Berlin is knorke: Inclusion in practice in Berlin companies
Berlin, 30 December 2024 - Good ideas are the basis for innovation, but also for inclusion: Many Berlin companies not only stand for innovative products, but also for creative business concepts that especially promote diversity and inclusion. The Berlin Inclusion Prize 2024 of the State Office for Health and Social Affairs, awarded in November, shows with four company examples how good ideas become diversity in practice in Berlin companies:
The winner in the “Inclusive employment – Large companies” category is Deutsche Welle in Berlin. The strategy of Deutsche Welle’s corporate goals focuses on three key areas - People, Processes and Products. 699 employees at the Berlin location are committed to this corporate culture – 43 of them have a severe disability. This corresponds to an employment rate of over 6%. Numerous inclusion programmes and measures by the company promote the professional participation of people with disabilities while also enabling employees without disabilities to gain a shift in perspective for greater inclusion in practice.
The company Puchmayr Dentaltechnik GmbH won in the category “Inclusive employment – Medium-sized companies”. For the dental laboratory, economic and social responsibility go hand in hand: 26 employees without disabilities and four deaf employees manufacture various dental technology products. This means that the laboratory’s employment rate of 13.3% is well above the legal requirements and is exemplary for other companies.
The winner in the “Inclusive employment” category for small companies is Repro- und Werbezentrum Prenzlauer Berg GmbH: Securing employment is the top priority for Managing Director Karin Meyer. As a businesswoman with a heart, she opened the door of her company to long-term unemployed and disabled people right from the start. Today, Karin Meyer owes the success of her company to ten top performers – six of whom have a disability. This is despite the fact that her company is not obliged to employ severely disabled people under the German Social Code IX due to its size.
The winner of the “Inclusive training” category is Lebenswelten Restaurations GmbH. The company is an inclusive company within the meaning of the law on severely disabled persons. In this way, Lebenswelten fulfils its social mandate to employ at least 30 percent of severely disabled people. Of the company’s current 74 employees, 30 have a disability. From the very beginning, the inclusive company Lebenswelten has been committed to the vocational training of people with disabilities. Over the course of 37 years, Lebenswelten has trained 130 young people in gastronomic professions.
Video portraits of how the companies live inclusive everyday life can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YI-GOUA9O0&list=PLddWgrQ7NewgxJHeelh_-gIHjGaxZkWRO
Photos: Landesamt für Gesundheit und Soziales (LAGeSo)
