ROI is simple.

It's input vs. output.

When hiring a new employee, there are a lot of thing to consider, but basically you're looking at how much do I have to invest in order to make my money back, and make a profit on this hire. There are numerous studies now that show the ROI of a new hire with some form of disability is often greater than that of a person who does not have a disability.

Why? There's a number of reasons. But generally speaking it comes down a few key elements:

• Work ethic
• Commitment to the job
• Costs associated with making the existing environment sufficiently accessible to meet the needs of the new hire.

Maintaining a diverse workforce can lead to more positive work environment and a improved bottom line. Studies (including this one) show that high-performing businesses are twice as likely as low-performing ones to emphasize diversity and inclusion as a matter of policy-- Google is a good example of this. Take a look at a just a few different ways that hiring people with disabilities can have a positive on a business' bottom line.

• Companies with a strong record of hiring people with disabilities are simply more responsive to their customers. Being more responsive to the customers' needs = increased revenue .
• Diversity in the workforce makes a company more innovative and adaptive, and it enables every employee (disabled or not) to contribute their full work potential to the goals of the business. In a recent study conducted by Rich Donovan, founder of Fifth Quadrant Analytics, Donovan was able to show that companies with a strong record of hiring people with disabilities "just do better". Making it possible for every employee to perform work at their full potential = increased productivity.
• Hiring workers with disabilities can provide access to new markets as customers with disabilities may view inclusive businesses as more representative and better able to design and deliver products that appeal to their needs.
  Access to new markets and increased market share = increased revenue.
• In a recent survey of their distribution centres, Walgreens found that in one third of the facilities surveyed, workers with disabilities actually outperformed their colleagues who did not have disabilities. More productive workforce = increased revenue.