Workers with disabilities up to the job

Bob Woods wasn’t familiar with the Bobby Dodd Institute when he became store manager of the Publix on Howell Mill Road in 2007. Nevertheless, he immediately said yes when the organization asked if he would be interested in hiring someone with a disability who was job ready.

Woods had collaborated with the Tommy Nobis Center, an organization similar to BDI, at a previous location.

“My own personal belief is that we’re here to help people,” said Woods. “If the person fits the needs of the operation, there is no reason not to hire someone with a disability. It’s part of our corporate mission as responsible community citizens.”

The Bobby Dodd Institute is a nonprofit vocational training and employment facility that has helped people with disabilities in metro Atlanta for 20 years.

Woods has hired two workers trained by BDI and is preparing to hire a third to do packaging in the bakery.

“It’s a pleasure to have them as employees,” he said. “They are always focused on getting the job done.”

Woods has watched Brian Capps grow in confidence as a front service clerk since hiring him a year ago.

“He’s become more independent and engages customers now,” Woods said. “Allowing workers with disabilities to grow and earn a paycheck is good for Publix and good for them.”

Wayne McMillan, CEO of BDI, promotes the idea that workers can succeed when companies focus on their strengths instead of their disabilities.

“We would never put anyone in a job where his disability would be a detriment to him being successful,” McMillan said. “One of the myths we fight constantly is that people with disabilities can’t do a quality job.”

Bobby Dodd Institute tries to disprove that myth by placing people into jobs and hiring them to work in its businesses, which include janitorial, food service, computer, clerical office positions and others.

“Our workers have run medical center switchboards in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama for years, with the hospitals finding that we can reduce their operating costs and increase their efficiency,” McMillan said .

Last year, BDI served 606 clients. It placed 171 people with disabilities into jobs with an average wage of $8.29 an hour and a retention rate of 86 percent. BDI also employed 108 people in the organization’s own businesses that support its operations. The organization faces challenges in the current job market.

“To be unemployed in today’s economy is terrible,” McMillan said. “To be unemployed and have disabilities is a tragedy, because it is significantly harder for them to find jobs.”

Of the 750,334 Georgians of working age with a disability, 53.6 percent are unemployed.

The economic downturn has meant that many entry-level positions —- the ones that BDI clients often fill —- have disappeared and that competition is fierce for all jobs.

“Statistics show that workers with disabilities have higher retention rates, greater loyalty and reliability and that their work improves a company’s bottom line,” McMillan said. “But we still fight misconceptions that people with disabilities can’t do the job, and that the accommodations necessary to hire them will be too costly.

“In most instances, the accommodations cost less than $500, and many cost less than $100.”

McMillan pointed to the impact paid work has on individuals. “It’s life transforming. When they can earn a salary, they can make decisions for themselves. They gain enormous confidence and self-esteem,” he said. “They go from being tax users to taxpayers.”

One BDI-trained hospital switchboard operator, a triple amputee, recently bought a house.

A 2008 survey by the Office of Disability Employment Policy found that large companies were more likely to hire people with disabilities than small and mid-sized ones.

Lack of diversity and disability-awareness training in smaller companies is a major barrier to employment for people with disabilities —- and small businesses are the backbone of our economy, McMillan said.

BDI seeks to remove that barrier by offering free, self-guided online disability training called Diversity 101 and on-site business workshops.

“When people have had no awareness training, they are uncomfortable working around people with disabilities,” said McMillan. “When they get to know them —- then the disability issues disappear.

“If more people would volunteer with us, we believe perceptions would change and more people would step forward to give our people a chance.”