Work and disability: what if we change perspective?

May Day: once again, this yera, talking about work and disability on Labor Day, emphasis was  placed on the, still unsatisfactory, employment situation, with a very large share of people with a disability of a productive age, and not unfit for work, who can’t insert themselves in a qualified professional context. The perspective this topic is faced is always the same: the existing disability recruitment law isn’t properly enforced; penalties are provided for businesses that don’t include a share of workers with a disability in their workforce, but this deterrent seems to be weak,  since- even more so in the current pandemic scenario- controls are substantially lacking.

Lavoro e disabilità

That’s true, that’s right. But don’t you think that, in this picture, the main characters are absent? There are institutions, there are businesses… but what about those directly involved, that is to say workers with a disability? Even when they are involved, it’s just to share their own “unsuccess stories”: “I’ve been waiting to get called for years, but nobody does it“. What if it was (part of) the problem? Let’s try to look at work and disability from a different perspective, where workers with a disability aren’t passive figurants anymore, waiting for someone (institutions, businesses, a private “good-hearted” citizen) reaching out and handing out a job, but active characters, who don’t just wait, but actively look for a job and do their best to get it! No, sending lots of applications, asking for a job “please, for pity’s sake, because I need it”, or sharing on social media plaintive posts isn’t the right way. On the contrary, most of the times, it can even turn out to be counterproductive (and that’s true for those without a disability, to be clear).

work and disability: the origin of the issue (and a potential solution)

Why businesses are often reluctant to hire people with a disability, even when they’re qualified? Why, even when they do it, most of the times they assign them to junior tasks, not always aligned with their skills, background and – for God sake!- without direct contact with the public? As a woman living with an evident disability, I often had to deal with bias, open doors as long as the company or the recruiter just saw my resume that got closed when they met me for an interview. Sometimes, I even got called for a responsibility role that, at the interview in presence, all of a sudden turned into a less qualified position. Why?

Team di lavoro

If it would have been the only constant in my experience, probably I’d come to the conclusion that my disability would have prevented me from getting a qualified job, aligned with my skils and ambitions. But it wasn’t the case. I’ve met many business representatives who looked at my professionalism, prior to my disability (and the potential issues linked to it). Just a matter of luck? Not at all. I think that, in your life,  you must build your own luck. That’s even more so when, using a sport metaphore, you play holding a ballast, as disability is. As my direct managers recently reminded to me, in their eyes, I made the difference, since my skills, my background, the quality of my work never let them think about my disability as a problem (or as the only, or main, reason to hire me).

No, I don’t want to present myself as a role model. I’m well aware that everyone has his/her own life and that, sometimes, experience influences our choices. But I’d wish that my personal experience could help someone to believe that, maybe, changing his/her attitude and introducing him/herself not focusing on the problem (his/her disability) , but on the solution (what he/she can do as a worker for the company he/she is applying for, in that specific position and generally speaking),  things can even get different.

I dont’ thik businesses are “bad” and inclined to discriminate those with a disability. Most of the times, they do it under the influence of a disability narrative focusing on impossibility, on limits, on sorrow, on welfarism. I strongly believe that this should be the starting point: without fall into the opposite mistake (exalting “heroism” of people with a disability), let’s try to start from direct accountability, to control our own fates: let’s make our faces and bodies seen, let’s make our voices heard, let’s ask others to talk and treat us as professionals (and always act like that, of course), not as “needy”people to help. We’ll still get doors slammed in our faces, we’ll still face disappointment, bitterness, the comments of some colleagues… But, as they say, revolutions take place one step at a time. Let’s start!

“Inclusive Revolution”, a conference about work and inclusion

We often talk about work inclusion of people with a disability, a topic that, most of all in these specific times we’re living due to the pandemic, may seem sort of utopia. But it isn’t so: even nowadays, we must commit together- organizations, businesses and workers with a disability- so that these “utopia” could turn into real for as many people as possible. On October 9th, I had the pleasure to share my personal experience of professional with an evident physical disability during the digital conference “Inclusive Revolution“, organized by the European University of Rome partnering with companies including Alstom, Auticon, Avio Aero, Divercity, IBM, Intesa Sanpaolo, Tim, UniCredit.

Rivoluzione Inclusiva

The poster of the “Inclusive Revolution” conference

The “Inclusive Revolution” conference, that took place online complying with the current regulations to contrast the spread of the infection, not only represented an opportunity to think about this topic, but also to get to know best practices already applied by some businesses, as well as the point of view of those directly involved: workers with a disability. My speech aimed exactly to share my own professional experience, all in all a success case, mostly if compared with that of many others, also offering food for thoughts to the business representatives who participated in the event, about the selection process, as well as the prejudices that often negatively impact the employability, but also the career opportunities of workers with a disability, no matter how qualified they can be.

Below you can find two videos of my speech during the “Inclusive Revolution” conference. In the first one, I shared my own experience, while in the second one I answered some questions emerged during the conference.

As I always do, I wanted to offer food for thoughts aiming to achieve, all together, a different way to look at disability, that doesn’t focus on limitations anymore, but leaves room for the abilities and the specific skills and experience of people, regardless of their specific condition.

What do you think about it? Do you want to share your own experience?

Inclusion Job Day: job runs on the web

Are you a legally protected worker looking for a job? Chances are you are among those who think that this isn’t the right time to find one. But no, since career days don’t stop: they’ve simply movede on the web. Today I’m going to talk to you about a particularly interesting one. On July 3rd,  the first edition of the Inclusion Job Day will take place. It will be a virtual occasion to promote inclusiveness allowing professionals belonging to the protected categories who are looking for a job  to meet (on the web) businesses based in and around Milan interested in hiring them. Organized by  INTERACTION FARM® partnering with Cesop Communication, the event will take place online, complying with the anti-Covid policy.

Inclusion Job Day

The Inclusion Job Day attendeees will have the chance to meet businesses and recruiters, send their CVs, attending career guidance talks, conduct job interviews and attending the round table that will open the day starting from 9:30, during which, moderated by Divercity Magazine’s Valentina Dolciotti, university representatives, managers of the involved businesses, Comune di Milano and no-profit organizations representatives, will talk about the state of the art, sharing business best practices and examples of inclusiveness.

how to attend the inclusion job day?

In order to attend the Inclusion Job Day, you simply have to sign up for free on the event website, creating your own profile and uploading your updated resume. Moreover, signing up, you’ll be able to apply for the job offers that the participating businesses (including: Accenture, Trenitalia, A2A, Fineco, etc.) are already uploading on the website.

Sounds interesting, isn’t it? And also comfortable, since you can attend the event without leaving your home! All you need is a computer with a webcam (even better, also a microphone), an internet access and a resume. Good luck and… don’t forget to pay attention to your clothes: even though it will take place online and not in person, it will always be a professional context!

 

Specialisterne: diversity as an asset

Stella Arcà - Specialisterne

Stella Arcà, Business & Marketing Manager di Specialisterne Italia

Last September, I was invited to the presentation of the latest issue of “Divercity” magazine, which included, among the other articles, the interview I had granted to Elena Belloni about disability and work. That event gave me the opportunity to get to know many companies and associations committed to inclusion at all levels and in every field.  Among them, the one that impressed me more was Specialisterne, a staffing company that trains and helps people with autism spectrum disorders or Asperger syndrome finding a job and effectively integrating into the company environment. Then, at the end of the presentation, I immediately got in touch with Stella Arcà, Business & Marketing Manager of the Italian branch, asking her to tell more about the company she works at on Move@bility. Here you have our chat.

How did the idea to found Specialisterne arise?

Stong perseverance, extreme precision and a great memory are valuable skills for the IT industry, and they are peculiarities that distinguish people with an autism spectrum disorder. Thorkil Sonne, who was employed at an IT company in Denmark, first realized it back in 2004, when, coming back from a journey in Europe with his family, saw his Asperger son drawing the map of it, completing it with 150 boxes and 500 alphanumeric types without having the original one under his eyes. Deeply impressed by that event, Sonne decided to go all-in on this incredible unexpressed potential: so, he resigned, mortaged his house and founded Specialisterne, “The Specialists” in Danish, a staffing company with the ambitious goal to value the great skills of people with autism and give them a concrete professional opportunity.

Which services does the company offer to candidates with autism?

Specialisterne a ful-time four-months training path, totally free and customized, to  build up a specific profile, aligned with the needs of companies working in administration and information technology. The training has two goals: a technical goal, teaching subjects such as software testing and whatever can be useful at work, and a social-professional one, with individual and group interviews designed to help the candidate overtaking difficulties and get used to the working context. The main goal of the course is to offer the candidate a professional career. Once the candidate is hired, the tutor becomes a bridge with the company and manages all the obligations needed to guarantee quality and top class performances.

How do you contact the companies that are potentially interested in hiring them? 

We mainly speak to the companies HR departements to offer our talents. Sometimes they directly contact us after having read about us on an article or having met at an event; sometimes we tempt the first contact, offering them the opportunity to take part in this diversity and inclusion project.

How long has been Specialisterne operating in Italy and how many people have you helped finding a job, so far? 

We’ve been working in Italy for two years and, so far, we’ve helped 25 people with autism starting a professional career at 8 different customers, including Everis or Flex.

Un consulente Specialisterne al lavoro

A Specialisterne consultant at work

What industries do the companies you present the workers who reach out to you operate in? 

We partner with all the companies that need IT or administration services. Then, they mainly operate in information technology, but we also have customers in banking, pharma, insurance that need our talents.

Once the candidate is hired by the company, how do you support him or her?

The onboarding of the consultant in the company is the first, important stage of a path that we design on the way. On a weekly basis, the coach meets the consultant, his/her manager and the team, supporting them with the goal to accompany the consultant all over his/her career, contributing to create in the environment a growing awareness, providing both the worker and the company with tools enabling to design a path that can be  functional to everyone.

How can the interested candidates or their families directly contact Specialisterne?

They can contact us sending an email to contatto.it@specialisterne.com, so that, based on the individual, his/her needs and specific case, they can be reached back by the right person in our Team, who will provide them with all the useful info.

What are the main “resistance” reasons from the companies, when you offer them people with autism to hire? 

The first resistance reason is fear, since autism is still poorly known and there are many stereotypes sorrounding it.  Changing the perception of autism  is an essential part of our mission and, to us, it represents a very important challenge we are committed to every day.

How did you succeed helping companies overtaking these resistances?

Many times we offer the companies to start hiring one or two workers to test their talents, so that they can realize by themselves their skills. Most of the times we have started with this approach, the customer company has asked for more resources after a year, realizing the success of the project.

Un consulente Specialisterne al lavoro

A Specialisterne consultant at work

Can you share a “success case”  with us?

Everis is the company in Italy that has hired more people with autism through Specialsterne. So far, our partnership with Everis has helped 11 people starting a professional path. The managers say that including these people has helped the company changing its culture.  Differences are eliminated, respecting the individual peculiarities and evaluating neurodiversity.

Looking more widely to the society we live in, what can be done, in your opinion, to change the -almost always distorted- perception of autism spectrum disorders? 

We first nee the society to be more informed about autism: that’s why we work on the awareness of the companies talking to their employees. Moreover, those who work with our candidates can realize by themselves that people with autism can work with a high quality standard.

Which advice would you give to someone with autism reaching to Specialisterne to find a job?

Rather than advices, we constantly try to provide concrete and individual feedbacks about different aspects, from attitude to strong and weak traits, with a focus on  social and professional topics, since feedback is often lacking in the previous educational and working experience od these workers. We also try to design ad hoc strategies with the individual, aiming to his/her personal and professional growth.

 

Once again, many thanks to Stella Arcà for her time and best of luck to Specialisterne for its truly important mission!

Campus Party: digital, innovation and diversity

On July 27th, I had the pleasure and the honor to take part as a speaker in the Job Factory organised by HRC Digital Generation during the third Italian edition of Campus Party, a global event focused on innovation and creativity and mainly addressed to young people, communities, universities, companies and organizations that, for some days, had the opportunities to discuss and build the future together, using technology as a tool to change tomorrow, in an aware and responsible way. The subject of the 2019 edition, that took place in Milan from July 24th to 27th, was “Diventa Div3rso”  (Become Different): below, you can see one of the pictures used on social media to advertise the event.

Campus Party 2019 - Frida Kahlo

Then, it was the best occasion to “officially” introduce Move@bility, particularly talking about di work and, therefore, social inclusion of people with a disability, wasn’t it? Here below, you can watch the video registration of my speech, that launches Movea@bility’s YouTube channel.

It was really exciting and valuable to have the chance to meet at Campus Party so many interested young people, who carefully listened to my speech and shared their views about such an important topic, that’s often overlooked even when talking about diversity. I hope I was able to spread the idea, that is also the Move@bility’s starting point: despite our respective diversities and peculiarities, we all are people and, then, have the same dignity, the same rights and, obviously, the same duties. Not only at work.

Would you like to have a look at the presentation I shared at Campus Party? Here you have it! 🙂

I hope to have further opportunities to discuss these topics with a “mixed” audience, not necessarily made up by people who are directly involved it them. Since I believe that a real “disability culture” can only be established involving the whole community, not limiting to look at our own backyard. What do you think about it?

“More Than Dis”: why don’t you put yourself on the line?

In this space, we often talk about work and how tricky it still is, despite legal obligations, for people with a disability or included in the “protected categories“, insert in the fabric of society and succeed also under a professional perspective (with all the social, psychological and economical consequences). Then, why don’t you try to take the leap and start your own business? This is the starting point of “More Than Dis“, the contest promoted by Fondazione Italiana Accenture, founded, as its website claims, to “transfer technologies, skills and expertise from the profit environment to the non-profit, to enable the development of abilitating conceptual and digital platforms in the scenario of digital social innovation and sustainable economical development”. For this initiative, it partners with Jobmetoo, a job board exclusively dedicated to job opportunities addressed to “protected categories” workers, and with the startup incubator specialized in highly socially valuable enterprises Make a Cube. Auticon, an IT consulting business that exclusively hires people with autism spectrum disorders,  and FISH (Italian Federation for Handicap Overtaking) also cooperate in this contest.

More Than Dis

THE LAUNCH EVENT OF more than dis

All the details about how to participate in More Than Dis and the contest regulation will be communicated during its launch event that will take place in Milan, in the Community Room of Fondazione Accenture in Maurizio Quadrio street, near Garibaldi metro station, on Tuesday June 4th from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM. The registration to the event is free of charge and can be done through this link.  It will also give the opportunity to discuss and compare different perspectives about how to promote diversity and self-entrepreneursphip opportunities for people with a disability.

It sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Why don’t you take this chance and try to put yourself personally on the line, instead of keeping on waiting for others to pick you or give you an opportunity? It’s not easy, indeed. But, supported by experts who are also aware of the peculiarity associated to a condition of disability, it’s worth trying!

Stay tuned for more details about More Than Dis!

Inclusive Job Day 2019: Milan stage

Companies are increasingly aware of the advantages deriving from the adoption of inclusive policies paying attention to  diversity, in all of its declinations. An example of this trend is the increasing number of events and career days for the so-called “protected categories” and “disadvantaged” workers. For instance, the Inclusive Job Day 2019, which returns in Milan, at the Acquario Civico, on Monday May 13th , from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. The event, organized by Inclusive Mindset partnering with Comune di Milano, offers to people who are part of the “protected categories” (due to disability or other reasons) and to the foreigners the opportunity to meet prestigious businesses, even having job interviews. Moreover, they will have the opportunity to attend career guidance sessions and to talk with the attending companies representatives about job opportunities and skills need to succeed in those roles.

Inclusive Job Day

The last edition of Inclusive Job Day in Milan – Picture ©Inclusive Mindset

Many prestigious companies participated in the previous editions of Inclusive Job Day, mostly meeting graduated workers, with skills ranging from finance to marketing, from logistics to information technology, etc.

how to sign up for the inclusive job day 2019?

As for the previous editions,  to take part in the Inclusive Job Day 2019 you must sign up (or if you already did it), login to the APP Inclusive Mindset, fill in the form and upload your CV, then clic on “Eventi” and then select the Inclusive Job Day button. Participation is, obviously, free of charge.

Furthermore, in the same day, after the Inclusive Job Day, you’ll have the chance to attend the free workshop about Personal Branding on Linkedin. Even in this case, to sign up, you must login to the app and follow the above procedure.

You’d like to participate, but Milan isn’t that comfortable for you? Good news: in autumn, the Inclusive Job Day 2019 will have two additional stages in Rome and Turin.

What are you waiting for? Update your resume and don’t miss this opportunity! Good luck! 🙂

 

Personal branding and job search: a workshop in Milan

I’m quite sure you’ve heard about “personal branding” and how important it is, mostly nowadays, in the “social media era”, also for those who are looking for a job. In fact, in a time when the demand for a job is higher than the offer,  creating and curating your own personal “brand” is crucial to stand out in the crowd: what distinguishes me from the other hundreds (or thousands) of people with the same skills and experience as mine?

personal brandingDesigned by Waewkidja / Freepik

“Personal branding” is important for people with a disability  willing to position themselves in the job market, whether they’re looking for their first  job or wish to find a new one. In order to help them succeed, Inclusive Mindset and LinkedIn (the well-known  “business social network” I suggest you to sign up to, shouldn’t you have done it already) have organized a workshop where, supported by the most important experts in this field, the attendees will get to know the basics of personal branding, plus tricks to leverage social media in their job search.

 

workshop about personal branding: where and when?

Save the date! The workshop about personal branding is scheduled on Friday, February 15th at 5:00 PM in Milan, at LinkedIn Italy offices, in one of the skyscrapers in Porta Garibaldi. After the workshop, a cocktail will give the attendees a valuable opportunity for netwoking and exchaning useful information.

LinkedIn offices in Milan

LinkedIn offices in Milan

how to attend the workshop?

In order to ensure the best experience, only a limited number of people will have the chance to attend the workshop (for free), upon registration. Are you interested in participating? Go to Inclusive Mindset’s website and fill in the registration form, also specifying if you need support (for instance, a LIS interpreter or a helper, should you have reduced mobility). What are you waiting for? Whether you’re looking for your first job or, maybe, you’re willing to find a new one, more suitable for you, don’t miss this opportunity!

Treatments leave: how does it work and who’s eligible for it?

For those who live with a severe or chronic disability, it can be tricky to conciliate work tasks and the need to undergo treatments, therapies and so on. We already talked about the permits foreseen by the 104/92 law, that is three days a month (that can also be used in hours) that can be requested by the employee with a severe disability or who takes care of a relative with a severe disability. But there’s also another option, that can be certainly useful when, for instance, you need to undergo ongoing cycles of physiotherapy: the treatments leave, regulated by the art. 7 of the 119 legislative decree, July 18th 2011.

congedo per cure - fisioterapia

who is eligible for the treatments leave?

The treatments leave can be requested by amputee or legally disabled employees whose working capability is reduced by over 50%. The leave gives right to 30 days per year, that can be used also not consecutively (but not on a hourly basis), to undergo, for instance, cycles of physiotherapy, respiratory or oncological treatments. The treatments leave is paid as foreseen by the specific national category contracts for sick leaves and isn’t counted in the time of respite, being considered apart from it.

how to request the treatments leave?

In order to benefit from the treatments leave, the employee must request it in writing to his employer, including the documents certifying his disability degree (and, thus, his working capability reduction) is higher than 50% and the request written by his general practitioner or by a specialist working at a public health establishment, certifying he needs that specific treatment due to his specific disability. Moreover, at the end of the treatments, the employee must also present the documents released by the specialist or the health establishment where he undergone them, to certify he has actually benefited from them.

In any case, if you’re interested in requesting a treatments leave, I suggest you to carefully check what your specific national contract says about it and, if needed, to ask a welfare agency for consultancy.

 

“Diritti e inclusione delle persone con disabilità”

Are you interested in topics such as inclusion and, generally speaking, the rights of people with a disability? Would you like to turn this passion into your job or your professional specialty? If you answered “yes” to this questions, maybe you are interested in the “Diritti e inclusione delle persone con disabilità“(“Rights and inclusion of people with a disability“) specialization course organized also in 2019 by the University of Milan (Department of public Italian and supranational rights) with the patronage of the Municipality of Milan and LEDHA, the association that, since 40 years, supports the rights of people with a disability.

"Diritti e inclusione delle persone con disabilità"

The “Diritti e inclusione delle persone con disabilità” specialization course is addressed to lawyers, judges, public health professionals, public administration operators who work in social services,  associations, foundations and NGO operators, staffing company workers, as well as all the professionals who, for any reason, work in sectors linked to disability, plus all the graduated people who are interested in specialize in it.

Inclusion and rights of people with a disability are increasingly popular topic, luckily.  But, as it often occurs, a very complex and articulate legislation doesn’t make it easy to apply what laws foresee. As a consequence, the most important goal of the “Diritti e inclusione delle persone con disabilità” specialization course is to help whoever  wants to work in this sector to have an as much thorough as possible picture of this topic and of the laws that regulate it. So, it will go from the analysis of the social-cultural perception of disability to the various types of disabilities, to understand the main issues linked to each of them, to pass to examine in depth the laws against discrimination and the legal principles that regulate this area. The other five modules will be devoted to analyze the issues people with a disability face in various contexts: society, family, school, work, hospital, jail. Always adopting a multidisciplinary approach, that will enable to acquire not only technical-legal, but also medical, social-educational and psychological know-how.

The course, that will last 50 hours, will take place from February 1st to May 17th 2019, with the possibility to attend part of the classes in e-learning mode. The entrance fee is € 416,00 and the applications for admission must be submitted by 2:00 PM of January 10th 2019, as specified on the announcement  available on the website of the Milanese university.

Would you like to learn more? Have a look at the flier!