• Adjust Text Size:
• A
• A
• A

Finding a Natural Link

      Celeste Morgan has experienced first-hand what is being witnessed across disability management: a broadening of the field to include people from a variety of disciplines. With a background in vocational rehabilitation counseling, Celeste later gravitated toward human resources, which she viewed as a natural transition. “What I loved about vocational rehabilitation counseling was helping people find work and grow in their careers. Working in HR, I have retained that focus.”

      Today, Celeste is a recruitment consultant for Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles, Ore. Although she earned her CDMS in 2007 when she was practicing as a private vocational rehabilitation counselor, Celeste says the credential is extremely helpful in her human resources position. “The CDMS certification is still helping me in my HR role, in areas such as assessing a person’s ability to perform onthe- job, career placements or updating job descriptions,” she explained.

      Celeste sees a natural link between disability management and human resources. The two disciplines overlap in many workplace issues, such as the need to understand the legal issues surrounding Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and establishing transition plans for employees who are returning to work. More broadly, she sees a multi-disciplinary approach being taken increasingly in workplace programs involving other departments as well such as risk, safety, and occupational health.

      Not only is Celeste a CDMS certificant, she is also a Commissioner with the CDMS Commission, a volunteer role she has found to be both personally rewarding and beneficial to her career. For example, serving on the CDMS Commission’s Exam and Research Committee has furthered her understanding of the examination process, which has helped her as she develops preemployment ability tests for her employer. In addition, she views her Commissioner role as a way to give back to the field that has embraced her. Highlighting the importance of continuing education to all professionals in the field, regardless of job title or where and how they practice, Celeste is now pursuing an advanced degree. She expects to earn her doctorate in industrial and organizational psychology from Capella University in 2012. “I always want to learn more,” she added. “My goal is to tailor my studies to further my understanding of career planning and recruitment.”

Raising the Bar

       When Nicky Stubbe needed to obtain a national certification in order to continue to work as a “Qualified Rehabilitation Consultant” (QRC) in Minnesota in the late 1980s, she decided to pursue the CDMS certification.  Prior to this her background was in nursing and hospital chaplaincy.

      Since then, she said, “It has taken me to places I would not have gone.”

      Among Stubbe’s many accomplishments is the firm that she and her husband, Jim, founded nearly 25 years ago: Stubbe & Associates, which has grown from two employees to 85 today. The firm offers services in 13 states from Montana to Michigan and south to Oklahoma, with specialties in areas such as disability, catastrophic case management, telephonic case management, vocational assessment, job analysis, life care planning, and more. “Many companies are either vocational or medical; we are both,” she explained.

      The Stubbes have also been providing professional training.  They recently presented ethics training to a Portland, Oregon-based home office that specializes in short-term and long-term disability, for its professional staff that includes master’s degree-level vocational rehabilitation counselors and nurses.

      As for her own professional journey, Stubbe said she always been motivated to “raise the bar on my own personal capabilities as well as to enhance our business.” No matter what she, personally, has accomplished, Stubbe saves her praise for the employees at the company. “We have always tried to spot the best and brightest and hire them,” she added.

      The firm shows its appreciation for employees with such things as a homey headquarters to which people can bring their pets (the Stubbes’ golden retriever, Pumpkin, makes regular appearances), a company vacation home on Lake Superior that employees and their families can use, a “company prom” to which employees and their families are invited every January, and five-and-a-half weeks of paid time off for employees the first year. These benefits not only help with recruiting and retaining highly qualified professionals, they also affirm the importance of both life and work. As Stubbe put it, “We try to help our people lead balanced lives.” 

Sharing a Wealth of Knowledge

      With a passion for employing people with disabilities, Chris Moranda has been a Certified Disability Management Specialist for 17 years. Chris' career evolved as she built a knowledge base in disability management and return-to-work (RTW). Today, she is the Director of Disability Programs at OhioHealth, a nationally recognized, not-for-profit healthcare organization based in Columbus, Ohio. "I got to the place where I had this wealth of knowledge and experience. I knew about the medical aspects of disability. I knew about RTW because of my focus in the workers' compensation arena," Moranda reflected. "That led me to CDMS. I felt that I needed this credential for credibility."

      With a background as a dance movement therapist, Moranda worked with people with developmental disabilities in the early 1980's and later became a vocational evaluator and work adjustment counselor. Here, she found her passion: helping people find acceptance in the workplace based on their abilities -- not their disabilities. Next she became a workers' compensation case manager and then director of case management operations. Later, she began working with Medicaid consumers.

      Five years ago, Moranda moved to her "dream job" at OhioHealth, where she oversees disability programs. One of her proudest accomplishments was obtaining senior leadership support to help OhioHealth associates who become ill or injured and are unable to return to their regular jobs to find new positions within the hospital system. In 2008, OhioHealth won the Best Practices Award from the Governor's Council on People with Disabilities. This year, Moranda is the chair of the Council.

      Moranda, who is a Commissioner of the CDMS Commission, believes that the CDMS certification uniquely reflects her knowledge and expertise. Now, she looks for that credential among the job candidates she interviews. "When a person has the CDMS, I know he/she has gone through the certification process to establish knowledge and expertise," she added.