Ready, Willing & Able Quarterly Update and Employer Survey Results

A partnership between CACL and CASDA, the Ready, Willing & Able initiative has achieved another round of excellent results in the third quarter of 2016: 177 employment outcomes (including full-time and part-time jobs, self-employment opportunities, and post-secondary opportunities) have been reached in this three month period.

Since the program began in 2014, over 1160 employment opportunities have been filled by persons with intellectual disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), including many positions with national employers such as Costco, Home Depot, Purolator, Sodexo, and Value Village.

The RWA team, consisting of over 25 staff in communities across the country, has also received initial results from a comprehensive survey of RWA employers, via a research process led by the Centre for Inclusion and Citizenship at the University of British Columbia as part its formal evaluation. The survey reached over 200 employers engaged in the RWA initiative across the country, with an impressive response rate.

Some of the primary findings include:

• RWA employees (persons with an intellectual disability or ASD) performed as well as or better than an employee without a disability on: punctuality (98%); attendance (96%); use of sick days (96%) and turnover (92%)
  
  
• RWA employees were rated as well as or better than an employee without a disability in regard to attitude toward their work (94%); getting along with coworkers (96%) and management (100%); and contributing to positive workplace morale and spirit (96%)
  
  
• 84.7% rated people hired through RWA as average or better in terms of contributing to their firm’s profit margin
  
  
• 92% of businesses would hire an employee with an intellectual disability or ASD again within the next 12 months
  
  
• 90% of businesses rated their overall experience with RWA as excellent (45%) or good (45%)

Employers who are hiring via RWA are saying – RWA is more than the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do! 

Click here to download and share this RWA update!