Design, Planning and implementation of ad hoc communication strategy addressed to Companies
A number of reaserches and studies published by the most authoritative Universities and research centres have been taken into account by the partners at application stage. (see annexed Reference Bibliography)
The principles stated in the majority of the reports show some resistance from the business side to include SN workers, provided that information on positive experiences matured by other companies are pretty ignored, and ad hoc awareness-raising actions in the specific field have already been suggested by a number of studies.
The partners will take advantage of this scientific literature and will couple it with the most used marketing principles. For this reason, the Spanish partner CECE has been designated as component’s leading organisation being among the largest EU VET consortium having tight connections with national and European companies. Moreover CECE holds the presidency of EfVET, the largest EU umbrella association of VET providers. Such a role will provide better opportunities to test the communication strategy within and beyond partner countries.
It is however important to be well aware of some of the challenges to overcome in order to effectively include SN people in working contexts: preparing employers to including them and pave the way for their continuous professional growth are only two of many.
Company employees often do not know what to do or how to cooperate with people with mental/learning disabilities and they, or the company, have trouble in adapting their attitudes and/or working processes.
Given that most SN people are generally not qualified for any specific job a challenge arises: how to create opportunities for professional growth of these people.
The project will convey to employers in the field of Hotel Management and Culinary Arts the message that, duly trained, SN can be employed as regular workers and will provide the companies with new opportunities to expand, generate natural team building feelings among their regular staff, and enhance the overall enterprise social responsibility approach.
Such activity is not to be mistaken with regular project dissemination activities. The aim of the present I.O, in fact, is the one of addressing companies with an ad hoc communication activity able to enforce the connection between VET providers and stakeholders on the labour inclusion of SN. Once piloted (and eventually adjusted), such approach will be suitable also to enforce regular mutual communication among the various stakeholders as a daily routine and possibly enlarged to other economic sectors.
The envisaged strategy will involve the design and delivery of advertising materials (pretty much audiovisual materials), the organisation of face-to-face meetings with companies with the participation of testimonials from organisations/companies having undertaken social inclusion policies by hiring SN.
The activity will span along the whole project timeframe, and will involve the active participation of all partners. All the materials to be used during the activities described above will be translated from English into national languages.
The Output will deliver a set of both tangible and intangible products that will support the partners and future users at time of communicating with companies:
- Set of contents, statistics and info about the added value of hiring SN conveyed via marketing based principles: set of headlines, pictures and key messages (visual, audio and paper based, including information brochures and leaflets.
- Planning and delivery of a media based advertising campaign including: identification of addresses, audio and visual messages both via traditional medias and web 2.0/3.0
- The main intangible result will be the enhanced quality of the relationship between VET providers and Employers in this specific field also as well as a general better understanding of the added value and benefits arsing from training SN. This is also to be considered as a long term project extensive and sustainable result.
All partners will be involved in this process with different intensity, although the leadership is asigned to the Spanish Parter [CECE] who has a specific expertise in dealing with employers and has developed tools and instruments, also via cooperation with other important VET associtions in Europe that will enhance the quality of the final project.
