Employers

The average vacancy costs UK employers £7000. This includes paying for adverts to be put on recruitment sites and in newspapers etc.; the staff costs in reviewing and shortlisting applications; interviewing candidates; and training the successful individual to be able to do the job.

We can match the skills of individuals we support with those needed by you as an employer. This can lead to improved retention and reduced staff turnover.

Often employers advertise in places that people with learning disabilities may not see; for example, using online recruitment websites. While some people with learning disabilities may not be able to read, there are many others who possess a wealth of valuable skills – and employers are missing out on the chance to recruit them.

By engaging with United Response, we can match the skills of people we support to opportunities within your workplace.

United Response will profile the individual, find out their skill set, and work with you to match these skills to tasks within your workplace.

In difficult and challenging economic times, using the talents of the whole workforce is more important than ever. Considering the diversity of your workforce and fostering an inclusive working environment can bring business benefits and provide a market advantage in economically strained times.

Benefits arise when organisations better represent the world (and legislative environment) around them. For instance, having staff with experience of disability, mental health issues or other cultures can give you, as an employer, an insight into developing new markets.

Benefits arise from improving operations internally in an organisation. For example, a diverse workforce that includes a range of perspectives can improve creativity and problem-solving, resulting in better decision making. Also, a diverse workforce can offer greater flexibility.

Consider the following scenario. An employer employs a person with a learning disability who is responsible for photocopying. The person identifies that the photocopier instructions are not in plain English and notices that many other staff members choose not to use the machine for this reason.

The new employee, with the support from a United Response job coach, translates the documents into an ‘easy read’ format. The rest of the team are overjoyed as they prefer these simple instructions. The employer asks the individual to translate other office guidelines into this ‘easy read’ format, bringing greater understanding to the entire workforce.

With the introduction of the Equality Act in 2010, more employers have to practice a policy of equal opportunities, and identify areas of under-representation within their organisation. Disability under-representation could be addressed with our help. This is often termed as taking positive action.

We can support the employer by identifying roles that people we support can do through a process called ‘job carving’.

We can support the individual to learn the job and understand the unwritten rules of the workplace, and provide one-to-one support during training.

We can identify changes to recruitment methods that give people with disabilities a fairer chance of being competitive. The Equality Act states reasonable adjustments must be considered to workplace provision and practice in order for people with disabilities not to be put at a disadvantage compared with non-disabled candidates. This too applies to the interview process.

We can outline adjustments, which are generally simple and cost effective, such as advertising posts in places that people with disabilities may see (e.g. in community centres) and supporting the employer to offer simplified interviews, working interviews and work trials. This can also lead to improved retention rates as the candidate and the employer both have the opportunity to sample the work and gauge the individual’s ability to carry out the role.

We offer practical support for the employer, analysing tasks of the job in order to coach or train the person we support to undertake these tasks with minimal support. We can support the person to integrate with the staff team and share with you the person-centred tools we use to get to know and understand the individual, and how best to assist the person to be healthy, safe and productive.

An organisation that who portrays an image of being a caring and inclusive employer is likely to attract a wider candidate pool from which to recruit. By employing someone with disabilities, this demonstrates good morals and a sense of caring that the wider community often appreciates.

It’s reasonable to assume that any one of us could become disabled in our lifetime. Many employers are unsure how to recognise disability and make necessary adjustments – that’s what we’re here to help with.

The government estimates that disabled people spend £80 billion a year. In addition, 20% of customers are likely to be disabled.

If businesses don’t recruit employees with disabilities, they could lose the business of disabled people, and their families, friends and associates.