A good example of supporting employment of people living with disabilities and Diversity and Inclusion

Thiess in Mongolia operates with over 290 employees, of which 9 of them are people living with disabilities. By law, business entities with 25 or more employees are required to employ at least 4% people living with disabilities. Thiess not only welcomes and employs people living with disabilities, but also takes and supports diversity and inclusion initiatives across their operations.

Rolling out diversity and inclusion initiatives across Thiess Group since 2018 underpins and supports creation of more inclusive workplaces within Thiess. Thiess is a leading mining services provider operating across over 20 mining projects in Australia, Indonesia, Mongolia, USA and Chile.

Ms Otgonsuren Balgan, Senior HR officer at Thiess, said “As part of this great initiative, we started providing people living with disabilities access to jobs since 2019. This initiative is focused on providing a safe and inclusive workplace, where everyone is able to bring their full self to work and feels safe, respected and valued regardless of their disabilities, age, sex, religious belief and sexual orientation. Also, the campaign was launched with ambitious goals to ensure female participation within the company”.

They invited a non-governmental organization (NGO), ‘Tugeemel Khugjil’, to engage in the evaluation of workplaces and its accessibility. After seeking approval from the building management team of “Monnis Tower”, where their office is located adjustments were made to the lavatory so it is accessible for people living with disabilities and they implemented other changes such as installing ergonomic desks in the office.

Thiess was then able to identify employment opportunities at their offices and operations.  Job advertisements were posted on the Facebook group for people living with disabilities and sent to NGOs that protect the rights of people living with disabilities”. In addition to creating an online application platform for those who are unable to come and fill out the application in person, they engaged the “Association of Sign Language Interpreters” to be able to have smooth communication to those with hearing impairment during job interviews.

Sign language interpreters are not only engaged for job interviews, but also for events, such as meetings and trainings, held within the company to ensure equal access to information for all employees including those with a hearing impairment.

Undrakhbayar Ch, Head of “Tugeemel Khugjil” NGO was invited to give advice at the session with all staff that aimed to increase awareness, change mindsets and approaches towards working with people living with a disability. The guest speaker talked through a wide range of topics such as employment of people living with disabilities, what their colleagues and employers should consider, and what initiatives can be taken to create an inclusive work environment. Also they invited Baasanjav A, Head of “Education for people with hearing impairment” NGO and delivered awareness session for all employees.

All these initiatives implemented in the workplace have been recognized as good practices across Thiess’ global operations.