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Lyne Sarrazin, who works at L’Oréal Canada, is an example of the company’s pledge not to overlook talent. http://business.financialpost.com/2013/05/29/disability-no-barrier-to-talent/ L’Oréal Canada believes recruitment needs to extend through all demographics to ensure the company reflects the customers it serves and so no source of talent is overlooked. The cosmetics and personal care product leader has developed policies designed to be certain that people with disabilities are hired and that their talent is retained. Lyne Sarrazin works in the client services department for L’Oréal Canada’s consumer products division in Montreal, where she is responsible for preparing purchase orders and a variety of reports. She was born deaf and initially applied for work in 1983 with the assistance of her mother, who acted as an interpreter during the job interview. “I think having her there gave me more confidence and allowed me to better perform at the interview,” says Ms. Sarrazin. Effective communication with her team takes a number of forms. Like most business people, much of her communication, particularly with head office, is conducted through email. She lip reads and also communicates using Quebec Sign Language (QSL), a variant of American Sign Language (ASL). “I would say the two sign languages are about 70% similar,” says Ms. Sarrazin. “In ASL, you spell out the words a lot more than you do in QSL, where you can use a sign to represent one or more words. L’Oréal Canada hired a trainer to teach my team QSL, which helped improve communication tremendously. This gesture really touched me deeply.” Although she knows no other workers at the company who are deaf, about a dozen people in the office can now communicate in QSL. She notes that the language is very precise. “Sometimes people get mixed up and use the wrong sign for a word or a letter and that could change the meaning of it completely,” she says. “It makes life interesting.” For those employees not fluent in sign language, she ensures that people, particularly new hires, understand how they can best communicate with each other. “I smile at them, make eye contact and make them understand that I am deaf,” she says. “For my part, I must always ensure that people understand what I am saying. My advice to others is to look straight at me when they talk to me and to really articulate. Speaking slowly and using hand gestures to emphasize what they’re saying is helpful as well. Of course, I have a more difficult time understanding someone with a moustache or a beard, or someone who talks with their hands in front of their face.” L’Oréal’s worldwide diversity policy is actively ensuring that the company meets specific diversity goals, for example, that the workforce approaches a 50/50 balance of males and females. While the company doesn’t actively recruit people with disabilities to meet a quota, its policies encourage people to apply, regardless of disability. “If existing employees become disabled, our policy is to provide what those employees require so that we can retain their talent,” says Audrey Tremblay, director, employee relations and HR projects, including diversity. “We provide the necessary support to reintegrate them into our workforce, give them the tools to work, and maintain the strengths of our teams. It is all about our desire to retain the talented individuals who work for us, and the skills they’ve developed, regardless of who they are.” One of the company’s values is that training is available to all employees. L’Oréal Canada ensures that conference material, software training and other professional development programs are equally accessible. During annual performance reviews, Ms. Sarrazin is provided with an interpreter who guarantees that participants on either side of the desk fully understand the nuances of job satisfaction, employer expectations and employee aspirations. “It shows me that they care about me and my success at L’Oréal Canada,” she says.