European Week for the Employment of People with Disabilities: Let’s no longer speak of disability, but of difference!

For a long time, Guerbet has been committed to making disability a topic of inclusion shared by all. At the heart of this determined policy lies a very precise idea: creating inclusion, adapting the company to those who need it and that all teams be treated in the same way. For this to work, all employees must not see a handicap as a weakness but as a difference, an ability to work differently.

An exchange with Sandrine KRIEGEL , disability referent for Guerbet SA.

85% of disabilities are invisible

We all have in mind an image that represents a disabled person, yet this representation does not reflect the complete reality. In fact, 85% of disabilities are not visible and those affected do not declare them, either because they don’t accept it, they are afraid of how others will look at them, or because they fear losing their job or being subject to endless questioning. “Take the example of deafness. It’s one of the invisible disabilities. Some struggle with it, and others are in denial … Ultimately we prefer passing for someone who does not understand everything than saying that we cannot hear everything, at the risk that our superior gains a bad image of who we really are, with all the consequences that this may have. Our role is to help our staff on a daily basis, and this starts with encouraging them to declare themselves.”

For this, several contact points have been created. Clearly identified relays have been put in place and a disability commission has been created. The Works’ Doctor and Nurse are key and legitimate factors of the detection mechanism, all the more so since with medical secrecy, they know how to put slightly recalcitrant people at ease. “We don’t want to force anyone, that’s not our culture. The idea is to hold out a hand to anyone who may need it, without prejudgment or ulterior motive, in a spirit of benevolence. We realize that the detection phase is essential, but it’s also the most complicated. Often those around us don’t want to be clumsy so silence prevails. But avoiding a problem has never been the solution, even less on topics like these.”

Sensitizing more, sensitizing differently

Sensitizing the internal teams means putting everyone on the same level in respect of inclusion; an approach which, to be effective, must be permanent. “Sensitizing, repeatedly and continuously, this is how we advance mentalities, that we change the way we see others, those who are not like us. This is thus how we allow new hires to fully assimilate the Guerbet spirit very quickly.” To pass the information on, several channels are used: “Every quarter we publish an article on a theme. We explain certain disabilities, why it is important to declare oneself, etc. For greater impact, and notably for young people, new technologies are sometimes called upon: “Recently, at the HSE day at Villepinte, an immersive workshop was proposed, using virtual reality headsets. We could thus find ourselves living the daily life of a visually-impaired person with age-related macular degeneration or color blindness. This experiment attracted a large number of staff and the message was passed on with impressive efficacy.”

Helping efficiently is doing the maximum but never too much

At Guerbet, inclusion is considering everyone in the same way, taking account of everyone’s singularities. ”We do our utmost so that disabled members of staff are comfortable in their job, as, too, are their colleagues. It is important, however, that these people go part of the way themselves. We are always there, obviously, they can call on us whenever they want to.”

This approach reflects well the spirit of the in-house disability policy: “Being active with a disability”. ”The company adapts to its employees’ needs. For example, we have worked on the accessibility of buildings and facilities, we reflected on workstations, on tasks, on movements, we reflected on working hours, on breaks, on how to communicate, inform, etc.”

Last year Guerbet opened its doors to disabled young people who had not yet joined the corporate world. “We took part in the DuoDay, a day during which a member of staff welcomes a disabled youngster to show them their job and everyday working environment … More than 10 employees volunteered to be a mentor, including one disabled person. This experience proved very positive. We will repeat it in 2022.”

Guerbet is truly a policy ahead in terms of disability. All the sites are committed and all job profiles are open. In 2021 the disabled represented 5.39% of the workforce, a significantly greater ratio compared to that of similar companies. Guerbet does not intend to stop there and will be accentuating our engagement on this topic even further.