Innovation is the Job Coach of Necessity

Tim Blekicki

Mission Health

Project SEARCH

Program Director

Innovation is the Job Coach of NecessityHow One Job Search Changed the Conversation Around Supported Employment in Asheville

Tell a story to tell a story…

▪ Moved to Asheville in 2015

▪ Partner was a Night Nurse, 9 year old daughter in 4th grade

▪ Unemployed for the first time in seventeen years

▪ Looked for a lot of jobs

▪ Craigslist ad for “Project SEARCH Job Coach”

▪ Interview went well

▪ Hired for a different position

“Get Used to Hearing No.”

• Don’t take rejection personally

• Know what you have control over

• A good job coach is one that works themselves OUT of a job

• GET USED TO HEARING “NO.”

Existing Methods and Processes

Job Development

Sampling, Resume,

Application

Sampling

Volunteering at non-profits

with transferable

tasks

Job Search

Search portals, Help

Wanted, Hourly

Managers

Conversation

Other Agencies’ documents and videos

Employment

Carved, Occasional, Tenuous

22.04.20197

Competitive employment for each Project SEARCH intern

➢ 16 hours a week or more

➢ Minimum wage or better

➢ Integrated Setting

➢ Non-Seasonal

Bonus Activities Achieved:

➢ Culture change at the host business as the work skills of

young adults with disabilities are recognized

➢ Publicly funded systems working together

Program Goal

Nick’s Three Internships:Behavioral Health, EVS, and Sterile Processing

Post-Program Job Search

What is something in your

professional sphere or career you wished the perception matched the

reality?

NEW GOALS

Necessary to approach the business community in a different way – reclaim the conversation on the subject

Survey existing landscape for successful initiatives, programs, and infrastructure– don’t reinvent the wheel if possible

Use perception-changing language– be the change

SPEAK TO BUSINESSES AS A BUSINESS – we’re in the business of business

Actualization

Supports

Businesses

SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT

can be a success if we…

Leverage existing networks into opportunities and advantages

Society

Recognize the population as a sinceresource of employees and workforce talent

Meet our allies where they are at – but not leave them there

Are patient with our allies

SURVEYED MANAGERS REPORTEDDISABLED EMPLOYEES HAD THE SAME OR MORE DEDICATION TO THEIR JOBS AS ABLED EMPLOYEES

97%

WHAT WE KNOW:

Reduced turnover in entry-level positions by:.

Tap an underutilized and underemployed population.

Businesses report an advantage in their market

Customers prefer a company that resembles society

35%

19%

80%

87%

STRATEGY:

Emphasize reduction of training cost on entry level positions with high turnover

STRATEGY:

Showcase business-to-business affirmation – THIS works.

STRATEGY:

This is not a risk – it’s a collaboration

We’re in the business…

Not a service, but an initiative/movement across four local agencies under one umbrella

Replicable and scalable presentations for different presenters and audiences

Use universal language across agencies

Business affirmation over social justice

Multiple levels of engagement and presentations

Networks Approached

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If you could choose three

organizations to partner

with professionally, who

would they be? What values

do you share?

New Plan for Nick

Weekly Hour Long Meetings with the Goal of…

- Memorizing the answers to interview questions as a reasonable accommodation.

- Focus on the mechanics of the interview instead of having all the right answers .

- Ask for the opportunity to perform work samples during the interview.

- Customize the business’ needs for the employee, not the other way around.

ADD A FOOTER

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Diversifying ProgressSupported Employment Focused Events in First Half of 2018

MM.DD.20XX

022

2018January

2018May

2018February

2018March

2018May

Bloom panel in front of 45

HR professionals

SHRM Panel

Over 100 businesses and

agency professionals

attended

Everybody Works

Business Advisory Council

Luncheon Panel and Q&A

Goodwill BAC

Business After Hours

Volunteering

Chamber of Commerce

Professional showcase for

Project SEARCH interns from two counties

Reverse Job Fair

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Change the Question

Why Wouldn’t You Hire This Individual?

- We placed potential employees in silos of wants and needs and cross referenced skill requirements to THEM

- We no longer hunted hourly managers who could not affect change in hiring practices, but rather C Suite and Director-level positions that made culture decisions

- Highlight the barriers in the way: admit to your own biases, acknowledge concerns and the perception of a risk, anticipate reasons to say “no” and answer them before they can be asked.

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Help Wanted

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•Why Wouldn’t You Hire This Individual?

- Needed an employee who did not mind repetitive manual labor tasks for a physical position

- Part-time position, morning to mid-afternoon

- Concrete tasks with a repeating schedule, remote supervision, and changing cast of coworkers

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Questions?