As Serasa Experian’s Corporate Sustainability Manager in Brazil, I’m dedicated to my job promoting diversity and inclusion efforts at work. But it also happens to be my passion.
I believe that companies have a responsibility to reflect the diversity found in society, giving everyone equal opportunity to excel regardless of color, gender or disability.
And yet, while a lot of companies over the years have made great strides toward hiring a diverse array of people, sometimes the harder — yet more impactful — work is making sure that diverse group of employees can continue to develop professionally after they’re hired.
To this end, Serasa Experian’s Business Network for Social Inclusion (Rede Empresarial de Inclusão Social) launched a program called the Top Talent Project, which encourages and accelerates professional development once someone with physical disabilities is hired.
I don’t want to simply hire people with disabilities; I want to ensure they can be productive and grow in their roles.
While people with disabilities can bring great experience and skill to their positions, they may need some help integrating into teams. That’s why we work closely with each new hire, their managers and their mentors to guide them on a daily basis.
If someone is hearing-impaired, for example, they may know only sign language and not Portuguese, making it difficult for them to communicate with their team. Through the Top Talent Project, we train new hires to communicate at work with their Portuguese-speaking coworkers. And then we give sign language training to their team members!
We work hard to create a working environment that ensures success for everyone.
In 2016, Serasa Experian received the United Nations Good Practices for Workers with Disabilities Award for our inclusion work in Brazil. That same month, I also was honored to receive the Empregueafro Award from the City Council of São Paulo for promoting ethnic diversity.
All these accolades make me so proud because they’re a reflection of the way we at Experian take care of our people. Ten years ago, I changed careers so I could focus more on making the world a better place. Serasa Experian has given me the opportunity to do just that.
