabilities. Cathy says they're very lucky to have such positive and hard-working individuals as part of [their] team.
Currently, the Hyatt and the GVBLN are working together. Mark and his colleague, Alan Yien, are conducting a workshop for managers that is designed to break down perceptions of disabilities and open up discussion about what it means to be disabled, as well as to share information about hiring and working with persons with disabilities.
"Many persons with disabilities make qualified and capable employees, however as a group they tend to be overlooked," says Mark. The main reasons centre around fear, misunderstanding and stereotyping.
And the Hyatt has successfully strived to debunk those myths among its workplace.
Cathy says organizations like the GVBLN are important because they can help employees with disabilities integrate and succeed in the workplace. And getting in contact with these organizations is definitely beneficial to employers: This helps employers become aware of these individuals' capabilities and eliminates any fear or apprehensions about hiring and working alongside people with disabilities.
Mark concurs, stating that there is a myth that it costs a lot to incorporate them into the workforce. In almost all cases this is simply not true. It is wrong to classify persons with disabilities as disabilities vary greatly in severity and scope and each individual has a unique experience.
Approximately 638,640 British Columbians have disabilities, and Mark believes in light of the current and projected labour shortfalls, persons with disabilities are an under-utilized resource.
"Far too many working-aged persons with disabilities are unemployed or underemployed," says Mark, who has been in this field for 16 years.
Cathy advises anyone interested in hiring persons with disabilities to simply go for it.
"You just can't help but admire these individuals' determination to succeed and make a difference in the workplace," says Cathy. "The most rewarding is to see how happy and proud they are of their accomplishments."
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