Social Entrepreneurship has been embedded at KPN for a number of years. They started in 2015 to help people in a vulnerable position move forward at KPN.
Diversity & Inclusion at KPN.
KPN is the network of the Netherlands. To understand what motivates their customers, they find it natural that the company should be a representative reflection of society. They therefore attach great value to a diverse composition of their staff. They believe in the power of difference, which is why they invest in an inclusive culture. With them, they want people to feel free to be themselves, because they know that then you can reach your full potential.
Social Enterprise within KPN
KPN believes that every person is talented and that everyone has the right to participate in working life. KPN is also a good employer for people in a vulnerable position on the labor market. For example, within the Customer Service area they have set up a learning-working company to offer these people training and work experience at MBO 3 level in one year’s time. In this way, they make sure that no one is left behind and they train new talent for their customer contact channels
The learning-working-company – pathway
<Ronald Nieuwenhuis, Manager of Diversity & Inclusiveness, explains: "Every year we train twenty people through the learning-working company. It is a group of people who are distanced from the labor market. The combination of a thorough education and work experience at KPN enables them to enter the labor market with confidence. We teach them to work, as it were." The aim of Social Enterprise at KPN is to strengthen the position of these people. We do this on the basis of being a sustainable employer and working together towards inclusiveness.
For the employees of the Social Enterprise team, this training and work experience means that they can get to work (again). During the school year, they went to school on average one day a week and worked the other four days at KPN to apply the knowledge they had acquired. The benefits include social contacts at work, a fixed rhythm in their lives, working with people from similar backgrounds, a recognized diploma, a self-earned income and the confidence they gain from their colleagues and managers at KPN.
After a year, the work experience position becomes available again for someone else with a distance to the labor market. They see that the knowledge and experience gained by current employees can be passed on to the regular departments, sometimes with a small adjustment to the workplace and possibly the work package.
The results of Social Entrepreneurship
93 diplomas and 12 new KPN employees
Of the 109 colleagues who started from 2015, 93 people completed the entire course. They received their diploma in Customer Contact Employee MBO3. Meanwhile, 12 people have found a job within KPN and 43 people a job outside KPN.