Hands holding paper cutouts with disabilities.

Disability Pride Month: Just Give Us the Chance to be Fired

By: Kim Pulliam

In order to shine a spotlight on the significance of Disability Pride Month, CareerEco Virtual Events sat down with Gerald Homme, Manager of Talent Acquisition for Bender Consulting Services. CareerEco Virtual Events and Bender Consulting have enjoyed more than a 10-year partnership where we feel very honored and privileged to be the platform of choice for their virtual recruitment events. Disability Pride Month happens every July to celebrate the anniversary of The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which passed on July 26, 1990. Shockingly, less than 35 years ago, people with disabilities lacked the crucial protections provided by the ADA.

Why Hire an Individual Living with a Disability

Homme broke it down in a way that makes the concept of why hiring someone living with a disability is critical and easy for anyone to grasp. The goal for individuals with disabilities seeking employment is, “Just give us the chance to be fired”. A Bender Consulting client just wants the opportunity to interview and showcase their abilities in order to be hired. He went on to add as a follow-up, “If I don’t do the job you are expecting, then fire me.”

The dedication and hard work given by a person living with a disability has been shown to be greater than the average. Homme continued by sharing that according to a study by Accenture in partnership with Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), companies that boast a robust strategy for hiring those who are living with a disability will outperform their competitors. The study states: “Leading companies that are working successfully toward disability inclusion have also achieved tangible financial benefits. For example, the research shows that leading companies were, on average, twice as likely to have higher total shareholder returns than those of their peer group.”

When asked what message Homme would most like employers to hear in order to better understand the benefits of employing someone living with a disability, he responded “Just hire one person living with some sort of disability to be a part of your team. You will be happy you did – it’s as simple as that.” Bender boasts a 95% retention rate of their placements in the 30 years they have been in business. Hard to argue with that statistic!

Making Meaningful Connections through Virtual Recruitment

Chris Guzek, General Manager of CareerEco Virtual Events, expressed how important the connection between Bender Consulting and CareerEco is by stating, “We are proud that our virtual events platform is designed to be supportive of individuals with disabilities, enabling them to connect and have meaningful conversations with recruitment professionals during our live and online events. Our priority is to create a streamlined and straightforward navigational process for both hiring agents and job seekers. Being the chosen virtual events platform by Bender Consulting is a great honor for us.”

So, the next time your organization is investigating adding a new team member, consider someone who has been forgotten in the diversity and inclusion discussion. Make the effort to initiate a conversation with a job seeker who has a disability. According to Bender Consulting, research has demonstrated time and time again that people with a disability are more likely to be more loyal to their employer from the simple fact that they didn’t discount them from the beginning and have given them the opportunity to prove their proficiency.

If you are interested in recruiting in the Bender sponsored virtual recruitment event, on October 2, 2024, click here. Also, feel free to reach out to us at CareerEco.com with any questions – we’d be thrilled to discuss hosting a virtual event with your organization!