MIC'D
HR News brought to you by the Northeast Indiana Human Resource Association (NIHRA).
MIC'D
Promoting Inclusion
Have you ever wondered how to create a workplace that is inclusive, supportive, and accessible for all? Tune into our latest episode where we provide you with the roadmap to do just that. We'll get to know Morgan Lewis, NIHRA Marketing Director, JH Specialty. To add a dash of entrepreneurship spirit, David Long from Kingsview LLC joins us to share his inspiring journey of starting his business.
As we continue our voyage, we're joined by the insightful Ryan Wilson, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and Luke Labas, Inclusion Institute Director, tackling the pressing issue of workplace inclusion and how to dismantle employment barriers. They lend a personal touch to the conversation by sharing their own experiences living with disabilities. They express many benefits accessibilities features hold, not only for individuals with disabilities, but for the overall productivity and profitability of a business.
In the final segment of our enlightening journey, we delve deeper into the functioning of Vocational Rehabilitation and Work One. We learn about their instrumental role in creating an inclusive workforce by providing resources and support to those with disabilities. As we conclude, Jared Sims and Jonathan Hirst from USI Insurance Services join us to talk about the upcoming Benefits Benchmarking Breakfast.
Naira would like to welcome the following new members Makayla Runnels, medical Informatics Engineering. Amy Yoder with Wabash College, pete Allen HILB Group. Anna Black, guide Engineering. Chrissy Hawkins, flexible Staffing. Kathy Closter, purdue, fort Wayne. Travis Liggett, star Financial Bank. Rebecca McAfee, allendale Treatment. And Alec Nash with Parkview.
Speaker 2:Thursday, august 17th, 10 to 11 am. Legal ease the latest from the EEOC, nlrb and DOL. We are taking some of the hot topics that are happening right now in the world of HR and spending an hour together breaking down the details and learning how to best handle each situation with some of the top lawyers in our area. This month will update us on the latest from the EEOC, NLRB and DOL. This is our second annual one on this topic. So much good information that changes constantly. Definitely worth listening to. Following his initial presentation, there will be time for Q&A. Please be prepared to get involved and get the answers that you need. The event will be held virtually via Zoom, allowing you to participate right from your office so that you can make the most of your time. Get registered today, jot down your questions, get yourself a coffee and we will see you virtually then.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the program. We've got Morgan Lewis, our marketing director for Nira, Morgan welcome.
Speaker 3:Hi, how's it going? Tell us about yourself. Yeah, Morgan Lewis, formerly Morgan York. So got married a couple of years ago. Congratulations. Thank you have a little eight-month-old baby boy so trying to navigate through life.
Speaker 1:Oh, boy With that.
Speaker 3:And I actually joined Nira a couple of months ago. So he was about, I want to say, five months old and I wanted to join the board when we were looking at new members to join the board and I was actually right in the beginning of my maternity leave so didn't feel as the right time to say that I can commit to anything, and so, after I just thought I'd go out on a limb and let Ed know that I was reinterested in it, I actually was on the board in 2014 with a whole different crew and a whole different look of Nira and it's really cool to see how things have transformed and having the opportunity to be back here in a different capacity and taking my knowledge that I have from the marketing side of things being with JH Specialty and incorporating that. I'm definitely not a marketing professional, but I feel what I've learned and what I hear and the way that I'm able to grow with them helps us here and to be able to promote Nira.
Speaker 1:Great, great. So do you have anything else to add for the members to know about you or what you hope for for the future of Nira? Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:So I do think some big things that we're wanting to do is be proactive. Adding a marketing head to the group is how do we get ourselves out there? How do we grow Nira as not just a local chapter but as a brand? And a big thing of that is how do we get our schools involved more? We really want to get them involved. We want there to be a way for them to see that HR is not just what you might have in a class, but how you can make it a career, and I think that that's a big part of HR. And growing is letting the next generation know how important it is and how it can be fun, even though sometimes it's stressful, but it's a great career to have, and I think that's a big part of where Nira is going to go.
Speaker 1:Excellent Thanks for your time today, Morgan.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, thank you.
Speaker 4:Understanding the Metro process and the New Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. We are taking some time of the hot topics that are happening right now in the world of HR and spending an hour together breaking down the details and learning how to best handle each situation with some of the top representatives in our area. Regardless of how long you've been in HR and or management, when you receive a claim from the EEOC or Metro, there can be an instant weight on your shoulders, butterflies in your stomach and lump in your throat. Who wants to live like that? In this meeting, nikki Quintana, fort Wayne Metro, along with Brian Shoemaker, eeoc, will walk us through the best practices in responding to claims received. You will hopefully come away with a better understanding of not only next steps and BEX practices, but also your role and the role of the representatives from Metro and EEOC. Ultimately, we are all looking for the same thing a fair resolution for the situation. Learn how to work together to accomplish just that.
Speaker 4:In addition, this session will also give an overview of the New Pregnant Workers Fairness Act PWFA. That requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to workers' known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer an undue hardship. This presentation will help employers and employees understand the metro process and the rights and responsibilities under PWFA. Following the initial presentation, there will be a time for Q&A. Please be prepared to get involved and get the answers and direction that you need. The event will be held virtually via Zoom, allowing you to participate right from your office so that you can make the most of your time. We look forward to having you join us in this worthwhile and impactful event.
Speaker 5:Hello everyone. This is Anne Whitney. I'm the board member at large for NYRA and today, on our member spotlight, I have joining us David Long, who is the owner of Kingsview LLC. Hi, david.
Speaker 6:Hi Anne, Thanks for inviting me on here. As I said in the pre-interview, I've made lots of new NYRA friends, and so this is fun to further those relationships.
Speaker 5:Absolutely. I'm glad that you were willing to join us. David, do you mind just a brief sharing with our listeners about your business and what it offers?
Speaker 6:Sure, I started this almost five years ago and it was kind of a result of I was at the Notre Dame Executive MBA program looking for something to call my own, and so it was through a series of people that I met there that they encouraged me to use some of my nonprofit background and apply that to the insurance marketplace, and we felt like a lot of times the voluntary benefits arena, the small life insurance policies accident, critical illness, disability was an underserved or a lower priority market in the insurance ladder, and so I jumped into that and have built a business now that has a statewide footprint, and I enjoy what I do because I get to give people money when they're facing hardship, sickness, illness or even death.
Speaker 5:Okay, thanks for sharing that to kind of give and lighten everyone and give them a background on that. So tell us, how long have you been a NYRA member?
Speaker 6:I went to the NYRA conference last summer and then joined the beginning of this year, so I'm about a half of a year member.
Speaker 5:Awesome. May I add to that, then? Is that how you had learned of NYRA, or were you aware of NYRA before the conference?
Speaker 6:You know, it's one of those things. I don't know where I learned about it, but I've been in Fort Wayne for 25 years, and so it's just something that I've known of for many, many years, and where that originated I have no idea.
Speaker 5:Okay, I'm glad to hear that's awesome that you attended the conference even last year, prior to your joining.
Speaker 6:Yeah, no, that was very good. I can still remember the speaker. I remember meeting with people at various booths, and so it's a I always say it's a high bang for your buck event in terms of meeting people, networking, becoming a more known quantity. It's a very good in terms of maximizing your time and the output you get.
Speaker 5:Excellent. So, David, can you tell us about, in your experience with your business, like the areas of human resources that overlap into your role?
Speaker 6:Sure, and so I have gone. In a prior position in a nonprofit world I had several hundred employees within a department that I ran, and then when you spin off and start your own self-employed venture, it's just me. I have a team of subcontractors that I use, and so part of my motivation for connecting to NYRA is that when you're an independent contractor, you think very independently. That's a good thing, that can be a bad thing, and so it's something that keeps me in the rails, whether that's attending an NYRA conference and learning about employment law or meeting other professionals who have a very good pulse on the different hiring retaining dynamics. It's just good for me to keep rubbing shoulders with that clientele just to keep me on task.
Speaker 5:Absolutely. I'm glad to hear that you, early on, are already seeing the value of that, so that's great. So also to add to that, why do you think it kind of this question is overlapping a little but why do you think it is important for business leaders such as yourself to understand these dynamics of human resources?
Speaker 6:And the landscape has changed dramatically in the last three to four years. I always felt like human resources sometimes took a backseat and was known more as a compliance type arm of a business. And that's just not the case anymore with the great resignation with COVID and some of the extra miles that people had to work within HR, hiring and especially retaining. We just understand that business is the core of who they are our employees and I'm excited to see that NYRA's growing businesses are recognizing HR as a vital component to maintaining and keeping a highly trained workforce.
Speaker 5:Agreed. Agree completely, I think it's definitely. These recent things have certainly escalated that. So, yeah, what aspects of HR do you feel have really changed the most over these past few years?
Speaker 6:Well, at least the conversations that I'm involved with, there's more creative conversations around the table of how we retain our people. We all know turnovers of significant issue in the marketplace right now, and so I have been a part of more conversations of just people sitting around the table talking about how can we develop, how can we invest, how can we retain. Retention is the buzzword, not just a buzzword, but it is the point of emphasis right now. We're in businesses. We can't give lip service to it anymore. We have to be actively engaged in the professional and even sometimes personal lives of our employees to get what's best for that person, but then what's also best for the business.
Speaker 5:Absolutely. You're certainly touching on, yeah, just the changes and how it's, kind of, like you said, thinking outside the box and kind of coming up with just different ways.
Speaker 6:I think it's like it's actually fun. It's fun to have conversations about how you can impact a person's life. There's been a shift from oh, we need to update the policy and procedure manual. That's all good and foundational, but the conversations are shifting to how can we help our employees who have daycare issues and how can we do for them to help them be a better parent. Those are some of the kind of things that I think really bumps the purposefulness of what we do every day. If we know we're impacting somebody and, indirectly, how that benefits their child, that makes our personal fulfillment when we go to work much higher. And so I think these conversations, although sometimes draining it sometimes you feel like you're not getting ahead on hiring I do think they're very renewing type conversations.
Speaker 5:Yes, yes, certainly those things have changed. I would say I feel that way too. That aspect has definitely changed over the last couple years. More probably, not even years, probably more recently, in the last year for sure. What do you consider so far in your journey to be the most beneficial experience about being a NIRR member and I know it's 2023 you mentioned, but what so far do you feel is something memorable?
Speaker 6:Yeah, you go into it and you think this is a good professional move for me in terms of my own development. Obviously, you're there to network and then there's some of these side benefits that you didn't necessarily realize and, like I said at the beginning, I've made some good friends, whether that's sitting at a tin-caps ball game and learning more about other people's business. I have just found that some of these relationships have added meaning to my life and when you come to the event, you're finding other people co-laboring and dealing with some of the same issues, and so there's a handful of people right now that I bounce questions off of whether that's email or a quick call, and it's just strengthened my own personal relational network.
Speaker 5:That is so great to hear from you, especially as a new member. I couldn't agree more. I feel like the connections that we have made, or even I've made, with Naira are both on a personal and professional level. That is awesome. Thanks for sharing that. What do you think so far, which probably here is a few lineups of memorable speakers, but is there one so far that you really would say stands out?
Speaker 6:Yeah, I think and I apologize on her name, without the gal that I think she was from Toledo and she was talking about disruption or thinking outside of the box. I think it was the last Naira luncheon. I just appreciated her trying to challenge some of the norms. We all get stuck in our box and once we get our notebooks and our systems in place, human nature doesn't like to unravel that. We like to put a bow on things and call it complete. But I appreciate the fact that I remember her mentioning she took a pontoon boat and went down a river somewhere on the Maumee River and then abandoned all the motor and made people essentially row their way back to wherever they were. If somebody is going to go to that length to build team, I certainly appreciated that. I thought her disruption type conversation was good.
Speaker 5:Wow, that sounds really interesting. I think I actually had missed that one. Thanks for sharing that Interesting. Okay, david, I have a couple of questions that are more on the fun level to see what you respond with. But if you could choose any one song to play every time you walked into a room for the rest of your life, what song would that be and why?
Speaker 6:Well, I just went to a Parker McCollum concert last Saturday in Indianapolis and I have some thoughts or some songs stuck in my head, but I'm confident those will fade and I'll come back to the sweet melodies of the Backstreet Boys very soon. So anytime I need to get my foot tapping and sing some tunes in the car I'm going. Backstreet Boys.
Speaker 5:Okay, that's a good one. Is there a particular, or are you just like all the jams from Backstreet Boys?
Speaker 6:All the jams are good, but if I had to pick one, I'm going. I want it that way, for sure.
Speaker 5:Okay, okay, superpowers. What superpower would you choose if you could choose among any of them, and why?
Speaker 6:Very timely because I just followed my son. He plays baseball at Taylor University and they just qualified for the World Series out in Idaho, and so I just played planes, trains and automobiles trying to get out there to a very small town in northern Idaho and when I saw this, my superpower for sure is going to be the ability to fly. If I could just do lift off out of my backyard and be where I needed to be in a couple hours and avoid the headaches of airport travel, flight is my superpower for sure.
Speaker 5:No, that sounds like that one, yeah, would have come in handy for you. Congratulations to your son.
Speaker 6:Yeah, that was fun.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that's a good one. I think we all at times could definitely feel the same way you feel on that one, David. Do you have any other things you'd like to share as far as hobbies go or in your free time or, of course, when you're not doing your business and attending any nine or things? Or are there some other things you'd like to share that you do?
Speaker 6:Yeah, I've always described myself as a little bit of a butt. I have day jobs and then aspirations in the evenings. I've actually written three children's books. My daughter had a hard time learning how to read in elementary school and so, like all parents, we scour the ends of the earth to help our kids, and that evolved into just a fun hobby. I've published three children's books, so that's kind of a fun fact about me. But I mainly chase my kids around, like most working parents do at this point in time, and then every now and then I try to work out, but that's a losing battle, I feel like at this point. But yeah, it's mainly family for me.
Speaker 5:Awesome, that's a fascinating I recall you when we had met. I recall you had shared that about the book and I am so glad you shared that again. That is fascinating to me that you do that on the side.
Speaker 6:Well, it's good to have things that I've just learned that completely hijack your thoughts from the professional side of life, and that's something. When I'm doing it, I tend to find myself in a very creative zone and it's just, it's very therapeutic to do that.
Speaker 5:That's a win, right, when you, like you said, have that and you also find it enjoyable, you like doing it and it provides that. Lastly, do you have any encouraging words for our listeners or someone out there that's maybe come to a Naira networking or maybe they're just hearing about it considering to join?
Speaker 6:Yeah, you know the one that I would say two parts to this response. One would be if you're younger, I know I have an account that I suggested. There are 100 employees they're growing there in Columbia City and they're still putting together a formalized HR department. And so this gal is young, early 20s, and she recently joined Naira on my recommendation, because I just think she needs to rub shoulders with people who are in the trenches on a daily basis.
Speaker 6:Conversely, I would say, for some people who maybe have been doing Naira for many, many years, I just talked to somebody who's been in HR for 25 plus years and very much encouraged them to seek out some of these younger people to bring some freshness to what they do. And so I think there's a lot of young, well-intentioned people that go into HR that really benefit from a mentoring type relationship, because they can get frustrating at times. You can deal with some tough stuff in HR and I think if you have that older, wiser hand actively involved in your life, it's huge. So I would encourage some of the Naira members to not go on autopilot, to seek out some of these younger people and really invest in them. It's good for that person, but I think it may again raise some of their satisfaction as well.
Speaker 5:That is great insight. Yes, thank you for sharing that. Well, david, I am so thankful that you are willing to join the member spotlight and have this interview with me, so I do thank you for your time and for joining the show today.
Speaker 6:Yeah, thanks for what you do. You know, hr can be a thankless job, but it's so important and it's fun to be in a room with lots of other people that actually care so much about people, so this is fun for me. Thanks for your time.
Speaker 5:Absolutely. Thank you again.
Speaker 7:Mark your calendars for Wednesday, September 6th, 11am to 1pm. We spend nearly one fourth of every year working and barely half that eating, but we're far more likely to research pizza delivery places than we are to research that job we're interested in. Why do we try to convince ourselves and others that we're perfect for a job we've never seen in practice? Chris Zarnick, award-winning international speaker and author, is the architect of critical theory processes and books designed to transform hiring and employee development efforts around the country. He's known across the globe as the creator of an innovative approach to job search, known as the human search engine, and for winning the war for talent a transformative approach to hiring and team growth and development.
Speaker 7:Chris has spent over 20 years figuring out why people leave certain jobs and what makes them stay. Chris set out to understand why people look for jobs differently than we do other major life choices. Think about the car you drive, the house you own, the person you decided to marry. Chances are you didn't just see a posting and say, hey, that looks neat, I'll give it a try, Without knowing that car, home or even your future spouse would meet your needs. So why do it with a job?
Speaker 7:Chris knows jobs. He knows that a job description isn't enough, and he knows how to help both job creators and job seekers find each other. Chris currently serves as the subject matter expert on recruiting and retaining talent for Vistage Worldwide, the world's largest executive coaching and peer advisory organization, bringing together leaders to learn and grow. He's available for speaking engagements in which he delivers dynamic presentations about career search, talent development and leadership training, and also hosts weekly mastermind groups. Chris has authored several books on the topic of recruiting and developing talent Job Search Revolution, A Radical Approach to Landing your Dream Job, Human Search Engine for Career Search and Winning the War for Talent. And now he's coming to Fort Wayne to share with Naira on Wednesday, September 6th, from 11 am to 1 pm. You don't want to miss this impactful opportunity, so be sure to register now.
Speaker 1:Welcome to Mike. Today we have Ed and I are going to be talking to Ryan Wilson and Luke Labus. They're going to talk about a number of different obstacles that are in the workplace and having opportunities for people to enter the workforce and other things that employers can do to be of assistance.
Speaker 8:Thanks, mike, absolutely. I think this is a very important topic. I know it is. For me personally, this is a topic that I feel very passionate about. If you know me, know me and know my personal life, you know how passionate I am about making a difference for this community and, specifically, a certain population that I don't feel like gets enough attention or resources, and so our hope for today is to bring some more visibility and awareness into, I think, a demographic that could provide a lot of opportunities for us as employers. And so, as Mike had mentioned, we have Luke and Ryan. Luke, do you want to introduce yourself and where you're from and where you work?
Speaker 9:Yeah, so my name is Luke Labus. I am 28 years old. I'm born and raised right here in Fort Wayne, indiana, and I work at the League for the Blind and Disabled, which is the center for independent living that covers northeast Indiana, and I serve as the director of the Inclusion Institute, which is the systemic advocacy division of the league, and one of our core pillars within the Inclusion Institute is economic advancement and removing barriers to employment and barriers to the workforce. That our peers with disability face.
Speaker 8:Perfect, Luke. That is so important, and I don't know if a lot of people know that the league has a division for what you just mentioned a systemic approach to tackling your inclusion initiatives and diversity initiatives, and so I think it's an opportunity for us as an organization as Naira, to bring a level of awareness to our community of things that I think could be doing such great things in our community and are currently doing such great things in our community. I should rephrase so thank you, Luke and Ryan, would you please introduce yourself?
Speaker 10:Hi, my name is Ryan Wilson. I grew up in Warren, indiana, but I now live in Auburn and I work for FSA as a part of the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act. I am a navigator partner, which is a new program, and my job is to coordinate services that advance competitive, integrated employment for individuals with disabilities by working with vocational rehabilitation and the Work1 organization.
Speaker 8:Very good, thank you. And so I think another just a strong ally in the community we have as employers to lean on to help us help the disability population, right, mike? Yes, so I'd like to know from both of your perspectives and I know we haven't really talked about this beforehand, so this is going to be a very honest discussion but what is your favorite part about what you do, luke?
Speaker 9:So my favorite part about what I do and admittedly I never- wanted to get into disability advocacy.
Speaker 9:I never wanted to do this type of work because I live in it every day, but the reality is I've been given opportunities and been given platforms that many of my peers with disabilities either did not receive or will not have for whatever circumstance, whether that be income or their upbringing, their childhood and being able to be a voice for them as well.
Speaker 9:Because it's not just about bettering my life based on my experience, but seeing that you're working on behalf of other people that may or may not have the same disability type as you. I don't know what it's like to be blind or have low vision and have to navigate the workforce, the job application process. I don't know what it's like to be deaf or hard of hearing, but, as a person with a disability, we all face barriers of different kinds. The unique thing about disability is it's the one minority group that 100% of the population is going to join at any given time, because you're either born into it, you can encounter it at any given day because of a circumstance, or at the very least, you're going to age into it, With the exception of Tom Brady tell me a first word.
Speaker 8:Oh, that is too funny. I think you're spot on man. We are all either surrounded by and I've never heard that, Luke, but you are so right, we're either surrounded by people with disabilities, or we ourselves will be Absolutely. I mean, we cannot, unless your name is Tom Brady right. We cannot escape father time, and it's very clear, Luke, that you have such a strong passion and a strong voice for this community. So thank you, first of all, for standing up and telling your story and also being a representative for those that can't or those that won't, and that's not an easy thing to do, I'm assuming it's not easy for you to just completely stand at the top of a mountain and do this.
Speaker 9:Yeah, but you know, when you look at it from the economic side and the employment side, let's be proactive with our workforces, whether it be our hiring policies or making our workspaces more accessible, and then looking at it from the customer side, if you build a more accessible environment, then you bring in the purchasing power of the employee. The community, which is the largest minority in the country.
Speaker 8:And you just brought up a huge point From a sheer business perspective. Why wouldn't you want to engage the largest minority population in the country, right, number one and number two, by opening up your ability to serve others? Who's to say that your business isn't going to benefit from that? I mean just from a pure business perspective, and I will tell you also from a hiring perspective. You know, not only is this the right thing to do, I mean, I guess, business aside, let's just make this known that we're human. I mean, we all deserve a level of dignity and respect. But in reality, if you've lived with a disability, you know that's not always the case and I hate to say it like that, but that is the truth. If you don't walk around every day with a disability, you have no idea what those that have a disability go through. So not only is it beneficial from a business perspective, it's the right thing to do. We are humans, first of all, but secondly, from a hiring perspective and a human resources perspective, you actually get a tax credit. It's your, you know your work opportunity tax credits for hiring those with a disability. So it is to our benefit.
Speaker 8:I think one of the struggles that companies have is they know they want to, but they just don't know how to get there right, because it seems like such a daunting road to go down, and I think maybe it's the ignorance, I don't know, right, mike? I mean it's just, if I don't know much about something, it's going to make me nervous to dive headfirst into it, and I think that is one of the areas that gets me most excited is doing something like this with you, luke, and you, ryan, is education is where it starts, because if we can educate our community, then I think we can alleviate a lot of the fear and anxiety around doing things and thinking outside the box. I mean, we don't need to make this more complicated than what it is, but you know we have to get creative right. So that's absolutely true, luke. So thank you for mentioning that, ryan. I will ask you the same question so what is your favorite part about what you do?
Speaker 10:Well, I'm going to give a little bit of background before I say that, because you wouldn't. It's kind of one of those things that you wouldn't get. For starters, I was very young when I was given a mental disorder and I've lived with it all my life. I mean, I was finally diagnosed with it and for about eight years I've been on disability because of the fact that I couldn't manage it just doing the jobs that I was doing. It was just putting so much anxiety and pressure and pain in my life that I just couldn't do it.
Speaker 10:Also, my husband is physically disabled, so I see the employment hardships that he has in trying to find good employment, well-paying employment, and he gets frustrated too. But through having disability I was able to be a part of vocational rehabilitation and the services that they offered. I was able to go back to school and get my degree and in a way and this is what your question is I am happy to be able to pay it forward, because now I work with vocational rehabilitation and I want to be able to share my story and help others realize all of not just because I have more of you always hear of as a hidden disability. But then you see my husband who has a physical disability. So you always wonder. So I am very fortunate to pay it forward and help others.
Speaker 8:Good for you. Well, I love to hear your story because I think the stigma of well, you don't look disabled, right, who's to say you are disabled?
Speaker 8:I am going to give you a quick story. So my son is disabled and we have a handicapped parking tag. He has some troubles walking and I am not going to name the venue, I am not going to name the place, but we went somewhere to park and I had him in the front seat with me and you know I don't really tell this story all that often because it's just not something I like to. You know, live through again, right, but I think at the time he might have been maybe 12, 13. And I go to park at a parking spot that's handicapped and one of the people that was managing the event I think it was a security guard or an usher or someone says well, he said he would like to reserve that for those that have a disability and are older. And he said, well, you know his parents were older. And I said, no, I understand and I apologize, but you know I'd like to park here. And and he said, well, you sure don't look like you have a disability. And when he said that it just it blew my mind. You know my son is 12. For crying out loud here, I am taking him to a venue to forget about this world that reminds him every day of his disability. Here he is reminding him of his disability again. You know it.
Speaker 8:Just, it gets me fired up because, again, if you don't live this world, you have no idea. You have no idea of the impact in the life that you know. You said it yourself your husband is struggling to find a good paying job. Well, just because I'm disabled doesn't mean I don't have bills, right, I mean you know that doesn't mean that I don't have bills, like the rest of this world, that I have obligations for. So why should I be sure, changed if I can do the job just as well as someone else, right? And I think, hopefully, as a state maybe not only as a state but a local community as well we can do things to help that. So are we doing anything right now as a state to help employers with vocational jobs for those with disabilities?
Speaker 10:Well, that's what my job is as a navigator partner. It is actually the. We are the first state in the country to have this program. So what my job is in? As a pilot program. Hopefully it is able to spread across the country.
Speaker 8:Now, how do you know? And I'm just curious. And if you don't have the answer to this, this is okay, but I'm curious how we got selected for this pilot program.
Speaker 10:I have no idea, because this seems like a really great opportunity I mean yeah very unique. I was very surprised because I knew we were the first partners in the first partner navigator partners in the state. But it was. I was informed that it was in the country and that you would think that it was. They would have like a bigger state, do it to be a part of it and they're like nope.
Speaker 8:Well, I think it's an opportunity that we take and we run with, exactly, and if we can help as a platform, as a podcast, as an organization, if we can help share this message with the world and our community, I think we're one step closer, because it starts here. It starts with your mind. You can't see me, but I'm pointing to my head. It starts with, with, with. Not. It's doesn't start with action. It starts with your heart and your belief. If we can all get on the same page together, that hey, this is what we need to be doing together, then those are the platforms that will help elevate us. Well, how can we get everyone on the same page? While it's through education, right.
Speaker 9:I think one of the one of the things to mention there and really drive home that point is accessibility benefits everybody.
Speaker 8:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 9:I'll use a couple of examples. Prior to the passage of the ADA in 1990, we heard from various government officials and entities and private businesses that putting in accessibility combinations and modifications would be too costly. How many?
Speaker 8:people use an elevator now yeah.
Speaker 9:Everyone.
Speaker 8:So was that a part of the original?
Speaker 9:So so elevators wouldn't exist if it wasn't for people with disabilities.
Speaker 8:There you go.
Speaker 9:How many people use speech to text on their phone?
Speaker 8:I Mostly everyone Exactly.
Speaker 9:That was put in as an accommodation for people who are blind to use phones and technology Again people not realizing that these accessibility features benefit everyone in all of society.
Speaker 8:How many times does. I don't know if you, if we've like, heard stories of something that was invented, but then the use for that was completely different. It's the same thing, right? I mean, let's the benefits of this. It stretches far past this community, right?
Speaker 9:And today the disability population in the US is roughly one in four. But again like, I mentioned earlier over the course of your lifetime. It's going to impact everybody, it's going to be 100% of the population. So, and you look at, you know, tying this back to the workforce and employment and what our state has done good to this point, whether there's still work to be done. People with disabilities are the poorest people in America, with the exception of children, and the only reason why children are poorest because there's child labor laws.
Speaker 11:Wow.
Speaker 9:So so when you look at the economic side of this and you know again how things being accessible benefit everybody, you look at the whether it be the fiscal impact of employment and increasing and expanding the tax base so we can get more government revenue and into these various programs to improve our infrastructure or whatever the case may be, and you know, you look at Indiana across the board has actually pretty successful disability services offices and career services. Offices at our higher ed institutions and really looking at connecting people with disabilities to internship program opportunities.
Speaker 9:Because the research and data shows that people with disabilities are graduating at the same rate and on time with their peers that don't have disabilities. Where the gap is and what happens is people with disabilities are liking the work experience when they graduate. So, they're going into an interview and saying hey, prospective employer, hire me with a 4.0 GPA, but they don't have any internships or work experience, so who's the employer? To take the individual with the work experience.
Speaker 8:Right.
Speaker 9:So we've really seen an uptick and people with disabilities getting access to internships and having that those opportunities and I will stress, paid internships, because people with disabilities have been asked to work for free and volunteer for decades.
Speaker 8:And that, I think, is where we need to stand together as a community and say listen, there this stops right. There needs to be a point where you know the whole free or let me volunteer, just just. No, this is not how it works, and I wasn't aware of a lot of the things you said, luke. And again, it starts with education. So let me ask you this, luke so as internships become perhaps more prevalent with the disability population, what do you think? What do you think are some of the, I guess, the difficulties employers are having right now with internships in terms of the disability population?
Speaker 9:So I think making the environment accessible and I think there's a lot of hesitation from co-workers and fellow employees that the interns will be working with. There's that hesitation and fear that you were speaking of earlier, but again, the research and data will show that co-workers and peers that work alongside people with disabilities, productivity is elevated, profits and revenues elevate Because, again, even apart from productivity, there's a sense of brand loyalty, you know, organizational loyalty.
Speaker 9:If I know, for example, if I know a deaf employee works at this shoe company, where am I likely to buy shoes? If I'm someone deaf, I'm going to go to that store and buy shoes.
Speaker 8:Absolutely.
Speaker 9:So again, you're getting that brand loyalty as well and you're getting champions for accessibility within these workforces, within this environment. To then multiply and amplify this message.
Speaker 8:And that, I think, is. You said something very interesting that I don't know if most of us really understand. Is that brand loyalty? You know one in four of every person in the United States has a disability, which, by the way. I don't know the population of the United States, but that's a huge number. I would venture to say that they are, that they have outnumbered a lot of most of demographics. I don't know what the numbers are, but one in four is a lot. And when you think of those numbers and brand loyalty, if I'm disabled and I know that that XYZ company supports employees and promotes what is important in my day to day life, why wouldn't I do business with them?
Speaker 9:And an important point to note. There is one of the things that we hear from employers is it's going to be too costly to make things accessible and to provide accommodations. The average accommodation is less than $150.
Speaker 11:Wow.
Speaker 9:And think about that. That's a one time expense, meaning if I purchased this thing to make whatever the employee is doing, to make their job more accessible and level the playing field, then they can be more productive, so that accommodation pays for itself.
Speaker 8:Absolutely.
Speaker 9:And then the productivity again is elevated, so which elevates the profit of the entire company and organization.
Speaker 8:And I would venture to say there's a lot of companies that blow way more than $150 for lunch, yeah, and that is a small fee to pay, and I would probably say that your employee loyalty and retention for those with disabilities are way higher than those without right. So very good points, luke. I think you're making some very compelling arguments. Ryan, what are your thoughts on internships and the workplace for those with disabilities?
Speaker 10:I definitely that's a lot of. What I'm trying to do is to get more of those and get more of the training that needs to be, and that's a lot of. When I say work one I forgot to specify because I know that hopefully everybody hears this it's the department of workforce development. So if people outside of the state listen, Thank you for clarifying that, yes.
Speaker 10:Because a lot of their they have more of a stake in we OWA than because what they're trying to do is to help people, because people come in there and to work one not knowing about vocational rehabilitation, and so they're able to help in that matter, while still providing training, because part of what they do is they provide workshops, and there's even one on confidence building Interesting yes, confidence building resumes, interviewing skills, all sorts of things. So they have a lot to offer.
Speaker 8:So vocational rehabilitation, let's talk about that a little bit, okay. So educate the people of what that really means.
Speaker 10:Vocational rehabilitation. What it is is my make sure I'm getting.
Speaker 8:Oh yeah, you take your time please.
Speaker 10:I just want to make sure that I'm getting everything, because I have a good amount of material with me, because I want to make sure I I'm not like Luke, I can't keep all of that information in my head, Luke. I don't know how he was like rolling off statistics and I was just like, oh my God.
Speaker 8:We haven't talked about this, like I don't know how you do this, luke, but amazing.
Speaker 10:Wow, yeah, I mean, I was just like okay.
Speaker 8:I have to follow this.
Speaker 9:But my political science.
Speaker 10:See, with organizational leadership, I just know how to get put together. But yeah, it's kind of a road to work because that is just what it entails. It's getting you back on track to work, that you don't have to rely on Social Security, disability anymore, and they want, and a lot of people they feel at least for me I was just like I don't feel like I'm contributing to my family. I mean, I was Right, I didn't have a job or anything like that. But I also didn't want to go back to just a minimum wage job. That would just stress me out again. I'd be back at square one.
Speaker 8:So let me ask you this, because you mentioned something that I haven't thought about. So as, as someone with a disability, I'm going through a program that's, that's, that's a vocational rehabilitation program that's going to give me back out in the workforce. I'm going to get a good paying job, I'm going to get upskilled whatever you, you know you want to call it.
Speaker 10:Now, once I start making enough money, that income does that income then drop from the yes, okay, because what they do is it's called ticket to work and it is a plan to slowly like, once you reach a certain limit, I mean you will go off of disability and so my question, then, is what kind of emotional effect is this having?
Speaker 8:because it's, I mean, you know, when you think about it, that is a big security blanket. That is, yes, it is I mean, for myself, I mean.
Speaker 10:but at the same time I was so scared before I found out about the services that I was going to lose my disability because it's not a guaranteed. I mean, every so many years they check your status, like how you are medically, how, I mean, how's your disability, and you, they could be like you don't need it anymore, you're done.
Speaker 8:Right right.
Speaker 10:And so it's not a for life thing. They always are checking. So I was scared, I mean, because that is something that you're worried about, like how am I going to contribute to the because in every income? And like I was saying, it's like when my husband isn't able, I mean I struggle to get a good paying job, and so I was worried about that. And then finally somebody told me about vocabulary have and I was able to apply and I was able to get in and what happens is in the step by the process that I went through and see, and I'm really thankful that I have this knowledge because I'm able to tell people trying to get in, because sometimes they feel a little awkward doing it Right. And so I met with a counselor who we talked a couple of times. I had requirements, at least in my mind. They said, well, what are you thinking? And I was like at that moment I was thinking I wanted flexible hours because I have a daughter.
Speaker 8:Yep.
Speaker 10:And that was something that was important to me. And another thing is I wanted a calmer environment. So then that way, I mean I didn't want like a large amount of people around me.
Speaker 8:Right.
Speaker 10:And so she was going okay and she named some jobs out and she's like well, what we can do is either I can help you find a job right away or you can go back. I mean, you can go back to school, I'm going to apply and we will cover funding.
Speaker 10:And so I decided to go back to school and I went and I got my degree and then afterwards All good for you, thank you and afterwards she helped me locate a job. I mean, I was still putting in my resumes and things like that, but my counselor was also sending me jobs to look at and apply for and so I didn't.
Speaker 10:It wasn't that I got my degree and they just let me go. It was they were helping find that and now with working, that I can also. I talked to my counselor every couple of months to check how I'm doing Good, and so you have, once you get into a they call it a stable status, like if you feel comfortable, then you have like a 90 day period and if you don't, like if it doesn't fit, they'll help you find another job.
Speaker 12:Okay.
Speaker 10:For I mean just to see, like, because they're not going to just leave you with the job, because once again you'll be at square one.
Speaker 8:Right. So there's a lot of there's, there's. It doesn't seem like it's. I don't know if it'll ever be a perfect science right, no. Because there's so many and you mentioned something that I hadn't even thought about that you know. Without knowing for sure, I would assume that there is a healthy amount of the disability population that needs or may not need, but but strongly would, would be beneficial for a a quiet or you know, environment.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 8:And that's kind of hard to provide.
Speaker 9:Okay, look at, look at what the pandemic in recent months and years has done to our society. I will argue that the pandemic disabled society oh yeah, it's made society reevaluate the norms and the ways of doing things. Yep, you know again. People with disabilities have been asking for decades to have remote working opportunities. Let's become part of the norm now, because employers now see reduced overhead, reduced costs. You know flexible work hours, you know being able to work from home and whatnot, and that removes the potential transportation barrier. Right, and that's what people with disabilities face and have to even consider before even getting to work.
Speaker 8:And that that that's such a huge obstacle that you know we take for granted, right, we do, we get in our car and we go to work.
Speaker 8:Well, that's not as easy for a lot of those with disabilities, and so if we can provide an environment where people can do jobs from home, you know, and I think it also, if this is going to be a thing where, where, which, by the way, I'm a huge supporter of I think we also need to help educate our workforce on properly managing a remote workforce, because that's a whole different conversation, right? I mean, if you're listening and you have a problem with micro management, then you should, you know, maybe focus on more of the output than as much as what people are, how people are, you know, inputting the work to reach the end goal, right, and so it has completely shifted the way we think about work, the way we work. But if this can be used as kind of a catapult to something, an ancillary world that we never knew could benefit from it, why not? So I think that's such a good point, luke, and I appreciate you mentioning that.
Speaker 1:Ryan, from the from an employer perspective, what, what specific resources does work one provide for to help remove some of those barriers?
Speaker 10:You mean for training, or they do a lot of because they have, like I said, the workshops. They will also help with different training. Something that I learned early on and this was a collaboration with Vogue Rehab and Work One was somebody wanted to be a semi-driver and Work One can only pay for so much and Vogue Rehab can only pay for so much. So they joined forces and so they were able to do that together. And as far as services, it really I think that a lot of the work ones in the area they have the same classes but they're more customized to the area because I have 11 counties.
Speaker 8:So that's a very large area.
Speaker 10:Yes, but that's there are. I think there is. There may be 10 of us in the state, so then each of us have different regions, but we have they will also Work One also provides the ability to get equipment adaptable equipment One of the things that I was shown when I was given a tour of Work One in the main offices in my region, because there's three of them. They each have a accessible desk and they have all types of adaptable equipment for every I mean for all types of disabilities, and so people can come in and they have that ability to look for a job and have I mean because they will be able to see there's like bigger screens, bigger keyboards and like earphones so you can hear better.
Speaker 8:Now, are there grants from the state for this stuff?
Speaker 10:Yes.
Speaker 8:Awesome.
Speaker 10:Because that's part of EvoGrehab is they will help with anything that you need for work. They will help fund.
Speaker 8:So this isn't even something that you have to pay out of your own pocket for.
Speaker 9:I think an important point to mention here is that VR vocational rehabilitation seeks to level the playing field, yes and remove the barriers. And I think it's an important point to drive home during this conversation that people with disabilities and VR seek to provide opportunity, not to guarantee that you'll get a job or not to guarantee that you'll lose your job because of bad performance, but to give you the opportunity and the dignity of risk. People with disabilities should not get jobs because of their disability. At the same time, they should not be denied the opportunity to get a job because of their disability.
Speaker 1:Thank you, and that's absolutely.
Speaker 8:And it's the same argument that we have when we look at the diversity of our internal organizations, and some companies have diverse initiatives and the rest of the story. But you make a great point, luke. I don't think that it should guarantee you a job, nor guarantee you keeping a job. But, as you mentioned those tools, I'm hoping that will level the playing field in some way, right, in some way that will help level that playing field so that we can together determine what does performance look like, how do we measure it and at what point. Is this not a fit?
Speaker 10:And I think those policies, as this industry continues to grow, will probably continue to evolve right Because something I mean just kind of going off of what Luke said it gives both Work Wine and VR. Give you the tools, but you have to take them and use. I mean you have to work at it as well. I mean it's not handed to you on a platter, right Like Work Wine has all of these workshops. Well, if you don't use them, it's not going to help you find a job Absolutely.
Speaker 10:And I think, the biggest thing, because I think Work Wine is really benefiting from this, because they used to be like you would call them the unemployment office, but they're the employment office Because that's what someone told me, that One of the supervisors told me that and I thought that was a really good analogy for it. It is. It's like going you're not going there to just get your unemployment, You're trying to get a better job, hopefully a better job.
Speaker 10:And people who come in, especially those with disabilities. They once again, like I said, they may not know about VR, they may just think that this is all they can do, because and they're able to help, and that's I can go in there and talk to them as well, because the goal is at least for my program it's called a dual customer approach, so it helps the business. It's the customer for us, but we're the customer for them as well. My mouth got full. So it's a joint partnership, because you don't want to always be like the business is lording over them. So I mean it's benefiting, like you were saying. I mean you have the business benefits to have that diversity.
Speaker 10:Absolutely and so that's what we're trying to do.
Speaker 8:Well, it sounds like they have the right person leading that charge, ryan, and thank you for just your passion and really, really, speaking from the heart, it's very clear. You know, apart from Naira that I'm the president of, and apart from the league, that I do serve on the board, for I also run a recruiting business and I do business with those that have a similar passion in whatever they do, and, for me, I like to associate myself with people that I know where their intentions are and it's very clear where the intentions you're at today and, luke, I want to ask you a little bit about the league and your mission. So talk to me a little bit about how the league is impacting the community and what your role is in that.
Speaker 9:So the league has been around for 70 plus years and the unique thing about the league compared to other disability services organizations in the area is it's not only for people with disabilities, of course, but it's by people with disabilities, so a majority of our staff and board members are qualified people with disabilities and are connected to the disability community in some way.
Speaker 9:So you're getting that lived experience, because when people want to get connected or don't even know where to start on their journey with a disability, having a person with a disability on the other end of the phone or the other end of the computer, if you send an email and you don't know where to start provide a certain comfort level. And again, people with disabilities are the experts on what people with disabilities need.
Speaker 9:Sure, no circumstance and no individual situation is the same, but it's a lot easier to navigate when you're trying to navigate it with a group of peers and to have that peer to peer support. So, as a center for independent living, the league provides five core main services information and referral meaning somebody can call from anywhere in the world to get any piece of information We've gotten calls from Kuwait, united Arab Emirates, australia and provide them with information and resources.
Speaker 9:And then that peer to peer support that I was talking about, whether that be our blind and low vision support groups or pretty much blind or various other support groups that we have across the entire Northeast Indian region in the 11 counties that we serve, and then the individual advocacy, which is part of our independent living services division, which helps people meet and address their needs on an individual, case by case basis, and then you have what my department is focused on is the systemic level, getting to the root causes of why barriers are barriers. In the first, place. Again, not necessarily treating the symptoms of the problem and putting band-aids on things that's absolutely necessary because, that's urgency in the moment.
Speaker 8:Absolutely.
Speaker 9:But we really need to focus on the systemic level issue of okay, how can we change this long term to make it accessible for everybody, to remove the barrier? So the Inclusion Institute is focused on four main policy areas building accessible named wounds, which is focused on housing. Expanding the availability of accessible, affordable, integrated housing.
Speaker 7:Economic advancement.
Speaker 9:that team is really focused on removing the barriers and the economic disincentives that people with disabilities face while working and or the ability to keep a job and maintain a job, because a lot of people don't know that people with disabilities cannot have more than $2,000 in their bank account at any given time. Otherwise they potentially risk losing their Medicaid, which funds their personal care. So people with disabilities, particularly for wheelchair users, are left to decide okay, do I want to have my personal care, which helps me get out of bed every morning and go about my daily life, or be a productive member of society by joining a workforce and trying to live an independent life?
Speaker 8:I mean, could you? I can't imagine just making that decision in itself.
Speaker 4:No, so there's a lot of economic barriers and disincentives out there.
Speaker 9:Now there are programs available to address some of those barriers, but again, navigating those complicated systems that you may or may not even know about and or have peers that you can go to to say, how do I even address this or how do I go about this?
Speaker 9:Or do I have to fill out a 200 page application that I'm likely going to be denied for and really addressing and reforming some of those. And then our connected community team is focused on getting to a little barriers to community connectivity, whether that be our trail system, transportation infrastructure. And our fourth policy bucket is accessible media and information, because once people have the information, they then have the power to then act on it. And the interesting thing about all of these, all of these things, is they're so interconnected.
Speaker 8:Yeah, I mean, you can't absolutely.
Speaker 9:If you don't have the employment and the economics, how can you afford transportation, how can you afford housing? But if you don't have transportation, how can you get to work?
Speaker 8:Yeah, you can't, and it's very clear that the league is. I mean, you guys are in this for one reason and one reason only, right, and it's not because of money. I mean, if you didn't hear what Luke said, you don't do this and have those branches spread out in those segments deliberately, with the impact you're doing intentionally. You know, as someone that lives with you know, with you know, I'd mention, my son is disabled and these are the things that I want the world to become right, and I think when he's entering the workforce, I think about those things and what is that world going to look like? Well, I think we need, we owe it to ourselves and we owe it to our communities, to our families, to our workforce, to our companies to do better, and it starts with things like what Luke and Ryan have mentioned and it starts with education, and I'm hoping that I know I learned something new today.
Speaker 8:I hope that you did as well listening to this episode and if you didn't, if you didn't learn anything new, first of all, we want you on the team. If you knew all of this information before, please come aboard. But secondly, if you can hear the sheer passion coming from these microphones, we're here for the good of the cause, we're here to make a difference, and we need more people like this. So, luke and Ryan, thank you, thank you so much. Is there anything any last minute parting, words of advice or words of wisdom that you want to leave our listeners with?
Speaker 9:I would say for any employers you know, hr professionals, be a champion for overall accessibility within your workforce and within your business, because that begins to be noticed. And again, going back to that brand loyalty, opening yourself up to not only being able to serve but to have a workforce that is reflective of the customers with which you serve.
Speaker 8:Absolutely. I love that man. Thank you for sharing. And what about you, ryan? Any last minute words?
Speaker 10:Yeah, I would say, sometimes you just have to fight, and I mean be an advocate, because at least for me, I've found so many through this journey. I have found so many ways to pay it forward and try to make I know it's going to sound corny a world a better place, or at least a state a better place.
Speaker 8:But that doesn't sound corny by the way.
Speaker 10:I know it sounds cliché to a lot of people, but I just feel that some people don't know how to start that and you, just you keep trying to look and you find something and you go from there. I mean because it's not going to change unless you fight for it.
Speaker 1:Where would our listeners go to find out more information or to contact either one of you?
Speaker 10:I would say for vocational rehabilitation. I would go for at least the state of Indiana. It's F-S-S-A, dot i-n, dot, g-o-v, and they have, and besides that they have so many other resources that you can use For work one. It would be for this area, it's work one, o-n-word n-e-dot-l-r-g. And then I would guess I mean, or go to d-w-d dot com and you'd probably be able to find anything in your state.
Speaker 8:Awesome, thank you. What about you, luke?
Speaker 9:Yeah, so you can reach us on our website, the-leagueorg, or contact us via phone at 260-441-0551 and you will get directed to the right department, depending on your service name.
Speaker 8:Awesome, Thank you. Thank you both. I really appreciate you both telling your story and hopefully this reaches just one person from across those speakers that are listening to this episode. If you also if you're listening to this and you'd like additional information on how to specifically contact Luke or Ryan, you can contact me or Mike. Our contact information is on our website. You can find us at the board contact information section of our website. That's nairaorg. Thanks again for listening in.
Speaker 1:A human resource professional was quizzing a new employee on the company's safety manual. And what steps do you take in case of a fire, she asked. The new employee replied quick ones. Welcome to the program. Today I've got Jared Sims and Jonathan Hearst from USI Insurance Services. Please introduce yourselves and tell us about the upcoming program in September.
Speaker 11:Thanks so much, Mike. Yeah, my name is Jared Sims. Like you said, I'm with USI Insurance Services. I've been with USI since January 2nd 2020. And it's been a great ride. Always scary to start a new with a new company and especially with the pandemic hitting, you know, three months after we started. But USI has been great, with 6,500 employees when we started and now we have over 10,000. John and I just both became partners at the firm last year, so it's been an awesome ride. Love helping employers with their benefits so they can not only contain costs but help their employees get the best possible care at the lowest possible price.
Speaker 12:And yeah, morning. Thanks, mike for having us. Jonathan Hearst started the same day as Jared, as he may have mentioned USI Obviously Rocky Time for his last comments around COVID. All it really did was just ingrain us further with USI and make us more thankful to work for a company like USI and you know, just in the state of Indiana, seven offices and one being in Fort Wayne. That's why we love kind of being in Fort Wayne so much. You know they've welcomed us with open arms and you know just love giving back to the benefits. You know been in this space now a little over six years and it's pretty cool to be able to talk, you know, human resources and then also be able to talk finance in that same conversation. So I appreciate you having us here today.
Speaker 1:And before you jump into the program, guys. You actually do the pregame for our luncheons as well. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Speaker 11:Yeah, so we sit on the committee with Julie Hess who's been. She's just a great leader for Naira, so fortunate to know her and partner with her. But you know we do the pregame, so just love Naira and the networking portion that offers. We try to, you know, schedule a speaker that's going to bring some value 30 minutes prior to the monthly Naira meeting. So we'll schedule a speaker that is well-known in the community or we may just leave it open to networking. We want folks to find the most value. We've got some feedback that networking is important, so anyway we can help facilitate that. We're always happy to do that on a monthly basis.
Speaker 12:And you know, sometimes you just want to hear listen to two goons for 30 minutes right before you're eating your lunch. But it's been a great way to get back and just ingrain ourselves further and try and help, right? I mean, the ultimate goal of Naira is to help each other in any way we can. If it's listening to us for 30 minutes and coordinating with Julie on that, that's great. We're just we're happy to be involved.
Speaker 1:Thank you for that. Yes, so tell us about the upcoming program and what you have to offer local companies that participate.
Speaker 11:Perfect, yeah, we are, we're doing. We get some really great feedback. We're doing a benefits benchmarking breakfast again this year. We did it last year. We're hosting it at Master Spalls. It's September 21st, from 8 in the morning till 9 at night.
Speaker 12:It won't be that long. Yeah, we'll do it for an hour.
Speaker 11:We'll do it for 13 hours. That's a big commitment, guys, yeah 8 to 9 in the morning, sorry.
Speaker 12:It could be a workshop, sorry.
Speaker 11:So those that sign up, they get a free benchmark from USI. Usi does offer the largest benchmark survey in the country. We have over 10,000 employers participate and it is the largest by over double to the next closest. So obviously we'll benchmark your major medical plan. We also look at the ancillary products like your dental, your vision, your life, disability, some of those fringe benefits you may offer like critical illness and accident coverages, all the way down to even pay time off, pto or maternity and maternity leave. We want to see how you stack up to your competitors in your size, in your industry and in your region.
Speaker 12:Yeah, and to kind of tack on a little bit when Jared said you know, when we look at dissect and kind of these results and if you look at the comment you made around having the largest benchmarking survey, sometimes that gets lost.
Speaker 12:And what that really means is we have over 10,000 unique employers and the data that's being aggregated by USI, de-identified, allows us to kind of silo those participants by the industry that they're in. So the employer's industry, the size, so based off enrollment and total head count, and then the geography, so we can even cut it down to as close as Fort Wayne, or we could look at it as greatly as the US right or Midwest, East Coast, West Coast. So you can really paint a true picture of what is my competition doing in order to retain and attract employees. Because ultimately, benefits are probably, if not the number one decision as to why an employee will elect to work for that employer. About 84% of new hires take benefits into consideration when looking at joining a company. So when you're really looking at making your benefits competitive and attractive, well, better way than to look at what your competition is doing from that standpoint?
Speaker 11:Yeah, mike, I do want to reiterate, and you know this the war on talent right now is crazy, but this is a free service we're offering. So we do limit to the first 30 because it is a lot of work on our end. So we want to make sure we have all the results to everyone by the day of the benchmark, but there's no fee for this. We don't expect you to do business or have to do anything outside of this. You just come, you get your benchmark, we review it as a group, you get your own personal slides, but there's no expectation of like, hey, we have to meet with Jared and John afterwards. It's just a great way for us to give back to Nyra, like we said, who's been just so welcoming for us.
Speaker 12:And we've seen just some really positive feedback around the time, and I think last year we did it around August and so this year I think we've done it, we're doing it in September and it tends to be right around when you're doing your renewal pre-renewal meetings, right. So a lot of HR, a lot of C-suite are having conversations with their advisors strategically, and so the benchmark allows you to have a further strategic conversation around what needs to change. Do my deductibles need to be lowered? Are we overinsured? Are we underinsured? Are benefits competitive and all those areas that Jared mentioned earlier. How do we make those competitive and what adjustments can we make? So the timing tends to be really, really spot on around this time because the conversations are happening.
Speaker 1:So for our listeners, what do they need to do due to in order to participate?
Speaker 12:So it's pretty simple. You know, for those that want to reach out my cell phone number, I'll put it out there I'm sure Jared will a cell phone number 765-243-0517. Shoot me a text, shoot me a phone call. We can follow up with kind of the. It's usually four or five items that we need to get that done and it's something like an employee handbook look at contributions monthly from the employer and the employee and then usually that handbooks for us to look into what your PTO policy looks like, what other benefits you know, what other waiting periods within your benefits, and then the last thing's typically going to be your benefit guide, because that's going to household the benefit information like your deductibles, your co-insurance, co-pays, things of that nature. So it's pretty simple and then usually it will take us about a week or so to put things together.
Speaker 12:If you were to do it outside of the September event. Some folks can't make it. Some folks couldn't last year and so we sent them electronically. Some folks wanted us to walk through it in person because just reading it sometimes doesn't make sense. So we're really flexible in how we present it. But they will be ready by that that event day in September and we can follow up with what's needed, but it's usually three to four things. That isn't too tasking to ask for?
Speaker 11:Yeah, but those, those that are interested, interested in my cell phone numbers 3174741924, reach out to myself or John. Either one we're happy to help get started on that for everyone.
Speaker 1:Well, thanks for your time today, gentlemen.
Speaker 12:Well, thank you, mike Enjoyed it. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for having us, mike, and thank you for your contributions to NIRA. I'd say it's you guys have welcomed us with open arms. We're so happy to be a part of the HR community there and thanks for having us this morning.
Speaker 1:I'd like to thank all of our guests that we had today. That's all the time we have. See you next time on Mike's.