Pleading for a “fair employment” initiative: 12 success factors for Supported Employment
Supported Employment partners identified success factors for supported employment at the German project meeting April 16 – 17, 2015 in Speyer together with German experts and practitioners of the employment agency and education providers. Their main finding: communication with employers and their staff is of crucial relevance:
- establish good communication and trustful relationships with employers, because communication and information are a big part of awareness raising and a good investment
- qualify employers for supported employment: encourage them, who are often too much afraid (“can never get rid of a disabled person”, “too much time on sick leave”)
- discuss with employers obvious questions like: “Can I afford a disabled person?” What are the additional costs? What do more holidays mean for my other staff?
- small qualification measures for employers and their staff should be part of the preparation “to translate” expectations and possible challenges
- communicate with staff because many people are afraid of disabled persons as they do not know them in their everyday work
- identify and communicate which kind of work can be done by disabled persons and refrain from possible obstacles, which might impair a successful implementation
- communicate advantages: refer to the positive aspects of social inclusion for a company, consider a different use of language (“what does “disabled” mean exactly?), show good examples,
- transfer the “fair trade” concept to a “fair employment” initiative and make “social companies” with a “social work environments” a topic; create sympathy for the topic
- consider that most successful examples are from small companies, which have strong personal relationships for their staff
- start with measures to avoid supported employment early in schools (already with the 12 year olds)
- collect knowledge, networks, expertise, and foster cooperation between employment agencies, schools and education provider
- be aware that inclusion is still a new process in our societies