Employers asked to see workers’ ability

Employers and people with a range of abilities gained valuable experience as part of Forrest Personnel’s Workability Day on Tuesday.

Anthony Congdon hosted Forrest Personnel client Terry Rhodes at his Bunbury business Rethink Marketing to give him hands-on experience in his dream career of graphic design.

Mr Congdon said he jumped at the chance be a part of the program and encouraged other businesses to get involved in future opportunities.

“Workability day is something which every workplace should look at for the opportunity to bring people in, give them the opportunity to discover the different sets of abilities people have and to give it a go,” he said.

“It’s part of the core thing that makes us Australians – the passion for a fair go for everybody and workability day is the embodiment of that.”

Mr Rhodes, who has depression and anxiety, said the experience gave him renewed confidence to pursue a career in the industry and was a great opportunity to show employers what people of different abilities are capable of.

“It shows them that there are those opportunities and people are willing to get you in and give you a go so you can show what you can do,” he said.

“Just looking at a resume doesn’t really show the person behind it,” he said.

Forrest Personnel chief executive Anna Bagshaw thanked the employers across regional WA who hosted 44 participants in total, but also thanked the organisation’s clients for “doing a great job in all of their workplaces”.

“It is a really great opportunity for employers who haven’t thought about it before to understand that it is easy to work with someone who might have a health condition or disability,” Ms Bagshaw said.

“One in five of us have some sort of disability, so it represents what your clients look like and what your family probably looks like – there are lots of great reasons to get involved.

“It gives people an opportunity to try jobs they might not have considered, it gives them recent work experience and something to aspire to perhaps, for people who haven’t yet decided what they want to do.”