Sep 21, 2026 · 43 min · 10 segments
**The Strategic Priority Gap:** A report highlighted by Benefits Canada found that while **49% of HR leaders rank general engagement and retention among their top priorities, only 28% view employee…
Robin O'GradyGuest
Kevin McShanHost
know, Robin, that's an interesting... where that you put that because that's the exact same argument.

So outside of this podcast I also am a professional speaker and I talk to organizations about the
importance

of hiring people with disabilities because I was born with cerebral palsy and I found out at nine that I wouldn't be able to walk for the rest of my life without assistance because of the severity of my disability and when I graduated college one of the reasons I became a speaker was because I wanted to be a sports

and I was rejected ten consecutive times by news directors who told me I was qualified but because of my disability at the time.

Now I graduated college in 2010 So at the time, they told me that my disability would be a liability because they didn't think they had the infrastructure to support me.

And I make the argument that, you know, I used to work for the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, for example, and we did a study that showed that if you break someone on with a disability, 63 to 80% of the time accommodations cost less than $500.

So I'm curious to ask you from your perspective working with corporate leaders, what sort of competitive advantage does hiring people with disabilities present to an organization? What are your thoughts there, my friend?

Yeah, gosh, you know, that's so funny, because you're right, the numbers just don't add up to what people believe that they do.

So often, it's so much less than they think, but they've just created this inflated idea of what it has to look like.

I think that bringing people with disabilities into the workplace, like many things, you know, that sort of inclusion in general is so valuable to the workplace in...

You know, it really is just about bringing the best person for the job regardless.

And so if that person is you, then... not bringing you in simply because they might have to put in some slight infrastructure is crazy to me because the value to them will be exponential on top of that.

Um, I, I had, uh, an employee that worked for me with, um, down syndrome at the last, uh, place that I was in a bricks and mortar building myself.

The attention to detail, the energy, the customer service that he brought was above and beyond what many of the other employees were able to bring.

know, Robin, that's an interesting... where that you put that because that's the exact same argument.

So outside of this podcast I also am a professional speaker and I talk to organizations about the
importance

of hiring people with disabilities because I was born with cerebral palsy and I found out at nine that I wouldn't be able to walk for the rest of my life without assistance because of the severity of my disability and when I graduated college one of the reasons I became a speaker was because I wanted to be a sports

and I was rejected ten consecutive times by news directors who told me I was qualified but because of my disability at the time.

Now I graduated college in 2010 So at the time, they told me that my disability would be a liability because they didn't think they had the infrastructure to support me.

And I make the argument that, you know, I used to work for the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, for example, and we did a study that showed that if you break someone on with a disability, 63 to 80% of the time accommodations cost less than $500.

So I'm curious to ask you from your perspective working with corporate leaders, what sort of competitive advantage does hiring people with disabilities present to an organization? What are your thoughts there, my friend?

Yeah, gosh, you know, that's so funny, because you're right, the numbers just don't add up to what people believe that they do.

So often, it's so much less than they think, but they've just created this inflated idea of what it has to look like.

I think that bringing people with disabilities into the workplace, like many things, you know, that sort of inclusion in general is so valuable to the workplace in...

You know, it really is just about bringing the best person for the job regardless.

And so if that person is you, then... not bringing you in simply because they might have to put in some slight infrastructure is crazy to me because the value to them will be exponential on top of that.

Um, I, I had, uh, an employee that worked for me with, um, down syndrome at the last, uh, place that I was in a bricks and mortar building myself.

The attention to detail, the energy, the customer service that he brought was above and beyond what many of the other employees were able to bring.
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