Been to a Walgreens lately?  That's Walgreens, the chain of drug stores that sell just about anything in just about every town.

I learned of the following in Scott Hoesman's article from the September issue of Talent Management magazine. Walgreens became bigger and better to me:

Walgreens is building
new distribution centers.  These centers will employ hundreds of people
with disabilities. Walgreens also has other distribution centers. These
centers will increase their workforce of people with disabilities also.
Every job is open to people with disabilities.  This includes
management jobs. (Source: Walgreens Outreach)

Hiring people with disabilities has long seemed an obstacle for a business to take on. But consider:

• 22 million individuals with disabilities are labor-available.
• That pool's unemployment rate is 50% (10x the national average!).
• 60% of those unemployed are willing to work but face obstacles to being employed.

So why engage, at the business level, in recruiting individuals with disabilities? I offer these reasons:

• Diversified workforces attract diversified customer bases.
  Workers with disabilities add diversity to your workforce. Individuals
  with disabilities comprise a buying power of $3 trillion. Quite a customer base.
• Cost of accommodations to suit workers with disabilities averages $500 per, according to the US Job Accommodation Network.
• The return on this personnel investment is positive: lower
  training costs, lower insurance costs, increased worker productivity.
  (Source: US JAN) 
• Employees–both with and without disabilities–can be proud of
  their company's values, can engage in their company's engagement
  culture.

I like that last reason best. Whatever your business does, its engagement in more than just its business will

The Walgreens effort benefits many more than just the workers with disabilities.

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Tags: business culture, disabilities, Employee Engagement