Business to Business Interview :  Tonda Williams

Vicki Brooks: What are the major reasons for hiring people with disabilities?

Tonda Williams: Well from my perspective the major reasons for hiring people 
with disabilities; I have three reasons actually and maybe four.  My first reason is 
that over the next 20 years the Anaspen Institute Report states that there will be 
a critical shortage of qualified workers.  One of the things we hear from our 
business members is that there is a shortage now and with that they can’t fill the 
positions that they have now so that in 20 years it becomes beyond critical and 
its important that the disability community comes into that picture to help support 
that pool of workers that are needed.  The second thing is that the disability 
community is one of the untacked pool of workers, over a number of years slowly 
people are realizing that people with disabilities have the skills that are needed in 
the workplace, that they are trainable, they are accessible, the only thing the 
business community needs to understand are the incentives and some of the 
positives of bringing individuals with disabilities into the workplace.  And the third 
thing is that it impacts the business’ bottom line because there was a high 
turnover rate that was associated with most workplaces and we find that when 
you hire people with disabilities it reduces that turnover rate.

Vicki Brooks: What do you think are good strategies in convincing frontline 
managers to hire and recruit people with disabilities?

Tonda Williams: In convincing frontline managers to hire and recruit people with 
disabilities I would say that the first thing that needs to happen is they need to 
connect to the disability community through seminars, through workshops, and 
through one on one conversations.  It is important that you become educated and 
sensitive to the challenges of a person coming into the workplace with 
disabilities; its not a negative thing, its just that most businesses do not 
understand.

Vicki Brooks: What are some positives around hiring people with disabilities?

Tonda Williams: Some of the positives around hiring people with disabilities; 
number one all of our reports show that people with disabilities are very 
dependable in the workplace, they are very dedicated and they are very 
productive.  As a matter-of-fact a lot of the reports and the stats we have show 
that when you bring in a person with disabilities into a workplace it raises the 
morale level of the company employees and with that you raise the production 
level across the board in that environment.

Time: 2:38 minutes