Project on Employment Research
& Organizational Development

 

What factors influence the hiring decision when the employee candidate is a person with a disability?  In a national job market where 75 percent of the people with disabilities are chronically unemployed or under-employed, the Project on Employment Research and Organizational Development seeks answers to this basic question.  To do so, the project focuses on demand-side studies of the factors that influence the hiring decision throughout the United States.

 

Learn More about the Project on Employment Research & Organizational Development

Research Project Studies

 

More about the Project on Employment Research & Organizational Development
The Project on Employment Research and Oranizational Development was launched by CPRF in 2000, through initial grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration (Special Demonstrations Project No. H235J040008).  Since then, project researchers have focused on the questions that have traditionally come to an employer’s mind, such as:

• How will productivity be affected?
• What is considered a reasonable accommodation and what are the potential lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act?
• How will other employees respond to employees with disabilities?
• What will be the response of customers to employees with disabilities?
• Will employees with disabilities increase training costs or employer medical insurance payments?

In addition to the above questions, researchers are learning if employers know about or use the federal tax incentives available for the employment of people with disabilities.  Three studies have been completed, or are nearing completion:

• An online study of employer beliefs, conducted and published (2003) with the Society for Human Resource Management;
• An online, virtual focus group study of employer attitudes, conducted with the National Association of Workforce Boards; and
• A qualitative study consisting of 38 face-to-face structured interviews with executive managers of companies nationwide.

CPRF project partners are Wichita State University, Wichita, Kan., and the University of Texas at San Antonio.  As the project’s principal investigators, they are completing statistical analyses and reporting results on the latter two studies.  These faculty researchers and CPRF staff are also conducting research case studies with companies that have been nationally recognized for their successful and proactive diversity policies and practices, including the hiring and advancement of employees with disabilities. The plan is to conduct three such case studies during 2005, with more studies scheduled if additional funding is secured.

The ultimate goal is to develop an evidence-based, model set of policies and practices that other companies can successfully and efficiently implement toward the employment of people with disabilities.

The project has two complementary focuses for these case studies:

• To investigate management decisions
• And, to investigates whether a quantifiable business case model can be developed

Project staff and researchers are interested in the answers to questions such as:

• Why and how the company decided on such an initiative?
• Did one particular champion initiate/oversee the project?
• How was the initiative implemented?
• What obstacles were met and overcome?
• How did employees react to changes in policies and procedures?  

Next, answers will be sought from collaborating companies and will involve questions such as:

• What was the business case the company made for itself in deciding upon such an initiative?
• What metrics are tracked to measure the success of the initiative?
• What amount of cost recovery (such as federal and state tax incentives) has been obtained?
• Have employees with disabilities achieved a significant reduction or elimination of their public assistance benefits (such as Social Security disability benefits, food stamps, subsidized housing, etc)?

These research-based, case studies of successful, proactive companies will help other employers reach qualified job candidates from a relatively untapped pool of people with disabilities. The project’s foundation has been laid with penetrating questions.  As time progresses, the answers will help solidify an even firmer foundation upon which the hiring and advancement of people with disabilities will be built – expanding opportunities for lifelong independence and self sufficiency for people and strengthening the framework of our business communities through a more diversified workforce.
 
Research Project Studies
The following are among the studies that have been developed by this research project:

Employer Incentives for Hiring Individuals with Disabilities
(published in cooperation with the Society for Human Resource Management, 2003)

Overcoming Misperceptions About Hiring People with Disabilities
Philip M. Gaunt, Ph.D., Wichita State University
Mark L. Lengnick-Hall, Ph.D., University of Texas at San Antonio

 

A Simulated Virtual Focus Group to Measure Employers' Attitudes, Perceptions and Beliefs about Hiring Persons with Disabilities
Philip M. Gaunt, Ph.D., Wichita State University
Mark L. Lengnick-Hall, Ph.D., University of Texas at San Antonio

 

Why Employers Don’t Hire People With Disabilities: A Survey of the Literature
Mark L. Lengnick-Hall, Ph.D., University of Texas at San Antonio
Philip M. Gaunt, Ph.D., Wichita State University
Adrienne A. R. Brooks, Ph.D., University of Texas at San Antonio