Banking giant Barclaysí crucial new agreement with national charity Shaw Trust - to open doors for disabled people desperate to get into work has been warmly welcomed by staff across the UK.
Managers are backing the new Service Level Agreement, which expands a two year-old job taster project into country-wide opportunities for open employment for many more people at Service Operations centres across the country.
When Paul Horlock, Barclays Head of e Payment Services, signed on the dotted line, the bank joined Tesco, City Management Facilities and Hilton UK & Ireland, who have all signed up Shaw Trust for expert help to fuel their employment diversity programmes.
SLAs are great for our drive to get people into work because we have instant access to job opportunities across the UK, rather than the traditional route of knocking on doors one by one, said Laurie Scott, National Accounts Manager for Shaw Trust, which is the UKís leading provider of employment services for disabled and disadvantaged people.
Obviously this is good news for our clients and good news for the government, which is eager to get greater numbers off Incapacity Benefits and into work. Itís also great news for employers, who are struggling to fill a quarter of a million job vacancies with a dwindling number of potential employees and a national shortage of skilled workers.
There is a wealth of evidence to suggest a compelling business case for any organisation to employ a diverse workforce. In relation to people with disabilities, this includes greater productivity, improved attendance and reduced staff turnover.
When a company as high profile and successful as Barclays formally recognises these benefits, it can only help promote diversity to other employers.
Barclaysí Paul Horlock, whose company was ranked as one of the top ten employers in a recent disability survey, commented: Too often potential employers look at the disability and not the abilities of the person and the very tangible skills, attributes and wealth of experience that they can bring into the workplace.
Creating a diverse workforce allows us to learn from and help people of all abilities and backgrounds. This enables us to see things from another perspective, find new ways of doing things and add value to both ourselves and the business around us.
His Salford Quays Operations Manager, Tracey Swift, is an enthusiastic champion of the new SLA, not least because she is so delighted with Shaw Trust client Seth Kwei, one of the four of the 20 who got permanent employment under the original job taster agreement.
Seth, a fully qualified cost accountant in his sixties, joined them as a data in-putter in September 2004 after 16 yawning years out of work when a stroke reduced mobility on his right side.
It is a sheer delight to work with him, Tracey said. He has never had a day off sick and heís never late. Heís simply a wonderful role model to a team of 80 with an average age of 22, and they love him.
Even when he reaches retirement age, we wonít want to let him go.
Seth, who lives in Failsworth in Oldham, certainly doesnít want to retire. Heís having too much fun.
I hated the boredom of being out of work, and the fact that every day is the same: you get up, read the papers, eat and go back to bed, over and over again, he said.
Doctors say work is best medicine and it is a tonic for me. I enjoy the challenge, my work colleagues and the whole thing of being a working person again.
Meanwhile the Barclays boss who signed the original ground-breaking job taster contract with Shaw Trust was so impressed by the charityís work that he has joined them.
Trevor Yeoman, then the Head of Barclays Enable Processing Centres, contacted Shaw Trust when he was given the directorial diversity responsibility for disability. Now heís working for the charity as Business Development Manager for London and the south east.
I always wanted a second career working for a charity, and the more I discovered about Shaw Trustís work, the more impressed I became, said Trevor, 51, who lives just outside Reading with his teacher wife Louise, and joined the Trust last year.
It is a fantastic experience and hugely varied. Itís got everything my job with Barclays had, but with added value, in that even the smallest things we do here touch peopleís lives.
His work is hugely varied, from bid writing and dealing with local authorities to supporting Shaw Trust projects.
I am delighted that Barclays has signed this new SLA. They are very switched onto diversity in the workforce, and I hope other employers will follow suit, Trevor added.
Iím well aware that as an employer you are dealing with a whole load of things and diversity is just one of the things on the agenda. But bosses can miss out on lot of skills if donít widen their horizons.
* Shaw Trust has launched seven Key Messages to prompt action to make the world a fairer place. The messages include íAre you sure you interviewed everyone for that job?í
If youíre one of the thousands of employers who canít find skilled staff, maybe you need to check where youíre hunting. Thereís a huge market of skilled employees waiting for your call, and you missed them because theyíre labelled as ídisabledí or ídisadvantagedí, says the Message.
Shaw Trust works with you and your new employee long after weíve brought you together. Follow the leaders like Tesco, City Facilities Management, Barclays PLC and Hilton UK & Ireland: call Shaw Trust and get that crucial advantage on your rivals.
UK bosses are struggling to fill a quarter of a million job vacancies. Donít be one of them.
Barclays has joined forces with national charity Shaw Trust
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