Blog

The Hidden Hiring Advantage: People with Disabilities

The Hidden Hiring Advantage: People with Disabilities Image

by Tim Menke, CEO of Lott

Talent is the investment that drives a business’s innovation and growth.

Businesses that include people with disabilities benefit from a wider pool of talent. This can be a creative business solution to periodic and predictable labor needs.

Work environments that are flexible and open to the talents of all qualified individuals, including those with disabilities, can find employment solutions that are often hidden and overlooked by market competitors.

There is a positive correlation between a business’s profitability, employee morale, and engagement as well as lower turnover, good safety records, innovation, and higher productivity among their employees with disabilities.

“For customer-facing companies, there is the side benefit of customer loyalty from America’s largest minority group, numbering 56.7 million Americans,” said Shawna Berger, director of marketing and communications at the US Business Leadership Network.

Employers’ concerns often dissolve after hiring employees with disabilities. They discover specific benefits to hiring those who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

More than three-quarters of employers surveyed ranked such employees with IDD as good or very good on work quality, motivation, engagement, integration with coworkers, dependability, and attendance.

Assisting local companies with workforce solutions is a key objective of Lott. We offer two options to local businesses in a tight labor market:

1) First, Lott helps employers struggling to find ways of restructuring their operations or fulfilling projects by completing contract work at our production facility on Hill Avenue in Toledo, Ohio.

Dozens of businesses utilize our 160,000 square feet of production floor space and our steady, well-trained workforce for labor-intensive assignments such as light assembly, packaging, sorting, mobile work crews, documentation destruction, and highway safety products.

We serve a variety of industries including tool and die, pharmaceutical, food distributors, lawn care, and packaging.

Lott has more than 200 individuals employed in partnership with area businesses in its production and community locations.

As one client stated, Lott has been a superior supplier. “We had several quality issues prior to moving a key job to Lott. Those issues are no longer a concern due to the organization’s focus on quality and delivery,” explained Mary Short, vice president, operations and quality of GB Manufacturing. “We will continue to move work to Lott… due to their impressive and consistent performance. They are a top-notch partner to our operations and supply the perfect solution to our needs.”

2) Secondly, by working together with local companies and community partners, Lott offers solutions to businesses seeking quality workers that are reliable and affordable.

Helping employers search and place qualified candidates in the right job openings is an important component of Lott’s mission.

Once a match is made, Lott provides job coaching and follow-up services to make sure the orientation of the individual goes well and that the match is right for the employer. The right matches generate successful labor solutions for companies and their cultures.

Lott has served its clients of all sizes for over six decades with their outsourced production demands while employing hundreds of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Note: This article was originally published in the December 2017 Workforce Update (Northwest Ohio).

Blade Front Page Business Article: “Lott Industries provides assembly services for area companies

Lott Industries provides assembly services for area companies Photo of...

Letter from the CEO

Dear Lott Family and Friends, Thank you to everyone for...

WELCOME to the NEW LOTT!

Welcome to the new Lott! Since reopening after the COVID...