2.8 million*. That is the number of people of working age recognised as having a disability in France. Of these, only 43% find a job. With the aim of coordinating the new skills in demand, recruitment needs and the expectations of disabled employees on integration schemes, the Geiq Avenir Handicap has begun a 360° CSR strategy with Rate A Company.
Operating in the Centre-Val de Loire region, the Geiq Avenir Handicap recruits and oversees the training of people far from the labour market in several hard-to-fill trades (industry, catering, etc.). It then coordinates their hiring by the member companies of its network, guaranteeing the organisation that, should the candidate not give satisfaction, it will find a replacement and place that trainee employee with another company.
This is a particularly important role for hiring, but also from a regulatory standpoint: in France, companies with more than 20 employees are required to have at least 6% disabled workers in their workforce, on pain of a fine. Moreover, the companies that belong to the Geiq network see this scheme, backed by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Integration, as a way of finding employees with a recognised qualification while contributing to the reputation of their area.
At the centre of many interdependent players, the Geiq Avenir Handicap wanted to validate an evidence-based CSR approach and go even further in sustainability by calling on Rate A Company, a CSR audit firm specialising in consulting and engaging stakeholders on the basis of ISO 26000, the SDGs, responsible procurement and the CSRD.
With an overall score of 4.23/5, the Geiq Avenir Handicap was strongly endorsed by its members, employees, partners, providers and candidates.
The best weighted averages – 4.39/5 – were awarded by the training centres (providers that train the future employees the Geiq then places with companies), which particularly value the quality of dialogue, adherence to payment terms and the Geiq’s societal mission.
Another group that awarded a score of 4.39/5: referrers such as Pôle Emploi and the local youth employment services, as well as candidates who did not join the Geiq programme. These people particularly appreciate the quality of listening, equal opportunities in the vacancies handled, and the flexibility and adaptability shown towards candidates.
Well-being at work, the reasonableness of requests, environmental initiatives, innovation: in all, nearly 90 criteria were distributed among all the stakeholders according to each one’s ability to answer.
People who work regularly with the Geiq Avenir Handicap thus had the opportunity to express themselves in complete anonymity (in compliance with the Sapin 2 law) about the professional practices of this non-profit association. For this CSR audit, more than 200 people were invited to take part. With a participation rate of 53% across all stakeholders, those most concerned by CSR are undoubtedly the institutional partners: 100% of them responded within just a few days of the audit starting.
This audit made it possible to highlight, with complete impartiality, the sustainability priorities expected by the main staff and partners. So while 85% of the employees who responded rate “well-being at work” as very good, further efforts are needed on the “sense of belonging to a community” and the “recognition of their trades”. This is an angle the Geiq will need to address with the member companies of its network and the training centres.
Another important point: while the member companies and training centres seem ready to play along with a greener approach and are asking for initiatives in this direction, 50% of the Geiq’s employees still need convincing before changing their habits.
Reassured by these good CSR scores and open to a transparent approach, the Geiq Avenir Handicap agreed to the publication of the results and comments of the various people who responded to this CSR audit.
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