Six Steps to Success
The name of the conference, “Six Steps to Success”, reflects six critical issues or themes that emerged after extensive research to identify “best practices” in the field of disability employment services. These best practices have been grouped into six “steps” for discussion, examination and dissemination at this conference.
Step 1 - PERCEPTION
It is generally accepted that the introduction of persons with disabilities to the workplace requires ongoing education and management of the perceptions and emotions of co-workers and supervisors. Often based on misunderstandings or assumptions connected to stereotypes of persons with disabilities, perceptions can have a significant negative impact on the success of persons with disabilities. Literature on the topic of Employment and Disability indicates that this negative impact can be best addressed with appropriate training and mentoring. The conference will present and study models that have clearly demonstrated success in dealing with perception issues.
Step 2 - RECRUITMENT
Representation of persons with disabilities in the public service in Canada is significantly below the representation levels in the general working population. This was very much the case in the Yukon until only a few years ago. The Yukon government established a Workplace Diversity Employment Office to deal with this problem in the public service sector and as a model for adaptation in other sectors. The success it has experienced allows us to showcase it as a model for recruitment of persons with disabilities in the public sector and in a northern environment. However, we recognize that we have not fully resolved this challenge and will benefit from input provided by other successful employers and practitioners attending this conference.
Step 3 - TRAINING
Training models for persons with disabilities have been developed by many organizations throughout North America and elsewhere. These include local programs developed within the Yukon government as well as a variety of other programs and projects that we intend to present and assess at the conference. These models will include programs that have been designed specifically to deal with the current challenges of an aging workforce.
Step 4 – ACCOMMODATIONS
Accommodation needs are diverse, complex and often very custom-fit to the individual. Meeting those needs in a manner that is viable for the employer and acceptable to fellow employees is often challenging. Some work has been done by the Workplace Diversity Employment Office within the Yukon government towards resolving accommodation challenges. We will use this conference to identify and demonstrate these as well as other processes and practices that have proven successful elsewhere. Through our pre-conference research, we have identified new and effective practices from other jurisdictions that can be shared and adapted to various environments.
Step 5 - BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS
The design of the conference itself, and the structure needed to ensure success, requires a multifaceted development approach that recognizes the legitimate sense of ownership of all stakeholders. As will be demonstrated by the number and variety of contributing organizations, we believe that the notion of “partnership” is key to the success of this conference and to meeting the future needs of employers and employees. The content of the conference will demonstrate effective models which facilitate the creation of partnerships in a way that best meets the needs of all partners. Effective partnering is critical to our success in meeting collective challenges because, as stakeholders, we all own the problems and we all have a piece of the answer.
Step 6 - COMMUNICATION
The conference will provide a forum for the sharing of best practices and how they can be most successfully applied in different jurisdictions. This will occur on two fronts. First, conference speakers will share best practices in how communications can be improved at all steps in the process towards a more inclusive and representative workforce. Secondly, a unique aspect of this conference is that learning will continue to evolve and be shared virtually for this purpose.
The conference website has been designed to allow for continued sharing of information among speakers, delegates and other interested stakeholders.
The conference website has been designed to allow you to tell us what you would like to see the conference accomplish for you and to convey any questions and concerns you may have. It will also provide you with regular updates of any new and relevant conference content as it evolves.