SHRM Survey Findings: Employing People With Disabilities : Practices and Policies Related to Retention and Advancement In collaboration with and commissioned by Cornell University ILR School Employment and Disability Institute May 31, 2012

Introduction SHRM, in collaboration with and commissioned by the Cornell University ILR School Employment and Disability Institute, conducted a survey of its members about organizational practices and policies related to employing people with disabilities. Areas focused on in this survey research included: Part 1: Recruitment and Hiring (Released April 11, 2012) Part 2: Accessibility and Accommodation (Released May 17, 2012) Part 3: Retention and Advancement (Released May 31, 2012) In addition, the survey explored metrics that organizations track for all employees as well as for employees with disabilities, and potential barriers in the employment of and advancement of people with disabilities. The data findings included in this document focus on Part 3 of the research: Practices and Policies Related to Retention and Advancement.

Part 3: Policies and Practices Related to Retention and Advancement

Study Purpose, Partners and Funding Study Purpose: provide new knowledge about differences in HR practices in hiring, retaining and advancing individuals with disabilities, and the relationship between these practices and positive employment outcomes. Partners: SHRM, in collaboration with Cornell University. Funding: U.S. Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research grant to Cornell University, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employer Practices (Grant No. H133B040013).

Definitions For this survey, we define a “person with a disability” as someone who has a physical and/or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. This could include (but is not limited to) individuals with a physical disability, a chronic health condition, a vision or hearing impairment, a mental health condition, or a workplace injury or illness. We define an “effective practice or policy” as one that leads to improved recruitment, hiring, retention, engagement, workplace climate and/or advancement of people with disabilities.

Key Findings What policies and practices related to retention and advancement for people with disabilities are currently being implemented by organizations? More than three out of four (81%) organizations have a return-to-work or disability management program for employees who are ill/injured or become disabled. Over one-half (59%) of organizations encourage flexible work arrangements for all employees (e.g., flextime, part-time, telecommuting). Approximately four out of 10 organizations (42%) invite employees to confidentially disclose whether they have a disability (e.g., staff surveys). Among organizations that have implemented policies and practices related to retention and advancement of employees with disabilities, which policies and practices were found to be very effective? Over one-half (54%) of organizations indicate that disability-focused employee networks (e.g., employee resource groups or affinity groups) were a very effective practice related to the retention and advancement of employees with disabilities. Nearly one-half (49%) of organizations say that having a return-to-work or disability management program for employees who are ill/injured or become disabled is very effective. Encouraging flexible work arrangements for all employees (e.g., flextime, part-time, telecommuting) was also found to be a very effective practice according to nearly one-half (47%) of organizations.

Key Findings (Continued) Are some organizations more likely to have policies and practices related to retention and advancement for people with disabilities depending on the organization’s staff size or sector? Larger organizations are more likely to have polices and practices related to retention and advancement of people with disabilities compared with smaller organizations. Publicly owned for-profit organizations and nonprofit organizations are also more likely to have some of these policies and practices in place compared with privately owned for-profit organizations. Which metrics do organizations specifically track for employees with disabilities? Approximately one-third of organizations indicate tracking metrics related to employees with disabilities. These metrics include data on accommodations (32%), the number of job applicants with disabilities that were hired by organizations (29%) and the number of job applicants with disabilities that applied for a position at the organization (23%).

Policies and Practices Related to Retention and Advancement Our organization… Note: Respondents who answered “don’t know” and “in development/under review" were excluded from this analysis.

Policies and Practices Related to Retention and Advancement (Continued) Our organization… Note: Respondents who answered “don’t know” and “in development/under review" were excluded from this analysis.

Effectiveness of Policies and Practices Our organization… Very Effective Somewhat Effective Not Effective Effectiveness Not Known Has a disability-focused employee network (e.g., an employee resource group or affinity group) (n = 79) 54% 20% 3% 23% Has a return to work or disability management program for employees who are ill/injured or become disabled (n = 479) 49% 36% 1% 14% Encourages flexible work arrangements for all employees (e.g., flextime, part-time, telecommuting) (n = 356) 47% 37% 13% Has a structured mentoring program to support employees with disabilities (n = 103) 31% 19% Note: Respondents who answered that a policy or practice related to retention and advancement was “not in place,” “in development / under review” or “don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

Effectiveness of Policies and Practices (Continued) Our organization… Very Effective Somewhat Effective Not Effective Effectiveness Not Known Offers special career planning and development tools for employees with disabilities (n = 96) 46% 31% 3% 20% Has explicit organizational goals related to retention and advancement of employees with disabilities (n = 73) 40% 30% 1% 29% Includes progress toward retention and advancement goals for employees with disabilities in the performance appraisals of senior management (n = 49) 39% 24% 0% 37% Employees are invited to confidentially disclose whether they have a disability (e.g., staff surveys) (n = 242) 36% 2% 25% Note: Respondents who answered that a policy or practice related to retention and advancement was “not in place,” “in development / under review” or “don’t know” were excluded from this analysis.

Comparison by Organization Sector

Definition of Sectors Publicly owned for-profit organization is a limited liability company that offers its securities (stock/shares, bonds/loans, etc.) for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange or through market makers operating in over the counter markets. This is separate and distinct from a government-owned corporation, which might be described as a publicly owned company. Privately owned for-profit organization is a business company owned either by nongovernmental organizations or by a relatively small number of shareholders or company members. This organization does not offer or trade its company stock (shares) to the general public on the stock market exchanges, but rather the company's stock is offered, owned and traded or exchanged privately. Less ambiguous terms for a privately held company are unquoted company and unlisted company. Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor a technical definition, but it generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals rather than to distribute them as profit or dividends. States in the U.S. defer to the IRS designation conferred under United States Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c) when the IRS deems an organization eligible. A nonprofit organization may or may not have shareholders.

Comparison by Organization Sector Our organization… has a return-to-work or disability management program for employees who are ill/injured or become disabled Organization sector Differences based on organization sector Publicly owned for-profits (89%) Privately owned for-profits (78%) Nonprofits (69%) Publicly owned for-profits > privately owned for-profits, nonprofits employees are invited to confidentially disclose whether they have a disability (e.g., staff surveys) Organization sector Differences based on organization sector Publicly owned for-profits (52%) Privately owned for-profits (38%) Nonprofits (35%) Publicly owned for-profits > privately owned for-profits, nonprofits Note: Respondents who answered “don’t know” and “in development/under review" were excluded from this analysis. Only statistically significant differences are shown.

Comparison by Organization Sector (Continued) Our organization… has a structured mentoring program to support employees with disabilities Organization sector Differences based on organization sector Publicly owned for-profits (23%) Nonprofits (29%) Privately owned for-profits (14%) Publicly owned for-profits, nonprofits > privately owned for-profits offers special career planning and development tools for employees with disabilities Organization sector Differences based on organization sector Publicly owned for-profits (21%) Nonprofits (31%) Privately owned for-profits (11%) Publicly owned for-profits, nonprofits > privately owned for-profits has disability-focused employee network (e.g., an employee resource group or affinity group) Organization sector Differences based on organization sector Publicly owned for-profits (19%) Nonprofits (21%) Privately owned for-profits (10%) Publicly owned for-profits, nonprofits > privately owned for-profits Note: Respondents who answered “don’t know” and “in development/under review" were excluded from this analysis. Only statistically significant differences are shown.

Comparison by Organization Sector (Continued) Our organization… has explicit organizational goals related to retention and advancement of employees with disabilities Organization sector Differences based on organization sector Publicly owned for-profits (21%) Nonprofits (21%) Privately owned for-profits (8%) Publicly owned for-profits, nonprofits > privately owned for-profits includes progress toward retention and advancement goals for employees with disabilities in the performance appraisals of senior management Organization sector Differences based on organization sector Publicly owned for-profits (13%) Nonprofits (18%) Privately owned for-profits (5%) Publicly owned for-profits, nonprofits > privately owned for-profits Note: Respondents who answered “don’t know” and “in development/under review" were excluded from this analysis. Only statistically significant differences are shown.

Comparison by Organization Staff Size

Comparison by Organization Staff Size Our organization… has a return-to-work or disability management program for employees who are ill/injured or become disabled Smaller organizations Larger organizations Differences based on organization staff size 1 to 99 employees (72%) 100 to 499 employees (79%) 2,500 to 24,999 employees (92%) Larger organizations > smaller organizations has a disability-focused employee network (e.g., employee resource group or affinity group) Smaller organizations Larger organizations Differences based on organization staff size 1 to 99 employees (8%) 100 to 499 employees (11%) 25,000 or more employees (32%) Larger organizations > smaller organizations employees are invited to confidentially disclose whether they have a disability (e.g., staff surveys) Smaller organizations Larger organizations Differences based on organization staff size 1 to 99 employees (33%) 100 to 499 employees (35%) 25,000 or more employees (69%) Larger organizations > smaller organizations Note: Respondents who answered “don’t know” and “in development/under review" were excluded from this analysis. Only statistically significant differences are shown.

Barriers for Employment and Advancement of People with Disabilities

Barriers Organizations Experience in Employing and Advancing People with Disabilities

Employee Metrics

Metrics Organizations Track for Employees with Disabilities

Metrics Organizations Track for Disability vs. Other Protected Groups

Demographics: Organization Industry Percentage of Respondents Manufacturing 26% Finance and insurance 12% Professional, scientific and technical services Retail trade Wholesale trade 9% Transportation and warehousing 8% Accommodation and food services 7% Entertainment and recreation 5% Information Utilities Construction 4% Educational services Note: n = 637. Total does not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

Demographics: Organization Industry (Continued) Percentage of Respondents Health care and social assistance 4% Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and similar organizations Repair and maintenance Real estate and rental and leasing 3% Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 2% Management of companies and enterprises Public administration Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 1% Mining Personal and laundry services Other 8% Note: n = 637. Total does not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

Demographics: Respondents by Organization Sector

Demographics: Respondents by Organization Staff Size

Demographics: Other Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only or does it operate multinationally? U.S.-based operations only 60% Multinational operations 40% n = 617 Is your organization a single-unit or a multi-unit organization? Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location 80% Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same 20% n = 635 For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit corporate headquarters, by each work location or both? Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices 51% A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determine HR policies and practices 46% Each work location determines HR policies and practices 3% n = 516 What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey? Corporate (companywide) 57% Facility/location 26% Business unit/division 17% n = 519

Further Information Available SHRM® Disability Employment Resource Page www.shrm.org/disabilityemployment HR Tips www.hrtips.org Employer Assistance and Resource Network (EARN) www.askEARN.org Job Accommodation Network (JAN) http://askjan.org National ADA Network www.adata.org Cornell Employment and Disability Institute publications online http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu Employment and Disability Institute at Cornell University www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi U.S. Disability Status Report www.disabilitystatistics.org We’ve added a few additional resources

Survey Methodology: Response rate = 23% 662 HR professional respondents from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s membership. A series of e-mail reminders along with a call campaign were used to encourage survey participation. Margin of error is +/-3%. Survey fielded October 19-December 15, 2011. For more survey/poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit www.shrm.org/customizedresearch Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SHRM_Research