Integration on equal terms – Support program for refugee women

There are many people who live in a foreign country, often for years, and desperately want to provide for themselves and their families again independently, but who have up to now been denied the opportunity to do so. The number of well-trained women, especially, who after flight and displacement don’t find their way back into their professions, is, at 67%, alarmingly high. 

In August 2022, thyssenkrupp Materials Services became one of the first companies to participate in The Female Accelerator Program of socialbee, which trains refugee women with an academic background to become project managers. Two women who fled Nigeria and Iran, respectively, were selected in a joint application process by socialbee and thyssenkrupp Materials Services and are now going through the program, which encompasses special offerings on integration and soft skills, training in Scrum, and on-the-job training. 

“Unfortunately, the number of participants was limited to two per company,” says Luisa Rettig, HR Business Partner and Training Coordinator at thyssenkrupp Materials Services. “But we were so convinced by the idea – and of course by the applicants – that we hired a further employee from Turkey for our IT department. In my view, integration works best when it’s a nonissue.” It thus goes without saying that the employees referred by socialbee are given the same conditions as their colleagues who come to the company by way of a standardized application process. 

Solving the skilled-labor shortage with openness

The engagement of thyssenkrupp Materials Services began in 2015 in the framework of the Group-wide program titled “we.help@tk.” “It’s primarily about assuming social responsibility,” Rettig explains. “At this point, we’re no longer focusing on refugees alone, but on all people who would likely fall through the cracks in a traditional application process.”

After all, sustainable integration is more than the mere fulfillment of certain criteria and standards – as the training instructors at thyssenkrupp Materials Services know from their own experience in recent years. The company is therefore continuing to create additional positions every year to provide opportunities to people who face disadvantages in finding access to the labor market by traditional channels. “We’ve been able to find very good skilled workers this way,” says Rettig. “This is true especially for commercial-technical occupations that are becoming harder and harder to find dedicated junior staff for.” A part of the recruiting for such positions is now handled on the basis of informal recommendations. “Graduates of the program tell others in their private sphere about us and bring in relatives and friends who are in a similar situation but have never had a chance to gain a professional foothold,” Rettig continues. “For these people, we’re the ticket back to employment. Many of them demonstrate extremely high motivation – which is matched by that of their coordinators.” Rettig and her colleagues provide support to others in, for example, learning German or preparing for exams. “And even if it turns out that someone isn’t quite the right person for a job with us,” she adds, “we help them find another apprenticeship, qualification measure, or position that’s a better fit.”

Commitment on all sides

In addition to training and qualification of refugees and people with disabilities, the company’s own integration initiatives and its cooperation with socialbee also encompass the corresponding qualification of trainers and mentors. These measures include training in employment law as well as mandatory training in cultural awareness and unconscious bias. The HR team around Luisa Rettig supports all of the staff and management personnel who actively take part in the integration programs – especially when it comes to coping with difficult situations. In the same manner, the team from socialbee doesn’t only accompany the participants in The Female Accelerator Program, but also advises and supports the ambassadors (contact persons of the participants in the company) and management personnel from the participating companies over the duration of the project. 

Janina Riahi, Head of Sourcing & Recruiting at thyssenkrupp Materials Services, comments: “We seek to continue improving how our company reflects societal diversity, including on the labor market. To this end, we initiate changes, continue to develop our application processes, and sensitize our colleagues to their own, often unconscious biases. It isn’t enough to simply impose rules of conduct on staff. We’re drawing attention to these issues and promoting openness at all levels of the company. Only in this way can we truly put our values such as integration and inclusion in practice. Our experience with ‘we.help’ and socialbee make clear that we’re on the right path.”