Rana Stephen is the parent of a young woman we are working alongside towards her goal of finding employment. Rana is the Business Development Manager at Spark,below you will find her passionate article published on Linkedin. ( https://nz.linkedin.com/in/ranastephan)
"Every business needs to innovate to stay relevant. Consumers and Customers want new products, added value and new ideas.
So how to cultivate innovation? Having a diverse workforce is key. You need people of all cultures, genders, abilities and life experiences who can contribute perspectives.
Diversity, Innovation and Inclusion is Meaningless If People with Intellectual Disabilities Are Left Out, when building successful teams, we seek people of all abilities. In particular, I’m passionate about people living with a disability, and speaking from my very own personal experience I’m a mum with a beautiful and talented 20 years old Down-Syndrome Daughter, I help her and her peers to achieve there professional goals “And in turn, they are teaching me how I can influence and inspire others in my workplace and in my community to be more inclusive.”
I believe that everyone has the right to work and to feel included as valued members of society. However, finding employment is hard for people with disabilities, which greatly limits the choices they have in other areas of their lives.
This year I have had the pleasure of working with the PolyEmp team who support people with learning disabilities, PolyEmp Team provide an opportunity to help everyone to overcome barriers that people with disabilities can face in the workplace, and develop the talent and value they offer on different levels.
PolyEmp vision is to create a community where young people with intellectual or learning disabilities are engaged in meaningful, paid employment in the same way as any other member of society
Today ask yourself, why exactly can’t we employ a person with a disability? Hiring people who live with disabilities isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s good for our business. will increase our workplace motivation, innovation and inclusive, will embrace our company values, culture, and much more.
So, what are you waiting for? If you are a hiring manager I would highly recommend you to talk to the PolyEmp team and give someone a go, to provide a job that will give the true purpose of Diversity, Innovation and Inclusion."
Links below to part of a series. A wonderful employer from Stuff New Zealand:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH-Yma8Pxbc&t=14s
and more:https://www.poly-emp.org.nz
