Working life is an important part of a person’s life – also if you are blind or visually impaired. However, such disabilities may be an obstacle to gaining a foothold in the labour market. To become integrated into the labour market, disabled people need a context where they can develop and employ their special skills and competencies.

The social telemarketing company, All Ears Telemarketing (former Telehandelshuset) was established in 1995 to turn the particular disabilities of blind or visually impaired into strengths and special skills.

People with this kind of visual disability very often develop a heightened sense of hearing in order to perceive the signals, which other people typically perceive through body language and eye contact. All Ears Telemarketing transfers these particular strengths to the telephone conversation. The employees’ ability to be present and focused is a crucial asset for the company – whether it concerns booking meetings on behalf of business clients or sensitive and delicate conversations on behalf of NGO clients.

All Ears Telemarketing provides its services on market conditions, and has proven that with the right kind of training in a dynamic business setup it is possible to integrate disabled people into the labour market.

See the video below for more details about the social enterprise, its mission and employees.

In 2009, All Ears Telemarketing was awarded Best Small Social Firm of the year by the Social Firms Europe CEFEC. In 2013, The Business for Peace Foundation and The International Chamber of Commerce awarded Connie Hasemann, founder and CEO of All Ears Telemarketing, with the Oslo Business for Peace Award 2013. She was awarded for having made a significant effort in combining social responsibility and successful business.

Most recently, All Ears Telemarketing was recognised by Businessworthy as a business case for sustainable development and reduced inequality to inspire other companies on how they can contribute to UN’s Sustainable Development Goal no. 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

CEO Connie Hasemann joined the Social Business Club to get a better understanding of how CSR managers think about CSR challenges and opportunities. In this way she wanted to learn how to improve the communication of her company’s core competencies for the benefit of the company and potential, present and future collaborations. See her testimonial in the left column.

www.all-ears.dk

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