Carrefour in-store employees learning French sign language to help deaf customers

12 / 10 / 2021

• news
• Sustainable Development

Carrefour has announced an initiative to teach its in-store employees French sign language so as to provide its deaf and hard-of-hearing customers with the best possible experience. Customer satisfaction is the Group’s primary concern. Following last April’s introduction of quiet hours in stores to create more suitable conditions for autism sufferers, this initiative is something else that Carrefour is doing in the name of inclusivity.

There are an estimated 4 to 5 million hard-of-hearing people in France – 300,000 of whom are completely deaf, according to France’s national federation of deaf people. To make their in-store experience easier and in a bid to be as inclusive as possible for all Carrefour customers and employees, the Group is launching an awareness-raising campaign for its in-store staff, and is teaching them French Sign Language.

In preparation for its inclusivity plan targeting deaf and hard-of-hearing customers, Carrefour has joined forces with the Association Régionale pour l’Intégration des Sourds – the regional association for the integration of deaf people.

The action plan involves four key areas, including a major awareness-raising campaign – “Yes” to all our deaf and hard-of-hearing customers – will be launched across the company. All Carrefour employees will be encouraged to learn ten signs so as to provide deaf and hard-of-hearing customers with a warm welcome in stores. The ten expressions which have been chosen are: “hello”, “yes”, “thank you”, “welcome to Carrefour”, “please”, “follow me”, “receipt”, “is everything okay?”, “loyalty card” and “goodbye”.

The plan also involves paying for one’s shopping is sometimes difficult when you are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Memos featuring the ten key signs will be given out to staff at each till.

In partnership with the ARIS, awareness-raising and training sessions will be held for volunteer employees so that each store has at least one employee who knows how to welcome deaf and hard-of-hearing customers in stores by the end of 2022. The training sessions will include modules on understanding deafness and practical workshops for learning French Sign Language.

For Carrefour employees wanting to go the extra distance, two advanced courses will be on offer in partnership with the ARIS, within the framework of the training program offered to employees. These will be delivered as two two-day sessions, or will run over five consecutive days.

A “Deaf employee inclusivity” training day will also be available for all stores which recruit a new deaf employee. This will include a Deafness Awareness-Raising session, together with a basic sign language workshop to help employees communicate in routine professional situations.

 This action plan for Carrefour customers supplements numerous other schemes available for deaf and hard-of-hearing employees under the Group’s Mission Handicap agreement. For example, employees have access to live transcription software (for oral presentations, telephone conversations, etc.) and French sign language interpreters during training sessions, professional appraisals, etc., and they can get hearing aids funded by Mission Handicap.

“In the inclusive society that we want to build, major companies have a key role to play. With this proactive scheme to include deaf and hard-of-hearing customers, Carrefour is showing the way and I very much help that other retailers will follow its example,” said Sophie Cluzel, Secretary of State to the Prime Minister, in charge of people with disabilities.

 “Diversity, inclusivity and giving a voice to people with disabilities are at the very heart of Carrefour’s DNA. I would like to pay tribute to the government’s commitment alongside us on this day which marks a milestone in our policy on helping people with disabilities. Provide all of our customers with the best possible welcome – that’s the promise that we would like to keep in each store,” Alexandre Bompard, Carrefour’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said.

 “Our partnership with Carrefour will make learning French Sign Language more widespread, so we can all function together,” Sébastien Hennequin, Managing Director of the ARIS, said.