HOBAN Recruitment wins award for innovative service strategies and outcomes that benefit clients, job seekers, and staff
HOBAN Recruitment has taken out its second award in the 2020 Australian Business Awards. Last week HOBAN was announced winner of the Business Technology Category, and this week they are the ABA100 Winner for Service Excellence. The Award for Service Excellence recognises organisations that have achieved outstanding results through initiatives that demonstrate innovative service strategies and outcomes.
HOBAN achieved “Disability Confident Recruiter” (DCR) accreditation from the Australian Network on Disability in recognition of its ability to remove the barriers to employment for people with disability. HOBAN is one of only five recruitment agencies – and the 11th organisation in Australia – to achieve this accreditation. “Our whole team is proud of this award,” said Alison Watts, CEO of HOBAN Recruitment. “As one of Australia’s largest recruiters, HOBAN is trusted to provide advice and education to our clients on inclusive recruitment practices and valuing each person for their unique abilities. It’s a responsibility we take very seriously.”
Australian employers face increasing demand to reflect the diversity of our community in their workforces. Many rely on their recruitment providers to help them. Watts believes being equipped with DCR skills is essential. Once committed, the team at HOBAN quickly realised there was a lot to be done. A DCR team was formed to review existing initiatives and drive the changes for a truly best-practice approach.
“Going through the DCR process encouraged us to consider everything we do, and how we do it,” said Watts, “One example is ensuring our website meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA accessibility standard. Earlier this year, the site was rebuilt to the new WCAG 2.1 AA standard, which included further accessibility criteria around mobile devices. We also amended the way we write job advertisements, and our reference check process was made more accessible when delivered online.”
HOBAN has seen a positive impact already, with Watts reporting, “Thousands of candidates apply to us each week. If anyone requires an adjustment, they are easily able to arrange this through our team.” Successes to date include:
- Matching employees on the autism spectrum to analytical roles requiring vital business forecasting of data sets.
- Facilitating a seat for a worker with a physical disability in a busy e-commerce role within a high profile distribution facility.
- Positioning a hearing impaired worker to lip read briefing instructions in a time critical government project role.
Watts shares becoming recognised DCR recruiters has increased the team’s confidence to recruit people with disabilities. Consultants learned a lot more about the different types of disability and an awareness of the types of adjustments that might be required. There have been cultural benefits, withconsultants reporting “satisfaction, pride and a brilliant sense of community, as well as feeling empowered to see someone’s ability, not their disability.”
HOBAN Recruitment has been a premier provider of recruitment and managed services to Australian businesses and job seekers for over 50 years. HOBAN’s dedicated adjustments team works with clients to remove barriers to employment and ensure a smooth transition to either an on-hire assignment or permanent position. For further information please visit https://www.hoban.com.au/
