For the 2nd year, NEOMA has provided students with the opportunity to follow the Handimanagement training course, a certificate that promotes diversity and disability through inclusion, open-mindedness and management.The financial support provided by @talentégal and the Grand Reims region allowed NEOMA to offer 43 students the opportunity to follow the Handimanager training course in 2020/2021. This AFNOR-certified programme aims to clarify issues related to inclusion and to change the way people look at things to become an agent of change themselves. “It is a fantastic achievement by NEOMA to have so many students follow a complementary training course in diversity management,” Agnès de Freslon, Head of School Relations with Companiéros, the association that provides the training course, commented at the awards ceremony held on Tuesday 11 May.

43 voluntary students from the 3 campuses and all programmes followed this remote training course on the professional inclusion of people with disabilities from January to the end of March, thereby acquiring the kind of people and managerial skills companies are now looking for. But as Loïc Le Grouiec, HR Director at Nokia France and President @TalentEgal, points out, “this is not an end in itself, but a beginning. You have become role models and I encourage you to go into companies that share and will know how to exploit your values.”

Cécile Dupuy, Master in Management student, attended the training course. She says: “I am so grateful to NEOMA for this fantastic opportunity. The Handimanagement training course was really rewarding and extremely complete as it taught me to deconstruct the kind of stereotypes associated with disability, to acquire and understand key figures and notions and to deal with practical management cases. One real highlight of the course was when we met a physically disabled student. It really helped me understand her point of view regarding professional integration and the challenges involved. For me, this training course is essential for any manager or future manager striving for a more inclusive professional world!”

 To raise awareness throughout the NEOMA community, the Accreditations, Certifications and CSR teams wanted one of the School’s staff members to enrol on the course. Pascal Choquet, Head of the Reims Campus, was therefore actively involved with the students for the duration of the course. “I was really impressed by these few weeks. As a Campus director, the handimanager training clearly altered my point of view and understanding of certain subjects,” he said at the end of the award ceremony.

Finally, Fanny Le Gentil, Grand Reims Disability officer, concluded the ceremony with a quotation by Dumbledore, the well-known Harry Potter character: “Soon, we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.”