First of all, I would like to say a huge “Thank You” to every one of you who’s responded to my call for action though my personal campaign on for SPD’s (Society for the Physically Disabled) in support for their Employment Support Programme.

This is a cause that is close to heart for me, and I’ve been a long-time supporter and advocate for SPD’s efforts in helping these individuals in their efforts to become gainfully employed.

Apart from the donations and the occasional positions that we’ve engaged SPD for, I’ve always felt that I’ve not done enough and could had done a bit more.

I’m very hearten by the responses that I’ve received from everyone that’s responded to my personal campaign. Apart from the donations that came in which I know SPD will put to good use, there were quite a few discussions with fellow HR practitioners on how they could engage SPD going forward.

We are a few days into the campaign and while it is a simple way to show that we care, I hope that the awareness that we’ve raised would go a long way to creating more employment opportunities for this group of individuals.

I remember my first engagement many years ago with SPD was rather impromptu and out of the blue. We had a short-term temp requirement which I thought would be a good idea to explore something different.

What amazed me was the amount of due diligence that SPD took to ensure that we were ready to hire employees with disabilities.

Although I didn’t manage to hire anyone from that first engagement, however we managed to finally hire someone for a different role sometime later.

What we did was to increase our talent pool with candidates recommended from SPD and like any other candidates, it’s the best person for the job. Thus, it is important that we try to create as level a playing field as possible for all candidates to be assessed for their skills and abilities.

Once again, I would like to call to action everyone to continue to work towards a more inclusive workplace. If you are in HR, have a look and see if there are roles that you can identify as a starting point to engage. If you are a hiring manager, have a chat with your HR or recruiter and let them know that you would want to explore the possibility of engaging this talented pool of individuals.

I know that there are organisations such as SPD across the different countries. I’m sure there are already some support and infrastructure out there. Let’s start today and make a real difference.

Find out more about SPD’s Employment Support Programme (Click Here)

Do check out my campaign “Empowering lives through SPD’s Employment Support Programme” (Click Here)

Would also love to hear your thoughts and ideas on how we can do more and raise the awareness for this cause! Feel free to drop me a message or drop off your comments below!

Thank you and have a fantastic weekend!

Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.

Eric Wong is APAC Head of Talent Acquisition Leader at Fitbit. His experience spans across the various human resource functions such as HR Information Systems, Business Partnering and Talent Management. Eric currently sits on the Advisory Board of the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS). Connect with him on Linkedin or follow him on Twitter @ErickyWong.