AT @ WorkTime is Money:What is Your VALUE to Business? Part 2

National Assistive Technology Technical Assistance PartnershipAugust 24, 2009 Webinar

Presented by,Joan KesterThe George Washington UniversityCenter for Rehabilitation Counseling Research & EducationMid-Atlantic Technical Assistance & Continuing Education Center 1

AT @ Work: What is YOUR Value to Business?

• In today’s climate, it is essential to view employers as customers and to paint a clear picture of what AT professionals offer business partners. Learn about the landscape of employment affecting people with disabilities and how analyze the needs of employers in your area. During the webinar, participants will also have an opportunity to discuss strategies to expand their employer base and define their value to business.

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Interactive Topics of the Day• Part 1:

– Employment: Understanding the Landscape

– Who are Your Primary Customers?

– What Do Employers Need?

– Expanding Your Employer Base

– Adding Value to Business

• Part 2: (Today)

– Building Sustainable Partnerships

– Customizing Your Approach

– Working Smarter…Not Harder 3

Building Sustainable Partnerships

What is the impact of your behavior?

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Building Strong & Sustainable Partnerships with Employers Depends

on…• Trust• Reliability• Deliverability • Responsiveness• Consistency• Quality• Sustainability• Flexibility

32nd IRI, "The VR-Business Network: Charting Your Course“ located at http://www.rcep6.org/IRI/tmpt/publications.htm#32nd

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Building Partnerships with Businesses: Person-to-Person

• TRUST– Respect for each business partnership– Shares information with trusted

colleagues as needed• RESPONSIVENESS

– Timely response to partners, business, and individuals with disabilities

– Respects sense of urgency for requests

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Building Partnerships with Businesses: Person-to-Person

• DELIVERABILITY– Delivers what is promised– Accurately defines services for

customers within capacity to deliver• CONSISTENCY

– Maintains comparable level of deliverability with all customers

– Ensures quality and consistency in services to business

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Building Partnerships with Businesses: Person-to-Person

• QUALITY– Ensures services meet or exceed

expressed needs and standards of customer

• SUSTAINABILITY– Ensures staff are prepared to meet

changing needs of dual customer– Ensures smooth & seamless transition if

contact changes– Ensures the framework to build effective

networks is strong

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Council for Corporate & School Partnerships: Checklist for

PartneringThe following steps provide a road map for

creating, implementing, sustaining and evaluating partnerships between schools, community partners and businesses. The recommendations are designed to help leaders respond to the many opportunities – and challenges – that arise through long-term relationships.

Source: A HOW-TO GUIDE FOR SCHOOL-BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS, Council for Corporate & School Partnerships

(http://www.corpschoolpartners.org/guide.shtml)

Highlights of the Checklist for Partnering

• PRELIMINARY PLANNING – Determine how a partnership could enhance the

student experience.– Identify potential partners.

• LAYING THE FOUNDATION – Develop an understanding of each partner’s

desired level of involvement. – Assess the impact of the partnership on students. – Ensure that students and members of the

community are engaged. – Collaborate with partner to identify partnership

activities. 10

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Highlights of the Checklist for Partnering

• IMPLEMENTATION – Ensure that activities provide an opportunity for

students, teachers, and business employees to interact with each other and the community.

• SUSTAINING THE PARTNERSHIP – Secure explicit support and concurrence for the

partnership at all levels of the school and business.– Communicate regularly about intended and actual

outcomes. – Ensure both partners are publicly and privately

recognized.• EVALUATION

Building Partnerships with Employers

• Share your experiences (positive and challenging) in building sustainable partnerships with employers.

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Customizing Your Approach

Targeting your audience

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Targeting your Audience within Businesses

• Personnel Management• Diversity Staff• Risk Management Department• EEO Initiative• Health & Safety Office• Training & Development Area• Many others…• What audiences have you targeted?

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Be Clear on Your Purpose

• What is that you hope to achieve? What is your motivation?–Short-Term–Long-Term

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Communicating with Employers

• Be clear on your deliverables – Demonstrate the value of your

information• State your interest and purpose up front• Produce and share clear and concise

materials and documents• Offer a menu of options, cover the

basics, and let the employer direct you to his/her needs/interests. Build on the employers’ ideas.

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Communicating with Employers

• Keep your descriptions simple.• Focus on the benefits rather than the

features of your program.• Speak the employer’s language

– No lingo!• Share some AT jargon and translate it

into business language.

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Defining your Service Options• Information sharing

– Written and/or electronic media• Self paced training opportunities

– Web based• Length of training

– Once and done– Realistic length of training module

• Capability of offering professional certification credits

• Other options you have defined?18

Defining your Methods of Delivery

• What is the timeliest means to deliver your message?– In Person Meetings– Webinars– Teleconferencing– Other

• What methods of delivery have you attempted and how has it worked? What is the length of your program? How often, if ever, is it repeated?

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Determining your Modes of Communication

• How do you plan to contact employers with your outreach materials? How might this vary, depending upon your targeted audience?– Telephone– Written Materials– Electronic Communication– Website Advertisements– Other

• What modes of communication have you used and how has it worked for you?

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Designing your Outreach Materials

• What is it that you have to offer employers that they may value?

• Create your outreach materials to reflect these “values”– Be clear and concise– Introduce your organization– Describe your purpose– Define your deliverables

• Describe and share your outreach materials.

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Working Smarter…Not Harder

Collaborating with other organizations with a common purpose

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Vocational Rehabilitation Partners

• Public VR Agency (http://www.rehabnetwork.org/).

• Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Program for Veterans (http://www.vetsuccess.gov/).

What are your successes and challenges in outreaching to employers through VR?

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One Stop System

• State Workforce Investment Boards• Local Workforce Investment Boards

(http://www.dol.gov/)

• What are your successes and challenges in outreaching to employers through one-stops?

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Additional State & Local Government Agencies

• Examples of other agencies with a focus on employment:– Developmental Programs (

http://www.nacdd.org/) – Mental Health (http://www.samhsa.gov/

) – Health and human services (

http://www.hhs.gov/) – Education (http://www.ed.gov) – Economic Development (

http://www.eda.gov/) 25

Additional State & Local Government Agencies

• State Employment Initiatives to increase the number of individuals with disabilities employed

• What are your successes and challenges in outreaching to employers through state & local government agencies?

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State Initiatives to Address Employment Barriers in your State• Do you know if there are initiatives to

promote the employment of people with disabilities in your state?

• (http://www.dol.gov/odep/state/directry.htm)– Federal, State and/or Local

Government Employment– Governor’s Committee– Task Forces

• Are you connected? If you don’t know, how can you find out?

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Professional AssociationsJust to name a few!• National Rehabilitation Association

(http://www.nationalrehab.org/) • American Association of Occupational Therapist

(http://www.aota.org/) • American Physical Therapy Association (http://www.apta.org) • American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

(http://www.asha.org/) • Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society

of America (RESNA) (http://www.resna.org/) • National Career Development Association

(http://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/pt/sp/Home_Page)

• Many others…• What professional associations do you have an

affiliation and how might this help you outreach to employers?

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EXAMPLES OF NATIONAL INITIATIVES

Connecting our efforts

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US Business Leadership Network

• The US Business Leadership Network (USBLN®) is the national business organization currently representing BLN chapters in 32 states and more than 5000 employers using a “business to business” strategy to promote the business imperative of including people with disabilities in the workforce. (www.usbln.org/)

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Employer Assistance & Recruiting Network (EARN)

• The Employer Assistance & Recruiting Network (EARN) is a free service that connects employers looking for quality employees with skilled job candidates. Discover what employers across the nation have learned: hiring people with disabilities is a great business strategy! (http://www.earnworks.com/wrp/)

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Dept. of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy Alliance

• Enables organizations committed to improving disability workplace practices to work with ODEP to develop and implement model policies, initiatives and strategies that increase recruiting, hiring, advancing, and retaining workers with disabilities (e.g. trade and professional associations, businesses, labor unions, educational institutions, Federal, state and local government agencies) (http://www.dol.gov/odep/alliances/index.htm)

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National Organization on Disability: National EmployAbility Partnership

• Army’s Wounded Warriors (AW2) Careers, a collaboration between NEP and the U.S. Army to ensure that the most severely injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are productively engaged in pursuing their careers after they return home from active combat.

• The national replication of NOD’s highly successful Start on Success (SOS) program that helps high school students with disabilities transition into the workforce.

http://www.nod.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID=1556

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National Telecommuting Institute• National Telecommuting Institute (NTI) is

a unique educational/job-matching organization pioneering the development of telework jobs for Americans with disabilities. NTI staff bring together employers who have agreed to "go virtual," advanced communications technology, and vocational rehabilitation agencies to enable individuals with disabilities to train for and work online in environments that are more easily accessible to them.

http://www.nticentral.org/about/n0001.shtm 34

National Initiatives

• What are your successes and challenges in outreaching to employers through these and other national initiatives to educate employers about the benefits of job accommodations and assistive technology?

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Who are your Partners that have a Common Stake?

1. Who are the partners in your community that share this common goal and have a stake?

2. How can you connect or strengthen your connection with these partners to build strong, sustainable business partnerships?

3. Share your successes and challenges.

Recap of the Topics of the Day

• Building Sustainable Partnerships

• Customizing Your Approach

• Working Smarter…Not Harder

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Take Away

What ideas may be helpful to you in your future efforts?

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AT @ WorkJoan Kester, M.A., CRCHuman Resource Development Specialist/Senior

Research AssociateCenter for Rehabilitation Counseling Research &

EducationTechnical Assistance & Continuing Education

Center, Region 3The George Washington University202-489-7112jkester@gwmail.gwu.edu www.gwcrcre.org

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