Knocking on Opportunity’s Door: Building Capacity by Maximizing Opportunities

By Roger Shelley, Organizational Consultant, The Rural Institute

IN RURAL COMMUNITIES, EMPLOYMENT CONSULTANTS can’t wait for Opportunity to come knocking on their doors; they have to knock on their neighbors’ doors and see if Opportunity is living there. The consultant’s ability to increase the employment capacity of the community members, employers, and the people whom they serve depends on finding employment opportunities in unlikely places. When the consultant can find and take advantage of these opportunities, everyone benefits.

During the past several years of working and living in rural communities (and in endless discussions concerning the employment of the people who are residents), I’ve noticed two keys to new opportunities—community building and trust. Both are central to our work. Community building directly affects the success of people with disabilities who are entering the workforce, and without trust and community partnerships, our jobs are pretty darned untenable, if not impossible. Employment consultants living in rural America can build community and trust by following these simple suggestions.

Get Connected/Stay Connected

How can you be effective if you don’t know anybody? The importance of community contact and involvement can never be emphasized enough. Giving your time and resources to your community extends your network and builds a platform for relationships. Many of my fellow employment consultants are members and leaders of city councils, economic development committees, Kiwanis, Lions, Rotary, Elks, various church groups, recreational teams, chambers of commerce, and county planning and zoning committees. Did they have any problems developing employment and self-employment opportunities for the people that they serve? I don’t think so! Even though I no longer work exclusively in Red Lodge, Montana (where I live), I still take every opportunity to do high-profile civic service-type activities. Force of habit, I guess. Not too long ago, an old partner of mine and I gathered a crew together to refurbish the exterior of a historic building on main street. Last year it was fund raising for the new boys and girls club, including entering a tricycle race which, to my disappointment, I did not win!

Take the time to contribute to the community. Join a community club, service organization, sports league, or church group. Get yourself elected to office! Volunteer to lead community projects. Contribute to community initiatives. The jobs that we do depend on our connections. That is relationship marketing. It is up to you to build those relationships, so why not do it in a way that is interesting to you and productive for the community?

Facilitate Choice for Everyone

Choice is a key concept for the people we serve. Success in employment is based on it. Choice is the cornerstone of empowerment and learning. And choice must be offered to everyone in the rural community. The people we serve must have choice, as do the employers in the community, parents, funding agency personnel, and supportive community members. Person-centered approaches and current teaming methods help gather information and facilitate choice for many people with disabilities and their support groups. Contributing members of these groups have been parents, Vocational Rehabilitation counselors, various staff members, employers, and supervisors. Each has been instrumental in the choices and empowerment of the employment seeker. Each chose to contribute information, ideas, and support to further the employment and life of the focal person.

Situational assessments or paid work trials may facilitate choice for the employer, especially if the employment seeker has no work history. Offer the employer more than a person; offer the employer and the employee experiential choice in an atmosphere of shared worth. A variety of paid experiences let the job seeker test work situations and make a more informed choice while building work experience, employer referrals, and a functional resume. For the prospective employer, the experience offers an opportunity to get to know the person in an atmosphere where the training and accommodation of a person who has genuine interest in doing his work is the most immediate priority, not production goals. In most cases, paid work trials offer the employer the chance to make an informed hiring choice, and brings him/her into the support team to ensure the employee’s success.

Don’t Be in a Hurry, Be Effective

Being in a hurry to promote and accomplish objectives that may be viewed as self-serving in a rural community, is generally an excellent way to find all of the reasons why it can’t be done. It takes time to promote community partnerships and shared responsibility when your goal is to successfully employ citizens with disabilities. Partnerships in rural communities are created when trust and success for all is established. Get to know your customers over time, understand and accommodate their support groups, and work with their existing community connections. In a rural community, support systems may already be in place that will facilitate employment success, making it unnecessary for the employment consultant to gather another support structure around the person.

Relationship marketing and promotion built upon the success of previous employment seekers, enable the employment consultant to use more innovative approaches in job development. Trust develops as people with disabilities become successful employees in a variety of community jobs. As more and more people go to work, their worth as employees becomes apparent to business owners and operators. The image of people with disabilities is typically transformed from public ward to fully functional, contributing member of the community. Job carving and creation, and limited partnerships in existing businesses become a typical means of employment as the worth of the person with a disability is established in the rural environment.

Building trust in a community requires commitment and constancy from the employment consultant over time. Facilitating choice and responding to changing needs of both the employment seeker and employers are always priorities and cornerstones of excellent customer service. How do you react if the employment seeker wants to change jobs? How do you react to changes in the workplace? People are watching you. Better get it right!

Develop and Use All Organizational Contacts

Do you really have to do all of this on your own? Not if you are good at using all of your existing resources. Enlist other staff members; use their existing networks and connections. If they will not do direct job placement, then ask for a referral to a specific employer. Anybody ever gather information concerning fellow staff members’ friends or associates who are business owners or operators? During a staff meeting, explain what you want and see if you can get everybody to list the employers and business people that they know. The members of the board of directors for your organization are very often high-profile people in your community. Can you enlist them to provide some referrals or ideas for employment opportunities?

Ever considered employment development or opportunity development in businesses where you are a good customer? Now there’s an excellent place to start! Many of the best and most successful employment placements have come from businesses where I was a customer. As a customer you have a unique relationship with the employer and the business—customer satisfaction!

Always DO What You Say You’re Going to Do

This is the bottom line! Trust and partnerships are based upon your commitment to this rule. As a community representative for people with disabilities, you are continually in the spotlight. Modeling for other community members and employers may be the most important aspect of a consultant’s job. You must be competent before the community will accept that people with disabilities are competent. Deliver on your promises. Define the expectations of your customers and fulfil or exceed them. Do not assume any outcome because you wish it to be. Plan and gather teams that guarantee success. Be flexible enough to do what it takes!