Description

INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE = SUCCESSFUL BUSINE$$  PRESENTATION BY RANDY LEWIS Historically, individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) have encountered significant barriers to employment which have resulted in high levels of unemployment and underemployment. Few businesses have been willing to recognize that an enormous wealth of talent is present in their community should they be willing to make minor adjustments and accommodations in their workplace. So, when a major corporation makes a commitment to employ disabled adults, and then demonstrates conclusively it has a measurable positive impact on business results, it causes other businesses to take notice. Such was the experience of Walgreens, the nation's largest drugstore chain. Randy Lewis, Senior Vice President in charge of Walgreens' distribution facilities (now retired), reshaped the company's hiring, training, technology and supervisory practices and created a more inclusive workplace even as Walgreens grew to 8,000 stores nationwide. All disabled individuals hired were held to the same performance standards as non-disabled workers, received the same wages and benefits and performed as well as their non-disabled coworkers; even performing better in areas like workplace safety and job retention. In one Walgreens' distribution center today in South Carolina, 40% of the workforce is individuals with disabilities. On Wednesday morning, May 11th, at the San Marino Club in Troy, Randy will begin with a one hour presentation entitled INCLUSIVE WORKFORCE = SUCCESSFUL BUSINE$$; Hiring People with IDD Makes Business Sense! Over a complimentary breakfast for C-level executives and human resource personnel, Randy will share how he transformed Walgreens practices to create a workplace open to hiring individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities. Then, for those companies interested in learning more, Randy has agreed to provide a two-hour session on the "how to's" of creating an inclusive workplace. We are planning to market this morning event very widely throughout Oakland County and Southeast Michigan and project an audience of 200 to 240. Randy Lewis' presentations are the result of a collaboration of Oakland University's Center for Autism Outreach Services (OUCARES) and On My Own of Michigan, Inc. This event is FREE thanks to our sponsors: Fifth Third Bank, INCOE Corporation and the Neelam-Popat Mistry Memorial Foundation.