The Ten Demandments: How to improve employment services for people with disability

By Martin Wren

The Ten Demandments throws down the challenge to all people associated with employment for people with a disability to lift our game. Currently, job seekers with a disability are not being well served by structures, processes, employment services or employers, resulting in what psychologist and disability activist Wo

• Language: English
• Publisher: Employment First
• Release date: Jun 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9780994429377

Book preview

Praise for The Ten Demandments

In his timely book, The Ten Demandments, Martin Wren challenges readers to create a world that truly works for everyone, including the most marginalised and vulnerable. The principles and practices required for successfully placing and supporting people with disabilities into satisfying and valued employment over the long term are succinctly described here and are not new. However, they are profound. Martin Wren shares from his extensive knowledge, skills and expertise as well as his rich and varied experiences as a seasoned practitioner and visionary leader of a highly successful disability employment service that supports people with significant disabilities to gain and maintain quality employment.

The Ten Demandments challenges the service system to return to its roots where valued and valuable staff are truly person centred, passionate about seeing people with disability gain a life of value, and professionally skilled and competent in how they support jobseekers to achieve this. It also calls for a funding and auditing system that rewards staff and disability employment services for quality outcomes where people with disability earn and enjoy greater financial independence and true social connection and inclusion. An indispensable resource for anyone interested or involved in the employment of people with disability.

Vivienne Riches PhD, Clinical Professor, Psychologist, Centre for Disability Studies and Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney.

How to improve employment services for people with disability

Martin Wren

This edition was first published in 2016 by Martin Wren

50 Chapel St

St Marys NSW 2760

Australia

www.employmentfirst.com

Copyright © Martin Wren 2016, 2017

Author contact: [e-mail]

Website: www.employmentfirst.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders. Martin Wren asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

Cover design by Norwegian Wood Creative

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Creator: Wren, Martin, 1959- author.

Title: The ten demandments: how to improve employment services for people with disability / Martin Wren

Subjects: People with disabilities--Employment--Australia

People with disabilities--Services for--Australia.

Affirmative action programs--Australia.

Dewey Decimal Classification notation: 362.40994

ISBN: 978-0-9944293-7-7 (ebook)

Dedication

To the inspirational men and women

striving to become taxpayers.

Foreword

Refreshing. That’s the word I would use to describe Martin Wren and the agency he directs in Australia, Nova Employment. When I first visited that country to work with Martin, I was immediately surrounded by people who not only were caring and committed to the mission of employing people with disabilities, but also totally dedicated to self-improvement. Yes, they were providing integrated employment services without facilities for people with disabilities, but how, they asked, could they do a better job? More to the point, they were totally focused on the individuals they served, not chasing after program models and easy fixes.

This is what the soul of our work should be. The art and science of customising employment for those who have experienced segregation and discrimination due to their disabilities is challenging. Even with good knowledge of techniques, and after training staff members, an agency must face staff turnover and new geographic areas to serve. Also, this field is continually evolving, with new concepts and approaches constantly helping more individuals with more kinds of challenges access real jobs for good wages.

A lot of what Martin Wren talks about in The Ten Demandments will seem like common sense. But the reality is that providing quality employment services using the principles outlined here is anything but common. In fact, it is an ongoing challenge because the most common disability funding and support models remain outdated, often in conflict with what agencies must do to succeed.

One of the key qualities of successful organisations that provide employment is a shared value base. It’s wonderful to find these values so well articulated here. I know you will find this book useful, enjoyable and challenging. Some of the case examples will be great to share with families and other professionals. Martin says it best: ‘You can’t give up on people’.

Dale DiLeo, 2016

Acknowledgements

Firstly I’d like to thank those people who patiently taught me about the disability employment sector: Peter Barlow, Sue Taylor, Heather Gwilliam, Allen Cullen, Vivienne Riches, Trevor Parmenter and Dale Di Leo. A book that truly inspired me was Closing The Shop by Patricia M. Rogan and Stephen T. Murphy, which convinced me that open employment for people with disability is possible. I picked it up and couldn’t put it down, and it’s still relevant thirty years after publishing.

Down the years, countless colleagues at NOVA Employment have shown a dedication and passion for their work that raises our vocation above simply finding jobs for people to truly changing lives. Thanks particularly to Anne Goyer and Bronwyn Woods for caring for me. NOVA’s collective strength has guided us through some difficult times and, to date, has placed more than 15,000 job seekers into employment.

To my comrades Ann Bolch (clarityinwords.com.au) and Louise Brydon (norwegianwoodcreative.com.au) for assisting me to organise my thoughts, feelings and experience into the book you hold in your hands – thank you. Four people read and reviewed various drafts of The Ten Demandments – Dale Di Leo, Bronwyn Woods, David Brewster and Vivienne Riches. Your feedback and support were invaluable.

My family have given up so much of their time for Dad to pursue this mad passion of changing the status quo for people with disability. Here, I’d like to acknowledge their contribution to the cause.

And to the many job seekers. They are the inspiration. Daily, I see individuals who desire to become taxpayers, which they taught me is a noble and honoured role to play. Craving a sense of purpose, they find it through being able to answer the classic barbecue question: What do you do?

A fulfilled life comes from our contributing

to the society that also looks after us.

Martin Wren

NOVA Employment

April 2016

Introduction

A quiet, sheltered eighteen-year-old man named Rob came to my employment service organisation seeking work. He had done some work experience in a commercial kitchen and his parents suggested this would be a good fit. We found him a job as a kitchen hand in a local Returned & Services League (RSL) club. He worked well for a while but began to take frequent sick days and soon enough showed other signs of not meeting his employers’ expectations.

When we asked Rob what was wrong, he said he didn’t like the work.

What? Not at all?

No, not at all.

Rob hated being indoors, didn’t like the time pressure and found the noise hard to deal with.

As an employment service provider we had skipped our own Rule Number One: Get to know the job seeker’s strengths and interests. When we went back to the drawing board, we learnt that Rob loves being outdoors, can cope with all sorts of weather and doesn’t mind hard work. We found a local golf club looking for someone to mow the course on a daily basis. Rob was overjoyed at the idea.

Five years later, his employer couldn’t be happier with Rob’s attention to detail, punctuality and general attitude towards his work. He fits into the business just the same as his mainstream colleagues. And something else has happened... Rob has fallen in love and he and his partner are