Alabama Business Leadership Employment Network

Log Out

Looking for:

If you are a Business and would like to a member of a statewide network, please join today and
support the
ABLE Network!

Technical Assistance, Please call

334-613-2244

1-800-441-7607 Ex 224

UAB - The University Of Alabama At Birmingham

UAB

Since the late 1970’s, the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS) has had an on-going partnership with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), which, at 17,000 employees, is the largest single-site employer in the state of Alabama.

This partnership has grown and evolved considerably in size and scope to include numerous programs. ADRS provides well-prepared, pre-screened applicants to help meet UAB’s recruitment needs. ADRS consumers can explore career opportunities through pre-hire, job exploration and training at UAB. ADRS provides customized, vocational rehabilitation services for UAB employees whose job performance is affected by disability, illness or injury. ADRS and UAB jointly fund a rehabilitation counselor position in the Office of Human Resource Management at UAB. This counselor coordinates all of the above services and gives ADRS a permanent, on-site presence. In addition, ADRS provides and "account rep" as liaison to UAB to oversee all employer services & recruiting. This ensures collaboration, reliability and credibility for the successful partnership.

The success of this partnership -- what has driven its growth -- is a working relationship based on trust, mutual benefit, and several key business practices. Early in the relationship, UAB and ADRS established single points of contact between the organizations. More importantly, ADRS acknowledges UAB as a customer, and cultivates its reputation by providing a full scope of disability employment services base on "customer needs".

By helping to meet each others needs, UAB and ADRS have developed a highly successful partnership which can be replicated to VR agencies and employers, both large and small, nationwide.

ManPower

ManPower

The Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS) and Manpower Inc. have a longstanding partnership dating back to 1992. This partnership is customer oriented and was developed out of the need to keep up with the changing business climate. The relationship began as qualified workers with disabilities were referred to the Dothan AL Manpower office for job openings with local employers. The scope of services has since expanded to include the purchase of Manpower assessment and training programs to enable ADRS consumers to become better trained for the workforce. As a result of the partnership numerous individuals with disabilities with a wide variety of disabilities have obtained employment, become independent and contribute as taxpayers to their local economy. The benefits of this partnership for ADRS are : (1) Non-discriminatory approach to placement of individuals with disabilities. Manpower looks at what a person can do and not what they cannot do. If a person's skills need to be upgraded or developed in a particular area they will make recommendations for training. (2) Opportunity for consumers to prove themselves to the company. Many of these placements start out as temporary assignments and end up as permanent placements. (3) The on-site supervisor/coordinator from Manpower often times serves as a mentor for the ADRS consumer and is considered a direct line of communication for the Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor/Placement Staff. Manpower has become a valuable resource for Training for the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. They provide short term skills training for basic clerical and computer software. In addition consumers can upgrade basic computer skills to intermediate/advanced levels. Online computer training for professional/technical level jobs is also utilized for ADRS consumers through the Manpower Global Learning Center GLC. This training is about to be utilized by ADRS in the retention of workers whose job is affected by disability. The Assessment and testing services purchased through Manpower has assisted the ADRS Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors in determining vocational goals for consumers. In addition the consumer's level of competency is assessed in many areas such as clerical, computer software and industrial type jobs. They provide a written report with consumer's scores as well as recommendations for training to assist the consumer in becoming more marketable. Because of the wide availability of offices across the state these services are available to counselors in areas where other resources are limited. As a result of the success in the Dothan, AL area the Manpower/ADRS partnership was expanded throughout the state. Local Manpower Office staff made individual presentations to each ADRS Office which consisted of the Unit Supervisor and Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors. The success of the statewide leveraging of this partnership was presented at the Southeast Regional Employment Conference in Atlanta in May of 2001. In the past year this partnership has been replicated in many southern states.




For more information, please contact us.		Home \| Find a Job \| Post a Job \| Find a Candidate \| Company Update \| Services \| Best Practices \| Membership \| Success Stories Upcoming Events \| Join Today \| About Us \| Resources