The Jerónimo Martins Group’s inclusion policies have again been recognised by the Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP), awarding the Group’s holding, Recheio Cash & Carry and Pingo Doce the distinction of 2023 Inclusive Employer Brand.
The 2023 Inclusive Employer Brand award distinguished 54 of the 165 applicants, from among companies, public and social sector entities, for their open and inclusive practices relating to people with disabilities and impairments, based on an assessment of data from 2021 and 2022. Only seven entities, including the Jerónimo
Martins Group holding company, achieved a level of excellence.
According to Susana Correia de Campos, Director of Labour Relations at the Jerónimo Martins Group, “these distinctions are the recognition of the work our Group and our companies have been doing to be increasingly inclusive as an employer, and also in our relationship with our customers. We continuously strive to implement best inclusion practices in all its many dimensions. It is an ambitious goal that implies a substantial commitment from our teams and partners with whom we work specialising in the different types of disabilities, which has helped strengthen the Group's culture and team spirit.”
The labour market inclusion programmes and the adaptation of infrastructures and of internal communication tools to ensure they are accessible to all are among the initiatives the IEFP valued. The Incluir Centres, which the Group built from the ground up in Lisbon and Porto, were particularly noteworthy in the application submitted. Our Incluir Centres follow an innovative training and development methodology, tailored to each trainee and adapted to the functions available within each of the Group’s business areas. The first phase of training takes place in the classroom, focusing on behaviour and relationship skills and practical training in the centre’s simulation store. This is followed by the second phase, where trainees get on-the-job training and are monitored by mentors – employees charged with monitoring and training each trainee in the workplace – and the Inclusion team. After completing these two phases, trainees will be ready to be employed by the Group companies.
Programmes for inclusion, accessibility and inclusive communication valued by IEFP
Created in 2015, the Include Programme aims at giving disadvantaged people access to the job market, in particular people with disabilities, migrants and refugees, and people at social risk. The programme currently has 700 in-house mentors and over 80 partners specialising in the different areas of social inclusion participating in the programme, with a total of 500 workplaces currently involved.
The programme has already provided more than 1,000 job opportunities and directly led to the hiring – by the Group and its Companies in Portugal – of more than 600 people.
The Group remained committed to and continued to invest in improving accessibility and strengthening its culture of inclusion, in particular through:
Our concern with ensuring inclusive business management and employment practices goes beyond our internal practices. The Jerónimo Martins Group Supplier Code of Conduct establishes the rules and principles which suppliers must follow to be considered eligible partners and include not allowing any form of discrimination based on factors such as health and/or disability.