Series on Free Enterprise: Nadine O. Vogel

Study of Employment of Floridians With a Disability

SERIES ON FREE ENTERPRISE
‘You will actually reap the rewards of hiring someone with a disability’
– Nadine Vogel, Springboard Consulting, LLC

According to research from the Florida Chamber Foundation, there are nearly 700,000 Floridians with disabilities that are not employed and may want to be part of Florida’s workforce. The report also shows the employment rate of persons with disabilities is increasing.

In a recent Series on Free Enterprise interview, Nadine O. Vogel, CEO of Springboard Consulting LLC talks about the benefits of hiring persons with a disability and a scholarship program available through Springboard Consulting to help students with disabilities continue their education.

Springboard Consulting helps business understand what they need to do from an organizational readiness standpoint to ensure hiring persons with a disability is a success and business reaps the reward with employees that are very productive.

Click below to listen to the full interview with Nadine Vogel.

On the Concerns Businesses Express About Hiring a Person with Disabilities:

There is a lot of fear that if they bring someone with a disability on and they do this wrong – ‘If  I don’t accommodate them appropriately, we don’t engage with them appropriately — then I’m going to get in trouble,’ and sometimes avoidance is easier.

If we have a business that is consumer facing, there is the concern that the consumers will not be comfortable. They will not want to shop in their stores or purchase their products. In fact, there have been a number of studies over the year that shows just the opposite. That people feel good about it and want to shop more.

Advice to Businesses About Recruiting New Talent:

To recruit the new talent when and how it is appropriate. It starts with organizational readiness.  It doesn’t mean everything has to be perfect before you start recruiting; it does mean that you should consider all these issues.

You will actually reap the rewards of hiring someone with a disability and finding out the amazing skill sets, the commitment, everything they bring to the table.

Springboard Foundation provides two scholarship programs — a general scholarship and a named scholarship where the scholarship is awarded in that company’s name and introductions are made between the scholarship recipient and the company providing the scholarship.

For information on Springboard Consulting, visit www.ConsultSpringboard.com