Employer support

Employers

“Disabled people are one of the disadvantaged groups that are ranked as performing better than the rest of the workforce. Disabled employees are considered more loyal and are deemed to have better customer service and a higher quality of work”

(CIPD Press Office, 2010)

Graft offers a free support and advice service to employers who are looking to recruit or retain disabled employees, or those affected by any kind of disadvantage or health condition.

Many employers can be anxious about the prospect of employing a disabled person; however, many probably do already without even realising it. Not every one who can be defined as disabled by the Equality Act has a disability that you can see, and many do not describe themselves as disabled. Moreover, Disabled people are more likely to stay in positions longer and be more loyal towards the organisation that employs them. Employing a disabled person is no more of a risk than employing anybody else - and a disabled applicant may have talents that could really benefit your business.

If you look beyond someone's disability or health condition and seize the potential of everyone who wants to work for you, there becomes a wide range of benefits available to your business:

• tapping into a wider range of applicants for job vacancies
• finding workers who can fill skills gaps in tight labour markets
• saving money and keeping valuable experience by retaining employees who become disabled whilst working for your business
• using the experiences of disabled people to understand how your customers think and what drives their spending habits - disabled customers are estimated to have a total spend power of £40 billion
• Disabled people can introduce a solutions-based approach to the workplace, increasing innovation within your organisation
• avoiding unnecessary - and potentially costly - charges of discrimination
• Develop and boost the morale of your team

Graft can offer advice specific to the demands of your business and employees, and can offer connections to organisations providing practical, ongoing support.

Support Graft can offer

We try to tailor the support we give to the individual needs of the company, but here are some examples of the support we can offer:

·    Information on any issue you may have surrounding employing disabled people

·    We can help you stay ahead in your equal opportunity, diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility practices, and help keep your company compliant with the Equalities Act 2010.

·    We offer Training Courses in many areas including - Diversity Equality, Equalities Act 2010 and Mental Health Awareness

·    Help you access funding to make any necessary changes

·    Links to legal advice – Jobcentre Plus provides schemes for employers such as Workstep which provides financial support to help bring job seekers up to speed and Access To Work that can provide financial assistance for any required workplace adaptations

·    We can offer access Audits so you can ascertain what, if any, changes need to be made in order for your organisation to be made accessible to disabled people.

Companies who have worked with us:

Microsoft, Marks and Spencers, Green Park, Holiday Day Inn, Wyevale Garden Centre, Reading Borough Council, Asda, Sainsburys, Wokingham District Council, MCI, Rivermead Leisure Centre and many more.

Don’t miss out on this relatively untapped workforce and all the benefits our service can bring!