i-SME is a European project, which involves a consortium of 8 countries: Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Finland and Lithuania, and establishes a partnership that will support current and future initiatives of the European Commission, including the implementation of the European Disability Strategy and the European Pillar of Social Rights. The main objective of the project is to “include” SME owners and senior management in the implementation of employability policies for people with disabilities, through awareness-raising in the labor market, to arouse interest and motivate them to action: the more companies are aware of the work potential of Persons with Disabilities, and of the support and hiring incentives they may receive locally, regionally and nationally, more SMEs will open their doors to Persons with Disabilities. The awareness actions planned for the i-SME are based on the following pillars:
1. Behavior change theory
It is proven that behavior change is positively influenced when “the subject is reached through the right channels, information is given in the right way, at the right time and with the right content”. Theories of change have been successfully implemented in several areas, and reaching out to SMEs with the topic of employment for the disabled should be another example of their efficiency.
2. Information and Motivation
SMEs will be targeted through contemporary media and digital products, giving an additional impetus to think about the problems of people with disabilities. i-SME will develop an active digital campaign, in coordination and with the support of relevant stakeholders, in which SMEs will be involved in promoting the right to work, and social and labor inclusion of people with disabilities.
3. Access to support services and infrastructure
The products developed within the i-SME project provide easy access to all necessary information to facilitate decision making, providing all information about support opportunities, hiring incentives, and labor integration programs already in place in partner countries.
We will support the Commission’s ongoing and future disability initiatives, including the implementation of the European Disability Strategy, more specifically in Priority Areas 4 – “Employment”, and the European Pillar of Social Rights, in particular Principle 17 – “Inclusion of persons with disabilities”.
The objectives of i-SME translate into products, namely:
- Improve the transferability of good and best practices across borders in Europe, by analyzing the ingredients of success: launch of a miniseries of video clips on real experiences of inclusion, available in partner countries’ languages and English subtitles.
- Improve existing and future interventions focused on the employment of people with disabilities in SMEs, developing a Guiding Guide for Action, with all the necessary information on how to promote the labor inclusion of People with Disabilities.
- Promote inclusion in SMEs in partner countries, disseminating good practices at national, regional and local levels, in a structured and informed manner, in order to achieve the greatest possible impact.
- Develop a web portal that includes all the information needed to support SMEs to become more aware and motivated to hire people with disabilities. The information can be at the level of policy and legislation, at the level of campaigns, hiring incentives and implementing partnerships.
- The main objective of this project is to increase the awareness and motivation of SMEs to actively undertake actions to employ people with disabilities. The more SMEs we become aware of the work potential of people with disabilities, all the support they can receive locally, regionally and nationally, the more SMEs will open their doors to people with disabilities, who will participate in the open labor market, in roles that correspond to the their skills and abilities, in an environment adapted to their needs.
