OTEC is proud to partner with The Discover Ability Network, an online portal for Ontario employers and persons with disabilities seeking employment.
92% of consumers favour companies that hire people with disabilities
Businesses need talent, and there are plenty of people looking for work, including 50,000 students with disabilities in Ontario Colleges and Universities. The Discover Ability Network has been developed to connect people with disabilities seeking job opportunities and to promote the business case for this. There are many advantages such as increasing the size of your skilled labour pool, reducing costs associated with turnover and improving the engagement of all employees. Bottom line is that this is an underserved market worth $55 billion per year in Canada.
Ontario Tourism Education Corporation (OTEC) is committed to connecting employers to people with all abilities seeking tourism and hospitality industry jobs. A partner with the Discover Ability Network, OTEC enables persons with disabilities to access jobs and employers to find the talent they need.
When it comes to hiring people with disabilities, the business opportunity is irrefutable. 75% of employers who have employees with disabilities say they meet or exceed their expectations. Discover Ability Network connects people with disabilities seeking employment directly with Ontario businesses looking to meet their talent requirements. It showcases the business advantages of employing persons with disabilities and outlines guidelines on how they can effectively do so.
Ontario is currently facing labour shortages. In a recent survey conducted by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, 30 % of employers indicated that they could not find the talent they needed. Filling a job position with the appropriate aptitude is essential for employers. People with disabilities are an untapped resource with skill sets that many businesses need. In hospitality and tourism too, there’s no one place that people with disabilities cannot work. 15 % of Ontario’s population has a disability, and almost 41 % of this population has post-secondary accreditation.
Funded by the Government of Ontario and powered by Magnet, a data-rich, job-matching technology platform, Discover Ability connects Ontario businesses directly to people with disabilities. The portal is a key deliverable of Access Talent: Ontario’s Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities, a new comprehensive plan focused on connecting more people with disabilities to rewarding jobs and more employers to new talent that can help grow their businesses.
The Discover Ability Network portal provides guidelines for businesses on how to hire a person with disabilities including:
· How to get started: An overview of why hiring people with disabilities is the right thing for business.
· Hiring Recommendations: Outlines tips on how to find and interview talent.
· How to make it work: Everything you need to know from onboarding, accommodations and promoting your success.
Seize the opportunity to advance your business by creating a profile for your organization at discoverability.network under “Find Talent”
“Employees with disabilities offer a largely untapped talent pool for employers and consumers prefer working with companies that hire them,” says Victoria Behune, President & CEO, OTEC. The “Discover Ability Network” offers a job-matching technology platform to help you get started, along with resources to guide you through the process.”
90% of people with disabilities have rated average, or better, on job performance; the business intelligence is there to make the hiring case to bring diversity to your team.
Want to learn more? OTEC will be hosting a series of complimentary events across the GTA starting in 2018 highlighting the Discover Ability Network and the benefits it can bring to prospective job seekers and employers. Join the conversation at #discoverAbilityNetwork |discoverability.network.
Program info: Emma Dixon, Assistant Manager, Client Services at OTEC.
ABOUT OTEC:
OTEC is an Ontario-based independent, not-for-profit training, consulting & workforce development organization that delivers high quality, creative and branded solutions for the development and growth of a professional, skilled workforce. It is the leading source support for communities to build workforce capacity and for companies to attract, retain, and develop high performing employees and become Employer of Choice organizations. OTEC is the premier source for Customer Service training and strategy development, Tourism Ambassador training, leadership skills training and certifications and education products and services for tourism, hospitality and service oriented organizations in a wide range of industry sectors both nationally and internationally. otec.org | @OTECExcellence
ABOUT DISCOVER ABILITY NETWORK:
Funded by the Government of Ontario and powered by Magnet, a data-rich, job-matching technology platform, The Discover Ability Network is a free online portal and resource that connects Ontario businesses directly to people with disabilities. The portal is a key deliverable of Access Talent: Ontario’s Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities, a new comprehensive plan focused on connecting more people with disabilities to rewarding jobs and more employers to new talent that can help grow their businesses.
https://discoverability.network | @HireAbilityNow
ABOUT THE ONTARIO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (OCC):
For more than a century, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has been the independent, non-partisan voice of Ontario business. The OCC’s mission is to support economic growth in Ontario by defending business priorities at Queen’s Park on behalf of the network’s diverse 60,000 members. The OCC provides exclusive support, networking opportunities, and access to innovative insight and analysis for members. Through export programs, they have approved over 1,300 applications, and companies have reported results of over $250 million in export sales. The OCC is Ontario’s business advocate. http://www.occ.ca |@ontariocofc