LOS ANGELES, June 17, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The power of neurodiversity as a competitive advantage in business is being proven every day in the Pacific Northwest by Northwest Center. This highly innovative $40 million "Social Enterprise" organization employs people of all abilities by businesses ranging from electronics manufacturing to janitorial service, assembly and packaging to commercial laundry with incredible results. Together with bestselling author Monica Holloway, an article in Autism World (http://www.autismworldmagazine.com/purchase.html) helps to lay out the value proposition for inclusion in greater detail.
Here are some of the benefits businesses report after hiring people with autism and other developmental conditions:
1. Increased Sales. Many businesses report increased sales as a direct result of their diverse workforce and its positive effect on customer experience.
2. Improved Productivity and Innovation. Celebrating and leveraging the unique qualities of individuals can pave the way to innovations in the workplace, better workflows, and more creative problem solving.
3. Improved Quality. Some employees with autism can be very meticulous and are able to perform quality control procedures and repetitive detail work much better and faster than a person without a developmental condition.
4. Improved Morale. Having employees on the team who love their jobs and love getting it right is a morale-booster for the entire organization, yielding better cooperation, lower absenteeism, better teamwork and a greater sense of pride, ownership and belonging.
Says Holloway, "Tom Everill's ideas are a vision into a great future for our families. It is not just about 'inclusion,' it is about finding the strengths in all people, and hiring people of all abilities based on those strengths. He is my hero for the work that he is doing and his innovative ideas about positively changing the attitude in the workplace toward equality for all people."
ABOUT MONICA HOLLOWAY: Monica Holloway is the bestselling author of Cowboy & Wills, a Mother's Choice Award's Gold recipient, and the critically-acclaimed author of the memoir Driving With Dead People. Holloway lives with her son and husband in Los Angeles. http://www.monicaholloway.com/
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ABOUT TOM EVERILL AND NORTHWEST CENTER: Tom Everill is President & CEO of Northwest Center, a leading social enterprise organization whose fundamental purpose is to foster inclusion and justice for people with developmental disabilities. Each program and business it operates not only provides world-class education, training and services, but also demonstrates the powerful benefits of people of all abilities learning and working together. Through its inclusive schools and workplaces, Northwest Center creates a model of a better society—one that embraces neurodiversity. Northwest Center proves that inclusion is not a compromise, but a smart strategy that makes all organizations stronger and more successful.