nAblement vs. Enablement – What’s in a Name?

When Rob Figliulo, SPR’s CEO, sat with me outside of a coffee shop over six years ago now, he had a vision. His vision was to establish an opportunity for newly degreed candidates or more seasoned professionals with disabilities to gain a foothold – or regain a foothold – in the technology field. SPR would act as their escort either into the field or back into the field. He also had a name for that vision. The name was nAblement – lower case, italicized ”n“, upper case “A”. Rob was very clear on the intent. The “n” in nAblement references the exponential possibilities that might be afforded these candidates with the right mix of passion, skills and drive within technology roles. The “A”  in nAblement represents the beginning of their journey, the alpha, toward a successful career with SPR Companies. Versions on an enablement, enabled, enabling theme are prevalent in business. Many are linked to fine organizations in related missions, such as PEpsiCo’s enABLE group with whom we have a strong relationship. Rob’s vision for nAblement, however, was unique, clear and clearly tied to our mission and principles for the channel.

The three core principles around which we’ve founded and continue to support the nAblement channel are Dignity, Purpose and Pragmatism.

Dignity - The nAblement mission recognizes the inherent dignity of all candidates, regardless of differing physical abilities, learning or communication styles or approaches, experiences or other characteristics. We meet candidates with an assumption that they have a passion and drive to bring value to our clients and to SPR as a whole, and we dignify that passion and effort in all of our dealings with our candidates, consultants, contractors and full-time employees.

Purpose – We believe that by providing purpose, direction, and meaning we can help foster passion, commitment and ability among our nAblement professionals. This has proven itself out for the past 5 years as we’ve rolled out nAblement initiatives, engaged quality candidates and the business community, and impressed both SPR staff and clients.

Pragmatism – Without shaking our clients’ hands and adding value to their business delivery, nAblement would only represent a socially-enlightened initiative. But nAblement is a business delivery as any other SPR strategic effort. Inherent in that fact is pragmatism associated with recognizing that our clients expect, and deserve, value and a unique business delivery from their vendors or suppliers of IT support and application development. We understand and embrace this principle.