ATS Traffic, a company that has provided integrated traffic safety solutions in Alberta nearly 60 years, has found great success by hiring individuals with intellectual disabilities through Inclusion Alberta’s Rotary Employment Partnership. The initiative has not only positively impacted their bottom line but also demonstrated their commitment to community values, with one employee hired at each of their Edmonton and Calgary locations.

When Marc Gervais, VP of Corporate Operations at ATS Traffic, first learned about the Rotary Employment Partnership from a colleague, he thought it would be a good fit for their manufacturing operations.  ATS Trafic recently implemented a progressive structure that starts an employee at entry-level and advances them through prescribed stages. Marc says that the Partnership has provided them with excellent entry-level candidates who fit well into ATS Traffic’s manufacturing environment.

“What we found with employees hired through the Partnership is that ‘level one’ for us fits perfectly, because it’s a great opportunity with little to no experience to just get into ATS Traffic and to learn,” says Marc. He also observed that turnover among entry-level staff began to decrease. “The individuals we have hired through the Partnership have been very stable for us, and that contributes directly to our success. You’re essentially getting a curated resource to help in an area that typically experiences high turnover. That’s the big benefit I’m seeing.”

More importantly, Marc emphasizes that hiring people with intellectual disabilities reflects ATS Traffic’s community values in action.

“You visit organizations sometimes and see their values on the wall, but often those aren’t the actual lived values – they’re just the ones the marketing team came up with,” says Marc. “However, if you spend a minute in our organization, you will realize that we are community minded.”

Before connecting with the Rotary Employment Partnership, ATS Traffic didn’t feel equipped to hire individuals with intellectual disabilities on their own. However, Marc says that knowing they can call Inclusion Alberta for support whenever they need it has been the key to making it work.

“Inclusion Alberta has provided the backstop and the comfort,” says Marc. Having someone from Inclusion Alberta come in and talk the employee, talk to the employer, physically being here and seeing how it’s going and talking to both parties has been invaluable.”

Having addressed retention issues, lived their company values and grown their organizational culture at ATS Traffic, Marc encourages other business leaders to consider hiring people with intellectual disabilities through the Rotary Employment Partnership

“At the end of the day, it makes your people better,” he says. “It is an experience that is good for your organization, number one, and number two, when Inclusion Alberta says, ‘We’ll support you and we will make this work’, that happens. That’s not fiction. You will be supported.”

Learn more about how you can tap into a valuable labour market by becoming an inclusive employer through the Rotary Employment Partnership here, or contact us at info@inclusionalberta.org or 1-800-252-7556.