Many people with disabilities, however, aren't able to participate in this defining human experience. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' August 2009 data, only 22 percent of individuals with a disability over the age of 16 are in the labor force, compared to 71 percent of individuals with no disability (www.bls.gov/cps/cpsdisability.htm).

Nationwide, many advocacy organizations, government agencies and businesses are joining forces to change those statistics. Earlier this month, several leading disability organizations launched the Campaign for Disability Employment, which aims to promote the hiring, retention and advancement of people with disabilities and dispel negative stereotypes about disability and employment (www.whatcanyoudocampaign.org).

In the private sector, some businesses are taking steps on their own to strengthen their commitments to providing job opportunities to this population. Walgreens, one of the nation's largest drugstore chains, has taken its commitment to a level that the company hopes can set a new standard in equitable employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

In January 2007, after several years of planning, the company opened a new distribution center in Anderson, SC. New technology, combined with universal design strategies and consultation from disability experts, has enabled the company to hire hundreds of people with disabilities. Forty percent of the employees at the Anderson distribution center have disabilities, ranging from autism to schizophrenia to cerebral palsy. They operate the center at 20-percent higher efficiency than any other Walgreens distribution facility. Employees with disabilities are not segregated to certain areas; they are integrated throughout the facility. And they earn the same pay and benefits as able-bodied employees.

Hatching the Plan

The idea to design a distribution center that would facilitate employment for people with disabilities started as the brainchild of Walgreens senior vice president Randy Lewis in 2002. Around that time the company was beginning to invest in new technology for its distribution centers. Lewis believed the company's new systems could pave the way for opportunities for people with disabilities.

Lewis' own son, Austin, has autism. Austin is 21 now, but raising a young man with a disability has made Lewis very aware of the limited employment opportunities for this population. "When [Austin] gets out of school, he'll probably be like 95 percent of all kids with autism: he'll never be offered a job," Lewis told a warehouse industry conference last year.

Once the company chose Anderson as the site for the first distribution center to integrate its new technology, the planning began in earnest. The 670,000-square-foot facility was designed with touch screens that provide simplified, picture-enhanced interfaces and flexible work stations that are height-adjustable to reduce some of the physical demands of the job. The facilities also use the latest in automated storage and retrieval systems, and sophisticated sorting and high-storage racking.

The new systems were only one part of the plan. Walgreens also surveyed other employers of people with disabilities, sought advice from disability experts around the country, talked to people with disabilities themselves and set up training on autism support from the University of North Carolina (UNC). Walgreens' learning services team created job aids "which offer reminders for team members to review if they ever get stuck," explained Angela Mackey, career outreach coordinator. Further, "the outreach team, including Walgreens job coaches and myself, went through the building and labeled everything with icons."

Putting People to Work

As the company put the systems and supports in place at the Anderson plant, it also needed to look at ways to recruit workers with disabilities. The company established partnerships with local organizations that provide employment services to people with disabilities.

Employees can come to Walgreens through different "paths," according to Deb Russell, career outreach manager. First, they can apply and participate in screening and interviews through traditional channels, and can choose to not disclose any disability. For applicants who do disclose a disability, or who come to Walgreens via referral by an agency that serves people with disabilities, the company will look at possible accommodations.

"In some cases, we might create an opportunity for a person with a disability to work in a temporary 'on-the-job' training situation to determine if we [can] extend a job offer. Individuals with a much longer learning curve and limited or no work history will need this type of an accommodation to our typical interviewing and training process," Russell explained.

"For candidates who need a much longer training time, we rely on our partners to help with the additional needs," she continued. For example, the Anderson County Disabilities and Special Needs Board and the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department serve people with disabilities who are seeking employment. The two agencies have worked with Walgreens to create a training center, complete with some of the same equipment and job tasks as the Anderson distribution center.

Partnerships such as this one do take time to develop, Russell said, but in the end they help ensure "a good match between candidate and job."

"We also do pre-hire training and offer a modified orientation which assists with disability sensitivity," Mackey added. Some of the company's referring agencies include the state vocational rehab agency, the Upstate County Disability and Special Needs Boards, the state public school system and the Commission for the Blind.

Orientation involves typical fare such as workplace safety training, but is done with visual tools such as pictures and video as well as mock situations. Mackey said the format makes the orientation more accessible to all employees, not only those with disabilities. Additionally, staff and managers receive disability awareness training through UNC's TEACCH program (Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication-handicapped Children, www.teacch.com).

Reaching Further

Walgreens easily met and exceeded its goal of employing at least one-third of workers with disabilities at the Anderson facility. But the company has also established a feasible business template that has become a model for other corporations. The 20-percent increase in efficiency at the center convinced company executives to green-light another one in Windsor, CT, which opened earlier this year. Once that center reaches full capacity, Russell said the company expects to see a similar ratio of disabled employees and improved efficiency rate there as well.

The two distribution facilities are unique in their design and technology, but they alone are not the entirety of Walgreens' endeavors to employ people with disabilities. The Walgreens Outreach effort to enhance opportunities for people with disabilities is company-wide. Agencies and professionals who provide employment services to people with disabilities can learn more at the company's Walgreens Outreach Web site (www.walgreensoutreach.com).

"All of our [distribution centers] have the goal of hiring those with disabilities," Mackey said. "It's Walgreens' goal to fill 10 percent of its production jobs at distribution centers with people who have disabilities. Right now, we are more than halfway there."

As the company moves closer and closer toward that objective, it has learned many valuable lessons-lessons that benefit employees both with and without disabilities, and lessons that the company is happy to share with other businesses.

"Our initiative to hire people with disabilities has not only transformed us, but helped us create a better work environment," Mackey concluded. "Our management staff now knows our team members on a deeper level-not because of a disability but because of a genuine interest in all employees. Many of our employees have hidden disabilities, so our managers really do not know who does and doesn't have a disability. Ultimately, our managers get to know all of their team members so that they can discover what motivates them to do their best."

And that has translated into a favorable bottom line for everyone.

Jill Glomstad is ADVANCE managing editor.