All businesses have needs. People with disabilities have the skills and desire to work. As employment specialists work to match employers with job seekers, they need to do more than understand the job seekers’ personal and professional goals — they also need to know exactly what the employers are looking for. That’s what Working Relationships is about: securing satisfying jobs for people with disabilities by fostering partnerships between employment specialists and businesses. Organizations that help people with disabilities to enter the workforce and the the job developers who are primarily responsible for making the connections with local business are frequently unfamiliar with business culture and frustrated by by the seeming lack of interest from employers. Much of that experience is the result of an erroneous belief that job developing is primarily about cold-calling and effective sales techniques. As a more effective approach, Working Relationships is a convincing and practical guide to job developing by building mutually advantageous professional relationships and partnerships with employers. A must-read for all employment service providers and for anyone interested in employment of people with disabilities, this book helps readers: understand the theoretical framework for improving career development practices through relationship building   understand what employers want and expect from employment service providers   learn about the building blocks of strong partnerships with employers: beliefs and values, communication skills, multicultural competence, ethics, and self-efficacy   find practical guidelines for getting to know both job seekers and employers, marketing proactively to businesses, matching job seeker characteristics with employer needs, and using the tenets of quality customer service when working with employers   consider the possibility of non-traditional employment through customized job consultation    discover strategies for improving job retention and promoting career advancement for people with disabilities   explore specific ways to make employment service programs more customer-oriented, convenient, and understandable to employers Filled with helpful case studies and examples, this valuable resource will help employment specialists develop strong, respectful partnerships with businesses — partnerships that will lead to rewarding careers for people with disabilities. CHAPTER TITLES Job Development and Placement: Toward a New Emphasis on Outcomes    The Employment Process: A Conceptual Framework   Setting the Stage: Career Development Strategies (Jo Ann Hutchinson)   Employer Perceptions of Disability and Disability Employment Programs    Developing Relationships for Effective Business Partnerships   Partnerships at Work: Illustrative Case Studies (Richard G. Luecking, J. Erin Riehle, and Mark Donovan)    Fundamental Skills for Employment Specialists   Knowing the Job Seeker Customer (Appendix: Case Studies)   Knowing the Employer Customer    Marketing to Prospective Employer Customers    Customer-Driven, Customized Job Matches: Meshing Job Seeker Characteristics with Employer Needs   Quality Service and Customer Satisfaction in Job Development and Business Partnerships   Nontraditional Employment Through Customized Consultation (Richard G. Luecking and Sara Murphy)   Organization Change: Building Employer-Friendly Services (Debra Martin Luecking and Richard G. Luecking)   Job Retention and Career Growth   Into the Future: Challenges and Issues Affecting Job and Partnership Development   WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING: "Simply the best thing I have ever encountered on the subject of job development, both in general and for people with disabilities. ... Buy a copy, review it, and then get as many copies as you can for your people." - Basil J. Whiting, Senior Advisor, National EmployAbility Partnership, National Organization on Disability "A good resource for professionals assisting people with disabilities in finding employment. Practitioners will find the practical approach and frequent use of examples most helpful." - Edna Mora Szymanski, Ph.D., Professor and Dean, University of Maryland, College of Education "An outstanding, cutting edge book [that] is a must for every job developer. These authors have once again innovatively presented numerous ways to find meaningful jobs which lead to careers for people with special needs." - Paul Wehman, Ph.D., Professor of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation & Special Education, Virginia Commonwealth University