By: Miguel Mercuri, Head of Human Resources at Beiersdorf
With courage and a focus on genuine care, the HR team brought the #CareBeyondVoice project to life
Going beyond the obligations set out in legislation on the inclusion of People with Disabilities, a concrete change has begun in the diversity culture at the plant of Beiersdorf, home of NIVEA and Eucerin International.
After noticing that diversity could be more present in the day-to-day operations of the unit in Itatiba, a city in the interior of São Paulo state, Miguel M., head of the People team, together with his team, developed the #CareBeyondVoice project with the aim of opening paths and including people with hearing impairment and/or deafness in production routines.
Mindful of Care at every stage of the journey to implement #CareBeyondVoice, the first step was to begin a partnership with Instituto Phala, an organization that serves the deaf community in the city of Itatiba. A reference in the field, the institute offers courses in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) and training for people with hearing impairment, preparing them for the job market.
“It was something that happened naturally when we noticed there was this demand in Itatiba. So we began to understand how we could give opportunities to people with hearing impairment, and for that we needed to prepare the plant to receive them. We made basic adjustments and, with that, we managed to promote more diversity and transform the reality of the unit”, explains Mercuri.
After this preparation period, two interpreters from Instituto Phala trained and taught Libras to the leaders and operations professionals already working at the company, as well as other stakeholders, before the arrival of the new employees with disabilities. “We did this because everyone needed to be able to communicate, and this training period was also part of the inclusion project. In all, we now have 10 deaf people working in manufacturing, and our goal is to hire even more”, the executive points out.
GLOBAL RECOGNITION
The project gained global prominence at Beiersdorf when the plant received a visit from international leaders. “We welcomed our CEO Vincent Warnery, board members and executives from other countries to our unit and, when we presented the project, everyone was delighted. There is still the mistaken stigma that people with disabilities produce less, but our experience shows exactly the opposite: everyone works on equal terms, with the same performance, dedication and excellence as any other employee”, Mercuri says.
The success story spread quickly. Global leaders came to see the Itatiba plant as a reference in Diversity and Inclusion in a manufacturing environment and realized that the actions could be replicated at other company facilities around the world.
Miguel M. and his team were then invited to present the project in Hamburg, Germany, Beiersdorf's global headquarters. “When we started, we never imagined receiving all this recognition; we just wanted to do our work with focus and keep our commitment to diversity. I have the DNA of diversity in my life: I am a Venezuelan immigrant and part of the LGBTQIAPN+ community, so I know the importance of real inclusion policies in companies. I am very happy to know that we had an impact on these people's lives and were able to make a difference in the company's culture”, Mercuri celebrates.
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