GTB -I-SME (inclusive small and medium enterprises)

The right to work and employment is a fundamental right enshrined in article 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Furthermore, ensuring an inclusive future of work is part of the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals. In recent years, all European Union countries have implemented measures to remove the barrier encountered in the job market by persons with disabilities.

However, it is also far from being a reality for millions of persons with disabilities willing to work. At EU level, 47% of persons with disabilities aged 15-64 years are employed, compared to 67% of persons without disabilities. In this I-SME project the focus is not on the persons with disabilities but on the employers and how to convince them in realising more inclusive workplaces. The special focus is on the employers of small or medium business because most of the employment in the EU is generated by this type of compagnies. On the other hand these employers argue that they need flexibility of their staff and therefore they lack the focus on employees with disabilities or health problems.

The products developed and tested in the I-SME project are:

✓ A guideline that systematically includes all elements in the decisionmaking process for setting up an awareness campaign. We have made worksheets available that initiators can use.

✓ An inspiration book that indicates how an inclusive SME works and what its added value is.

✓ Short videos that can be inspiring for other employers why their fellow employers consider it important to focus on inclusive entrepreneurship with people with disabilities.

✓ Elaborated concrete stories on paper that can be used in the media or in the awareness campaign itself.

All products can be found on the website: i-sme.eu (languages: English Spanish – German – French - Portuguese – Lithuanian – Dutch)Responsible Department or Unit GTB: Services to employers - TalentoscoopTarget group/s

✓ Experts from Public Employment Services, VET, job coaches … who are responsible to set up awareness activities to engage employers to become more open for employees with disabilities or health problems.

✓ Employers of SME.

✓ Policy makers of all LevelsThe project is funded by the E.C.- EASI.Methodologies and approaches used to develop and carry out the initiative; service/s or activities that were developed.

The issue of reaching positive results by building interventions using theoretical approaches has been recognised in the world of health promotion and prevention. It is more than once proven that the changing of behaviour is positively influenced when ‘reaching the subject trough the right channels, and providing the subject with information in the right way, on the right moment and with the right content’. These successful interventions use ‘Theories of change’; theories developed in the last twenty years to increase healthy behaviour. These theories of change have also been successfully implemented in other areas, like for instance changing the safety behaviour of car drivers.We included in the project the theories of change into the daily practice of all activities related to create inclusive employment. Our operational model to adapt the behaviour of employers towards job inclusion for people with disabilities:When setting up awareness campaigns, we should first and foremost let employers tell their own story about the added value of inclusion of people with disabilities. This principle means that we must think carefully professionally about setting up employer approaches. To this end, the I SME projects have developed various supporting products, after all, involving employers in the organization of an event requires a professional approach.4Employment mediators and job coaches must be able to provide employers withexpert assistance and employers must have maximum legal certainty regarding the support measures that can be deployed.Elements of innovation and creativityWe have translated theoretical insights into behavioral change - mainly from health prevention - into changing the mindset of employers to make the workplace more inclusive for people with disabilities. The central question was 'if we set up events for employers to realize inclusive workplaces, what are the necessary ingredients for setting up such events'. The visual below was developed in co-creation with employer federations and/or service providers in VET for people with disabilities from Belgium - the Netherlands - Germany - Spain - Austria - Lithuania - Portugal.5In addition to these working documents, the project has created supporting products such as:✓ a brochure to inspire employers about what an inclusive workplace can look like and which elements should be taken into account,✓ video material and readable stories about employers who have successfully recruited a person with a disability.How did the initiative demonstrate that it follows a rights-based approach?The starting point for the project was the right to paid work in a normal working environment for people with disabilities. We looked for 30 success stories in which the person with a disability and the SME employer indicate that the employment is a positive story for both parties. Each story has been written out and we have systematically looked for these elements that indicate that it worked. We have ensured that different types of disabilities - personas - were listened to. The working environments also had a diversity, ranging from IT companies to green maintenance and bakeries. This source material has been the basis for drawing up and testing the working documents.The videos and published testimonials always allow people with disabilities and their employers to have their say.The project required a lot of translation work, which was carried out by Autimatic, a regular company that employs people with autism.Staff and resources (skills qualifications, infrastructure, materials) mobilisedWithin GTB the project was carried out by 3 staff members. 1 expert was responsible for the more strategic project follow-up, 2 experts carried out the substantive development. The business cases were carried out by 3 GTB mediators. We were able to rely on 7 people with disabilities to create the videos and the written testimonials.An important part of the products have been developed transnationally. The substantive transnational project coaching was in the hands of dr.Brigitte VanLierop. The professional video shootings and the production of the products are coordinated by Intamt from Germany. The total project budget, financed by E.U. under EASI was 468,000 euros with a term of 1/1/2021 -15/07/2023.Were specific needs of the target group/sidentified or people with a disability consulted in the realization of the initiative? If yes, how? (co-production approach)See answer on ‘ rights-based approach’Were other stakeholders or partners (employers, families, associations, informal network, At Flemish level we discussed the I-SME guidelines and products with:✓ VDAB, the public employment services✓ The umbrella organisation oft he workplace architects who offer jobcoaching to persons with a great distance tot he labor market✓ The projects on inclusive employment funded by the Flemish ESF6etc.) involved? If yes, how?At transnational Level we discussed it with:✓ The European Commission DG employment and social affairs✓ The European network on supported employmentAll the reactions are very positive and asked to have an in-depth look on the products.We are open to bring all the products into EPR-working groups on employment.MONITORING AND EVALUATIONWhat have been the main impacts on your users/clients, staff and the organisation?We have not yet been able to make an impact evaluation, but testing in the business cases shows that the products can be used extremely well.The development of I-SME has influenced:o The employer services Talentoscoopo Duo dayo The employers' initiative 1 out of 1000o The rollout of Individual placement and support (IPS) in Flanders/Belgiumo The actions of the ESF projects Inclusive entrepreneurshipHow are you measuring/assessing whether the service/initiative is implementing some or all the key factors characterising therights-basedframework? Do youhave any evidence or studies to show the impact?GTB is strongly committed to providing employer services under the name Talentoscoop. Employers can call on a SPOC (Single Person of Contact) to implement action plans regarding inclusive entrepreneurship in their company. These action plans are very diverse, ranging from raising awareness in the workplace to coordinating concrete HR processes to recruit, train and retain people with disabilities. Realizing inclusive job design is a core task of these GTB employees. With 18 FTE GTB we now have a reach of approximately 400 companies. Characteristic of these companies is that they tend to be large to multinational. Commitment to reasonable adjustments is easier for larger companies than for SMEs. We expect that the I-SME project will enable Talentoscoop to also reach smaller employers. In this way, more paid employment can be generated for the target group. The most important KPI is therefore to reach at least 200 SMEs with which we can realize an action plan towards inclusion for employees with disabilities.What are, in your experience, the “success factors” or support measures which allowed your organisation to realize users’ inclusion, independence, participation and access to services?In Flanders, the northern region of Belgium, we have very low unemployment rate (<3%) and high demand for employees. This is to the advantage of our target group - people with disabilities. Employers are prepared to abandon the unsuccessful search for white ravens as employees. They want to invest in reasonable adjustments and job design, but they must be able to count on expert support from labor market actors.We have valuable job seekers who can work if given the opportunity. We can strengthen the competencies of this group by focusing on strengthening selfconfidence and making their competencies more visible. EPR has already developed knowledge in this regard in the past, see: Jump to Job – Transit Action – Quolivet. Offering this to coaches in training can be an important success factor.What were, in your experience, the biggest hurdles or The Flemish policy on VET, job mediation and coaching is increasingly guided by tendering. The VDAB (the Flemish Public Employment Service) acts as labor market director. This policy trend is creating many service providers that are in 7problems which made implementing rightsbased approach to service creation, production and delivery difficult to be developed or put in place?competition with each other. On the one hand, there is currently little transparency for employers as to who the providers are and what their quality is. On the other hand, there is little willingness among these actors to share good practices as they are competitors of each other.Particularly in complex change processes such as realizing a more inclusive labor market, we advocate sustainable alliances between government, social partners, universities and service providers;FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS AND TRANSFERABILITYHow do you see the initiative developing in the future?GTB will not promote the I-SME project as a service. The insights and products acquired are embedded in the Talentoscoop employer services. The new ESF operational program states that there may only be 3 to 4 providers in Flanders for inclusive entrepreneurship. At the moment, the call criteria are not yet clear, so all actors are waiting. The GTB board has instructed its experts to develop its own model and communicate it to policymakers. As outlined in the previous paragraph, the alliance model will be put forward. We may second the GTB-Talentoscoop employees to intersectoral (disability - new arrivals - poverty - Net youth, etc.) provincial teams ( 5) that assist employers in inclusive entrepreneurship.What are the major future challenges you see in relation to the initiative, for your users/clients, staff and organisation and for employers? How does your organisation try to overcome them?We have already outlined the most important challenge above. As indicated, we want to develop a future service model for Flanders ourselves. The strength for this is that GTB, as a Service of General Economic Interest, is close to the government and that the social partners are all represented in the board. The challenge will be to realize a model of collaboration with private providers.Do you think theinitiative could work in another country? If so, which aspect/s and why?The I-SME products have been developed and tested in 7 countries. Various employers' federations were involved in the testing. We are convinced that these products can have a major rollout. The condition for this is that an agency (EPR?) takes the lead in developing training around the products. GTB and Disworks (dr.Brigitte Vanlierop) can facilitate this.POLICYHow would you describe your organisation’s cooperation and dialogue with policy makers and/or public authorities as to adaptations you had to make?As already reported, there are important policy changes in the work and social economy sectors in Flanders. The policy adjournment is that the public employment service VDAB takes the lead and involves service providers through tendering in offering job coaching - VET ... . As an NGO, GTB has the special status here as a Service of General Economic Interest. The result of this is that we act more as a knowledge center for mediating people with disabilities into the labor market and supporting employers in this task in line with the job mediation service of 13.000 clients a year. The challenge now is to profile ourselves in this way.8Have there been changes in legislationor regulations that positively or negatively affected the realization of rights-based services? If so, could you briefly describewhat changed and with what effect for your users/clients, staff, organisation and employers.Since July 1 of this year, we have new support options in the workplace for people with disabilities. Before this date, employees with disabilities and have a job in the open labour market could only count on performance support (40% compensation of the gross salary in the first year, 30% in the second and third year and 20% in the fourth year; possibly adjustable based on an evaluation on the workplace) In addition to this performance support, it can now also be supplemented with a guidance premium that can be used by the employer for internal or external job coaching. In Globo, a person who is entitled to collective customization can now enjoy the same support in a regular company. This measure supports the concept of supported employment, which GTB strongly promotes.What would need to change in funding, policy and regulatory frameworks to better support people with disabilities’ rights?In Belgium we have a very complex social security system. It largely depends on your status (job seeker - sick - person with a disability who has not built up social security rights...) what support you can count on and what your rights and obligations are. This complexity means that many citizens experience legal uncertainty in their income when they take steps to find work and especially when work ultimately does not work out. It is also not transparent for employers what support they can count on if they want to hire a person with a disability. If the activity rate of people with disabilities is to be higher than the current 46% and the gap with the regular working population with its employment rate of 78% is to be closed, all governments must make every effort to eliminate these barriers.