After receiving support through a diagnostic of the employment situation of people with disabilities, the development of an appropriate action plan and the negotiation of an approved disability agreement, Sushi Shop wished to continue its partnership with Arthur Hunt Consulting by entrusting it with the reins of its disability mission.

Feedback from Jean-Baptiste Tilloy, HRD Sushi shop:

Is having a disability mission and a disability
representative a must?

In my opinion, heads of companies who are asking this question need to back up a bit in their thinking. The first question that needs to be asked is: what level of commitment for the inclusion of people with disabilities do I want in my company? If the answer to this first question is that the company has a genuine desire to implement a disability policy that permeates the entire staff, then of course the company must have a disability mission and a disability representative to lead it! Things will need to be shaken up because, unfortunately, disability is often seen as something negative when it’s actually a tremendous performance driver for a company! The disability mission and its representative will act as a disruptor in an environment full of preconceptions and received ideas.

Why choose a disability representative on a shared time basis, can you explain this to us?

This is a very good question, and indeed this choice may seem to be at odds with the company’s commitment that I mentioned in my first answer… but not so much in the end, when you think about it! As I explained, a company needs to shake things up a bit in order to move forward with regard to disability. Who’s never noticed that an outside look often helps a company move forward? We see it every day in the company, an employee puts forward an idea or suggests changes and nothing happens. An employee’s remarks, however relevant, aren’t always listened to… But if that same idea or the same thoughts come from an external third party, things suddenly start to happen. The disability representative on a shared time basis is this external perspective that will enable the company to move forward quickly, at least at the start of the implementation of its disability policy. In the long term, however, internal recruitment will be relevant once the databases have been installed and attitudes have changed.