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Let's not just talk about inclusion,let's live inclusion!
Diversity and inclusion are important and practiced values at thyssenkrupp. However, people with disabilities still experience disadvantages in their professional and everyday lives. The European Day of Protest for Equality of People with Disabilities on May 5 calls for support for people with disabilities to stand up for their rights. The issue is also important at thyssenkrupp.
Openness, equal opportunities and mutual respect are core values of our corporate culture. All our colleagues should be able to develop freely and to their full potential. And they should be able to do so regardless of their origin, gender, skin color, age, sexual orientation and identity, disability or other characteristics.
Yet the inclusion of people with a handicap is still not taken for granted in many areas of our lives.
"You can't draw enough attention to the concerns of people with disabilities."
"That's why action days like the European Day of Protest for Equality for People with Disabilities are important to draw attention to deficits in equal participation in working life", emphasizes Anja Broekhuizen, quality management representative at thyssenkrupp Uhde Engineering Services and, since March 1, 2023, also chairwoman of the thyssenkrupp AG Group Representative Council for Severely Disabled Employees (KSBV).
Support people with disabilities to stand up for their rights
For more than 30 years, various campaigns have been held on May 5 to mark the European Day of Protest for the Equality of Persons with Disabilities: The day of protest is an appeal to all citizens to become active and support people with disabilities in standing up for their rights. Because people with disabilities still experience disadvantages in their everyday lives.
For decades, thyssenkrupp has assumed social responsibility and been consistently committed to inclusion. It is people like Anja Broekhuizen who work every day and with all their commitment to make it easier for people with disabilities to join thyssenkrupp and to support them.
Having been with the company since 2011, Anja was elected as a representative for severely disabled employees in 2014. A challenging task: "Due to the various activities - in quality management, in the (overall) representative body for severely disabled employees at thyssenkrupp Uhde Engineering Services and in the Group representative body for severely disabled employees - my typical working day cannot always be planned. My aim is to do justice to all activities. This is often challenging, but also very exciting and instructive." As someone who is affected herself, Anja's involvement in the SBV is also a matter close to her heart. "
"You have to be open to the topic and treat people the way you would like to be treated. For me, everyone is equal!"
Together with her specially trained colleagues in the representative body for severely disabled employees, Anja provides advice and support to employees with disabilities. She also supports her employer with administrative tasks such as applying for funding.
"The local SBVs usually have a different perspective on the topic of inclusion and therefore have ideas for implementation that may not always be considered," says Anja. This includes, for example, individual workplace design and the optimization of work processes in cooperation with the specialist departments in order to make the best possible use of employees' individual skills.
Inclusion as an opportunity for companies
At thyssenkrupp, we have found that people with disabilities enrich our sites with their individual skills and often exceptionally high motivation. "It has been proven that employees with disabilities are often more willing to perform and are often misjudged," confirms Anja.
Another important aspect: "We simply can't afford not to hire applicants because of their disabilities. We should rather ask ourselves how we as a company can become attractive to these applicants," says the chairwomen of the council. This is why the representatives for severely disabled employees within the thyssenkrupp group work particularly closely with the HR departments: They provide support in an advisory capacity - for example in the design of application processes - and are also present at job interviews.
Being inclusive together
thyssenkrupp has already come a long way in terms of inclusion, as Anja finds: "At thyssenkrupp, we don't just talk about participation, we live it. "But that is far from being the case everywhere. Looking at our society, Anja has one wish: "We should not just talk about inclusion. We all need to live inclusion." Not just on May 5.