Retention Strategies

Mentoring involves developing a professional relationship with a colleague to advise or train them. It encourages personal growth, builds skills and increases knowledge of the work or industry. Coaching aims to improve performance by helping workers learn new skills and enhance their job performance. Both mentoring and coaching are effective strategies for shaping an inclusive workplace culture and retaining employees with disabilities. EARN has multiple resources to support employers in their mentoring and coaching efforts:

• Mentoring as a Disability Inclusion Strategy factsheet discusses mentoring programs as a way to support talent development and retention using the organization’s human resources to improve employee satisfaction, develop leaders and teach new skills.
• The Workplace Mentoring Playbook helps employers develop effective workplace mentoring programs, learn about types of mentoring and find examples of successful mentoring initiatives for all workers, including employees with disabilities.
• Peer mentoring and coaching can be an effective means of professional development for all employees, and can ensure the success of workplace neurodiversity initiatives.

Organizations can employ many policies and practices to indicate to applicants that they are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace, including policies and practices that permit workplace flexibility, meaning flexibility in when, where and how employees perform their jobs.

Remote work, or telework, is an example of workplace flexibility that can make a big difference for people with disabilities. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers have adopted or updated employment policies and practices to enable employees to work at home. EARN's resources on remote work include:

• Adopting an Integrated Telework Policy for Employees With and Without Disabilities, which reviews how employers can use remote work to retain employees with disabilities.
• The practice brief Leveraging the Shift to Remote Work to Increase Employment of People with Disabilities explores practical reasons employers should consider remote work.
• The policy brief Exploring the Possibilities: Disability-Inclusive Hybrid Work Models offers strategies for developing and implementing hybrid work models that are equitable and accessible for all employees, including people with disabilities.

Programs that allow employees to resume working in an appropriate and timely manner, with or without work restrictions, are essential for minimizing health-related absences and optimizing productivity.

• EARN Stay at Work/Return to Work Resources: Find out how these programs can help supervisors manage employee injuries, illnesses and disabilities and ensure that employees are able to return to the workplace as quickly and safely as possible.
• Learn more about Stay at Work/Return to Work programs.

Programs and initiatives that support employee mental health and well-being can also help promote retention.

• Learn more by exploring the Mental Health Toolkit.
• Self-Paced Training on Creating a Mental Health-Friendly Workplace: This short training explores strategies employers can use to support their employees’ mental health and well-being and create a mental health-friendly workplace. It includes additional resources to build knowledge around topics related to workplace mental health, such as common accommodations for employees with mental health conditions.
• Checklist for Mentally Healthy Workplaces: This EARN checklist helps employers implement strategies to create mentally health-friendly workplaces.
• Read "Impact of COVID-19 on Employee Mental Health and the Experiences of Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Professionals" to learn how EAPs help support workplace mental health. The practices outlined in this publication were developed based on the experiences of EAP professionals who are members of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA).
• Explore additional resources on workplace mental health.

Federal contractors are individuals or employers who enter into a contract with the United States government (with any department or agency) to perform a specific job, supply labor and materials or for the sale of products and services. A federal subcontractor is a company that does business with another company that holds a direct contract with the Federal Government.

Under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, both federal contractors and subcontractors must meet certain requirements toward the goal of a workforce that includes people with disabilities. For example, they must ask employees to self-identify as having a disability. Under the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), federal contractors and subcontracts have affirmative action and non-discrimination obligations for veterans, including veterans with disabilities. Learn more about requirements for federal contractors and subcontractors and strategies to help them meet their obligations under Section 503 and recruit, hire, advance and retain workers with disabilities.

A strong federal workforce is an inclusive federal workforce, one that is welcoming of the skills and talents of all qualified individuals. In pursuit of this goal, the Federal Government has taken several steps over the years to ensure that it retains people with disabilities in its workforce nationwide. To learn more about retention of federal workers, explore the following resources:

• Section 501 Information Center
• Federal Exchange on Employment & Disability (FEED)
• Federal Agency Employment Strategies: A Framework for Disability Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA)

In many communities across the country, the largest employer is the state government. State governments pay competitive wages and provide benefits to people in a range of positions, from entry-level to highly specialized. State Governments have an important role as a model employer of people with disabilities, setting an example for private sector employers in the state.

EARN offers resources that can help state government employers retain employees with disabilities. The State Exchange on Employment & Disability (SEED) also supports the efforts of state governments to recruit, hire, advance and retain people with disabilities.

Small business is a pillar of the American economy. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, companies with less than 500 employees comprise 99.9% of businesses and employ 47.3% of the workforce in the private sector. Small businesses provide highly sought-after employment opportunities for people with disabilities. According to research, more than 70% of people with disabilities would prefer to work in a small organization.

To help small businesses include people with disabilities in their workforces, EARN created the Small Business Toolkit, which offers information on how small employers can create disability-inclusive workplace cultures.