Case Study: Disability & Inclusion Officer Interview

Appendix J

Case Study: Diversity and Inclusion Officer Interview Protocol

OMB Control No: 1230-0NEW

Expiration Date: XX/XX/20XX

Case Study Interview for Diversity and Inclusion Officers

Thank you for participating in this interview. My name is [NAME] and this is my colleague [NAME]. We work for Westat, a research organization based in Rockville, MD. The Department of Labor (DOL) contracted with Westat to research how employers put into practice their policies on disability employment. We are also interested in the challenges of employing people with disabilities.

Before we get started, there are a few things I should mention. This is a research project. Your participation in this interview is voluntary. There is no penalty if you decide not to participate. You may end the interview at any time. If you choose to participate, you can skip questions that make you uncomfortable. We have planned for this interview to last about 30 minutes.

Your responses in this interview are private to the extent allowed by law.. They will not be shared with others at your place of employment. We are speaking with Diversity and Inclusion Officers as part of case studies we are conducting on 6 firms. Firms were chosen based on their self-report of experience with disability employment. We selected firms across all industry sectors. We will submit a final report to DOL at the conclusion of the study describing the case studies of firms. We may use quotes from you or other interviewees in our reports; however, interviewees’ names, their places of employment, and other information that could be used to identify interviewees and their employers, will not be linked to responses.

Do you have any questions? [Answer all questions.]

Finally, with your permission, we would like to record this interview. The recording will be used to help us recall exactly what was said when we go to summarize our findings. The recordings and any notes we have will be stored securely on Westat’s computer and will be protected. They will only be available to the Westat project team. We will destroy the recordings after the study is complete in 2019. Are you okay with us recording?

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is voluntary. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Attention: Departmental Clearance Officer, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room N-1301, Washington, DC 20210 or email DOL_PRA_PUBLIC@dol.gov and reference the OMB Control Number 1230-0NEW. Note: Please do not return the completed survey to this address.

[IF PERMISSION IS GIVEN TO RECORD, ASK AGAIN IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS. ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS. IF PERMISSION IS NOT GRANTED, RESCHEDULE FOR A TIME WHEN A SCRIBE IS AVAILABLE TO TAKE NOTES.]

If there are no further questions or concerns, I’d like to start the audio recording now.

[TURN ON THE RECORDER.] I need to ask you again: Are you willing to participate in the interview?

Are you willing to have the interview audio-recorded?

1. INTRODUCTION

I’d like to start by asking you to describe your background and your job title at [NAME OF EMPLOYER]. Please tell me how long you have worked here and what your responsibilities are.

[PROBE: Please describe your responsibilities as they relate to disability employment; Please describe trainings have you received relevant to disability employment; Please describe anything in your background relevant to disability employment.]

2. CORPORATE INVOLVEMENT

   1. How does disability employment fit into your company’s objectives for diversity and inclusion?

   2. What initiatives has your company implemented to recruit, retain, and promote persons with disabilities?

[PROBE]: How successful have the initiatives been? How do you measure success?

3. How does your senior leadership/upper-level management team support the inclusion of persons with disabilities at [NAME OF COMPANY]?

1. CULTURE

   1. How does your company communicate a culture of inclusiveness of employees with disabilities…

1. …internally?

2. …to the public?

[PROBE]: How successful have efforts to communicate inclusiveness been? How do you measure success?

2. How does your company address and overcome stereotypes and misconceptions about employees with disabilities?

1. INFORMATION

1. Sources

1. From where does your company obtain information about disability employment policies and practices?

2. How does your company obtain this disability employment information? [PROBE: received information or actively sought information]

2. Utility

1. How useful is the information your company receives about disability employment policies and practices?

2. What sort of information do you think is lacking? What information would be helpful?

5. RECRUITMENT

   1. Why has your company chosen to recruit people with disabilities?

   2. Please describe the processes your firm follows to recruit people with disabilities.

1. What recruitment strategies work?

2. How does your company identify qualified applicants with disabilities?

3. Does your company do outreach or networking with recruiters or organizations that focus on people with disabilities?

[IF YES:] Please describe.

6. BENEFITS

   1. What are the benefits to your company of employing individuals with disabilities?

   2. To what extent has employing people with disabilities has any effect on…

      1. …sales?

      2. …revenue?

      3. …customer service?

      4. …customer satisfaction?

[PROBE:] what are the effects?

7. COSTS

   1. What do you believe are the costs—in time, money, and effort—associated with employing people with disabilities?

8. STRENGTHS

   1. What are your company’s strengths in the employment of people with disabilities? [PROBE:] recruitment, hiring, supervision, retention, and advancement.

   2. Why do you think your company has been successful with [RECRUITING, HIRING, RETAINING, ADVANCING] employees with disabilities?

9. OPPORTUNITIES

   1. What are your company’s opportunities with disability employment? [PROBE:] recruitment, hiring, retention, supervision, termination, advancement, etc.

   2. Does your company have any plans to work on those opportunities?

[IF YES:] How?

[IF NO:] Why not?

10. CLOSING

Is there anything you think might be important for me to know about disability employment at your company? [IF YES:] Please describe.

Thank you for your time!